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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
It was a disappointment. Having read other Sarah Dessen books, this didn't do it for me. It had her writing style, but the book had no plot. The only reason I could finish it was because the book was so short. I didn't care much for any of the characters, and really just felt that I was reading to get it over with.
My Star Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
My Star Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
This book was such a disappointment in so many ways. I really hope some of this author's other books are better than this. I do not recommend this one and wish I'd spent the time reading something better. It's so rare for me to dislike a book this much and I wish I had better things to say, but I don't. For a more in depth review and more specifics on the things that made me feel this way I have them posted on my blog at catsmeowbooks.blogspot.com
I am astounded at how much I didn't like this Dessen book. I think the other one that brought out similar feelings in me was "This Lullaby".
"This Summer" is about 15 year old Haven dealing with the upheaval in her life over the course of a summer. It's also about her looking back with rose colored glasses on the last summer she sees her family as being happy.
Without much ado, in the first few pages we find out that Haven is going to her father's wedding to a woman he had an affair with. Her mother is now obsessed with gardening and hanging out with her new friend on the block. And her older sister Ashley is preparing to wed in about two months after her father's wedding. Haven longs for a time when her father was all together. And weirdly starts obsessing about her sister's ex boyfriend named Sumner (not a misspelling) who she believes was the key to her family all being happy.
I am sorry, you can't see my face right now but I am cracking up. I think that if Haven had been younger, maybe I could have been more sympathetic. But the fact of the matter is, she's 15 going on 16 (now that song is going to be in my head all day) and acts like she's 12 for most of this story. She sneaks around privately listening to conversations between her mother and sister. Judges her sister for getting married to someone she finds boring and not as exciting as Sumner was. And she doesn't confront her father for being a lousy parent and an even worse husband to her mother. She just flails around for most of the book before acting like a total ass to her mother and sister and then gets woken up to the fact that people are not what they appear to be.
Yep, that's the lesson.
The other characters in this one stay pretty flat from beginning to end though and don't stay consistent the whole through either. For example, we are told that Ashley doesn't like to think negatively of their father, defends him, etc. but we see that out of the two of them Ashley is upset about what happened with her family and that she does blame their father for her parents marriage ending. Same thing when Ashley and Haven finally have a big talk (not really) at the end and then we are supposed to think of "Sisters". Honestly this book had me wishing to re-watch the tv show "Sisters" cause that to me was a more realistic look at sisters who love and also want to strangle each other sometimes.
I felt bad for the short look at Haven's supposed best friend. Haven calls her friend a "slut" but everything in name and made me cringe for how disdainful she was being towards her.
Sumner was an empty shell and didn't even make sense as a character. I don't think he shows up in any other Dessen works, but don't quote me on that.
There's also a neighborhood girl now a woman gone good (she became a model) who is now home and is wandering around not really there. I don't even know why she was included as character.
The writing was so-so and repetitive in most cases. The flow was not that great. I thought there was a lot of show and not tell happening and the book moved so slowly that I was happy to get to the end.
"This Summer" is about 15 year old Haven dealing with the upheaval in her life over the course of a summer. It's also about her looking back with rose colored glasses on the last summer she sees her family as being happy.
Without much ado, in the first few pages we find out that Haven is going to her father's wedding to a woman he had an affair with. Her mother is now obsessed with gardening and hanging out with her new friend on the block. And her older sister Ashley is preparing to wed in about two months after her father's wedding. Haven longs for a time when her father was all together. And weirdly starts obsessing about her sister's ex boyfriend named Sumner (not a misspelling) who she believes was the key to her family all being happy.
I am sorry, you can't see my face right now but I am cracking up. I think that if Haven had been younger, maybe I could have been more sympathetic. But the fact of the matter is, she's 15 going on 16 (now that song is going to be in my head all day) and acts like she's 12 for most of this story. She sneaks around privately listening to conversations between her mother and sister. Judges her sister for getting married to someone she finds boring and not as exciting as Sumner was. And she doesn't confront her father for being a lousy parent and an even worse husband to her mother. She just flails around for most of the book before acting like a total ass to her mother and sister and then gets woken up to the fact that people are not what they appear to be.
Yep, that's the lesson.
The other characters in this one stay pretty flat from beginning to end though and don't stay consistent the whole through either. For example, we are told that Ashley doesn't like to think negatively of their father, defends him, etc. but we see that out of the two of them Ashley is upset about what happened with her family and that she does blame their father for her parents marriage ending. Same thing when Ashley and Haven finally have a big talk (not really) at the end and then we are supposed to think of "Sisters". Honestly this book had me wishing to re-watch the tv show "Sisters" cause that to me was a more realistic look at sisters who love and also want to strangle each other sometimes.
I felt bad for the short look at Haven's supposed best friend. Haven calls her friend a "slut" but everything in name and made me cringe for how disdainful she was being towards her.
Sumner was an empty shell and didn't even make sense as a character. I don't think he shows up in any other Dessen works, but don't quote me on that.
There's also a neighborhood girl now a woman gone good (she became a model) who is now home and is wandering around not really there. I don't even know why she was included as character.
The writing was so-so and repetitive in most cases. The flow was not that great. I thought there was a lot of show and not tell happening and the book moved so slowly that I was happy to get to the end.
After reading Saint Anything, I was excited to start another book by Sarah Dessen. This book fell way below my expectations.
The book is about Haven and the changes taking place in her life. I found myself not caring what happened to any of the characters. They were all unlikable for the most part. There is a random character of Gwendolyn, who is a former model from the town. Her character did nothing to advance the plot in any way and that storyline was beyond confusing. I kept waiting for her to be a mentor to Haven or something more than just a random character.
I feel like the book is supposed to be a coming of age story or about learning to accept changes in life. However, this really missed the mark for me.
The book is about Haven and the changes taking place in her life. I found myself not caring what happened to any of the characters. They were all unlikable for the most part. There is a random character of Gwendolyn, who is a former model from the town. Her character did nothing to advance the plot in any way and that storyline was beyond confusing. I kept waiting for her to be a mentor to Haven or something more than just a random character.
I feel like the book is supposed to be a coming of age story or about learning to accept changes in life. However, this really missed the mark for me.
I am too old for Sarah Dessen novels. It’s official
I can't remember if I ever read this as a teen. If I did, I did not remember anything about it. Definitely my least favorite Dessen book by far. Nothing bad about it. It was just kind of meh.
Everyone talks about how AMAZING Sarah Dessen's novels are so, of course, I figured I absolutely had to read one. Boy, was I disappointed. This book had no plot whatsoever. I also felt the characters were rather boring. This girl basically just talks about all the changes in her life and then, it's over. Where was the development? What was the purpose? Was it so that the reader understands that life goes on? I guess. I didn't need this novel to tell me that. I will say that it was refreshing to see a book involving a girl needing a boy for more than romantic purposes. The whole sister dynamic wasn't clearly displayed as much as would've liked because Ashley's personality was always tied to a different boy, but we never got to actually see the different side; we were always told about them. I also realized this book was a bit outdated cause of the word "retarded." It was used maliciously, but as a technical term; that lead me to look at the publishing date: 1996. Book is damn near twenty years old and that's what showed it for me. I also found it sad that Haven didn't have any other friends because Casey was certainly a poor excuse for one. I don't know, but after this one I'm not convinced of Ms. Dessen's writing ability. I think I'll try to give another one a shot before I completely give up all hope, though. I do know that I won't recommend this one, nor will I re-read it.
I listened to this as an audio book. Sarah Dessen was one of my favorite authors from my younger years. From reading the other reviews, I see that this was her first book and it shows. Overall the story was just boring. 15 year old awkwardly tall Haven sees her sisters ex boyfriend and they have a reconnection. Mind you, her sister is in her twenties and getting married very soon. Haven runs into Sumner, her sisters ex from a few years ago. The part that really rubbed me the wrong way is Havens near obsession with this much older man (for her being only 15) and Sumners availability to go along with a budding friendship with his ex girlfriends young sister. Overall did not like that weird element and that essentially nothing happened in the story.
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first, this book was a little bit boring I kept waiting for the climax which I really didn't find. I thought it was going to be about boys but at the end, i got that the book was about sisters. Since I was looking for something about boys I didn't like it a lot.