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readingwithtrey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Infidelity
Minor: Cancer
hannahslit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Seventeen year old Canadian teen Tilla and her nine year old sister Mia have been sent to stay with their father in the countryside of Jamaica for the summer. Tilla expects she may have to confront how she feels about the father that is largely absent from herself, her mother and her sister’s lives, but she isn’t prepared for what awaits her in country: people that view her as a privileged foreigner and a multitude of secrets that her presence threatens to expose.
First love, friendship and exploring the land (Bromfield gives readers gorgeous descriptions of Manchester, Jamaica) are amongst the more tender parts of this novel, however it is a story that reckons with a lot of trauma.
Described as a coming of age story that examines the transition from girlhood to a young woman and the complicated relationship between a young woman and her absent father, Hurricane Summer also tackles colourism, sexism, misogyny, infidelity, domestic abuse, incest, abortion, sexual assault, immigration, abandonment, grief, poverty, class, privilege and more.
Not all of the issues are adequately covered, however I admire the authors attempt to raise awareness to these serious issues to a young adult audience.
The patois is accurate and Bromfield captures the easy humour of Jamaicans very well. Tilla’s story is quite an extreme depiction of reactions to people ‘from foreign’, though I do feel Bromfield shows what it feels like to be the butt of a joke everyone appears to be in on.
An unexpected standout for me was a moment between Tilla and her father where she confronts him about him abandoning their family in Canada. It was a sad yet necessary conversation that was more melancholy for its lack of resolution.
I wanted Tilla to stand up for herself earlier than she did, but I can appreciate that she’s a teenager in a new surrounding without much allies. Toward the end, the book becomes more dramatic and poetic in terms of language which is quite a departure from the tone of the rest of the book, which I don’t think totally works.
Much like a hurricane, this story is powerful and sweeps readers along for an emotional ride.
Hurricane Summer is a coming of age story that I will be thinking about for a long time. I am glad to have read it.
Graphic: Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Abortion, and Terminal illness
courtneyfalling's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A few main frustrations:
- Tilla does not read as 18, she reads as like 15 :/. I couldn't get over how much younger her perspective felt than what we were supposed to believe throughout basically every chapter. And to a lesser extent, Mia doesn't read as 9, she reads as 11-12 with some of the comments she makes. She's not really believable, just a device for Tilla.
This book shows a pretty graphic sexual assault on page then refuses to openly name it as sexual assault in Tilla's thought process, let alone out loud to other characters, and given the victim-blaming and internalized slut-shaming that follows, I really think this book needed to address it as sexual assault. It feels incomplete and potentially really damaging, especially given this is YA with what is supposed to be a clear-cut moral and main character we relate to/like. I hated Andre's death being used as Tilla's final moment of self-understanding. It's shitty to use the darkest-skinned character's death as merely a plot device and moment of redemption for other characters after spending the whole rest of the book challenging the colorism that exact character faces. I didn't feel like Tilla should "forgive" her father. I just didn't. She hadn't processed enough yet, her father hadn't taken any accountability, so much will still happen when Tilla returns to Canada and talks to her mother, and honestly, her father doesn't deserve any forgiveness. Tilla can absolutely live her life and live it well without ever forgiving her father and I don't like how this book simplifies surviving an estranged parent-kid relationship into all this burden, still, onto Tilla. Like her father can rot for all I care and she can never speak to him again? And I didn’t understand her not forgiving Hessan in comparison OR telling him he should be with Diana because he can still go on to date neither girl and discover other relationships he's fully invested in instead? Maybe the bigger issue is that I didn’t like how uncritically pro-Christian this book ended up. It was way too trite and undeserved for the characters. And trauma isn't something that just "makes you stronger" and that constant messaging is wildly irresponsible.
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, and Cancer
Colorism (graphic)kerrygetsliterary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Child death
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Child abuse, and Death of parent
cortnereads's review
I understand that this book is an own voices book, set in Jamaica, and that the author did their best trying to convey their love for Jamaica but I DNF'd at 47%.
Hurricane Summer seemed like a promising story with the blurb and I was very excited to read it. I was engaged in the story of Tilla and Mia from the start. They have a strained relationship with their Jamaican father and he invites them to Jamaica to spend the summer with him. This story is based on the country with poverty and racism. It was full of verbal, physical, emotional, and mental abuse. I tried to continue the story but as her "love interest" started to heat up, I could not find myself interested in reading anything more. I did not feel as though the story was actually going any where. Not much had happened since the beginning except for finding out a little more about other characters. Tilla and Mia were never introduced to the "wonderful" sides of Jamaica that the author continued to talk about. They were taken to a river that Tilla described as beautiful but other than that, there time so far was in the poverty stricken country side of Jamaica. I could never figure out what the main problem was in the story and where the plot was leading us. I feel like there were so many different ways it could take us but I got to a point where I could not longer bring myself to finish it.
I am happy that I was given a chance to read this book, but unfortunately, it was a no for me.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Death of parent
Mental abusedecklededgess's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WTF WHY WAS THIS SO SAD. It was SO GOOD BUT LIKE NO GOOD THINGS HAPPEN. Trauma upon trauma. The main point, I guess, was to learn to self heal and weather your storms and fight your demons by yourself because those who disappoint you will never take responsibility and help your healing but SHIT. Tilla has to suffer SO MUCH in such a short period of time.
It's such a good book but DUDE.
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Abortion, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts