Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Hurricane Summer

Hurricane Summer by Asha Bromfield is a brilliant, blistering debut.
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.

Andres death was unfortunate as he was the only consistently kind character and didn’t get to experience a different kind of life away from the hostility he was exposed to. There could have been a different way to show readers Tilla’s growth without killing him.

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.

Content Warnings

michellebuch's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

courtneyfalling's review

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

This was definitely a powerful premise and sometimes stunning story and character portrayal, but I honestly felt uncomfortable and on edge through most of my time reading because of how little Tilla challenged what was happening to her... like wow I had a lot of secondhand hate for characters around her, but without relating to Tilla as much, it felt consuming! (I do think this might be impacted by how much this book activated my own teenage experiences, fears, and traumas, so like, definitely check the CWs on this!)

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.

Content Warnings

nytephoenyx's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hurricane Summer is a book filled deeply with pain.

It is the opposite of a Disney movie. It is cruel and Tilla is naïve and kind and out or her element, which everyone in the story uses against her. It is a heartbreaking book with a very specific story and I appreciate so much that it exists. Hurricane Summer is the type of book we need when we talk about representation in books because this is a Caribbean story, a Black story, and one I’ve never seen before… which means those with lived experiences like Tilla’s haven’t seen either. And it is so important they are represented and know they are no alone.

Bromfield’s writing is gut-wrenching, doubly so considering it’s a debut. It’s evident that she’s spilled her heart on to the page, written this story in her own blood. Tilla’s story is fictional, but at the same time, it feels incredibly personal. Hurricane Summer doesn’t hold back – it will cut your heart out and make you angry and leave you feeling helpless.

I loved it, in that I appreciated it so much but I hurt every time I sat down to read.

The language is beautiful. The integrated Patois may be an obstacle for some readers. I personally didn’t find it challenging and you get more used to it as you read. Bromfield includes a glossary at the beginning of the book so readers are ready for the language. Author often clean up regional dialects and foreign languages in books, but the inclusion of Patois added depth and realism to the story. I liked that Bromfield didn’t anglicize it. I know some readers will struggle, but this book isn’t really for those readers. It isn’t for me.

The story moved forward quickly, piling one heartbreak after another until the hurricane arrived, literally and metaphorically. This is one of those books with characters that come to life, even though many of them will upset readers as much as they upset Tilla. Other than how broken I feel now that I’ve finished it… I loved it. Hurricane Summer reminded me of my privilege as it highlighted Tilla’s. It made me uncomfortable. It was really good.

I wholeheartedly recommend Hurricane Summer, but I know some readers won’t like the style, will struggle with the Patois, or will find Tilla frustrating. That’s okay – this book may not be for you. But I really encourage readers to give it a try because it is powerful and devastating.

Content Warnings

blueheure's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Mom says you get two birthdays.

The first one is the day you are born. The second is the day you leave home and give birth to yourself.

This book hooked me from the very first line and never let me go. The writing is gorgeous, and Asha does such a wonderful job of bringing her characters and the island to life. Her descriptions of how Tilla was feeling really brought me into her mind and I felt like I was really experiencing her journey with her. There were elements of the story that really resonated with me and made me reflect on and question my own experiences, especially Tilla's relationship with her father and her relationship with herself.

Hurricane Summer isn't an easy read, but it was a cathartic one, and finishing it was really like the calm after the storm as cheesy as it is.

Content Warnings

abookwanderer's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Hurricane Summer is the first book I’ve read in a long time that has left me with such mixed feelings. For this reason, I’m finding it very difficult to give it a star rating. There were things I absolutely loved about this novel and then there were things that bothered me no matter how I tried to rationalize them. I’m hoping I can explain my thoughts, without giving any spoilers. And settle on a rating by the end of my review.

Hurricane Summer is an #OwnVoices young adult novel that touches on many things: classism, racism, sexism, abuse, sexual assault, rape, abortion (mentioned), infidelity, grief, and death. It’s hard to read at times, and I recommend keeping tissues nearby and taking breaks.

Let’s talk about what I loved first, because that’s always more fun. My favorite thing about Hurricane Summer is the setting. It takes place in beautiful Jamaica—and not the touristy Jamaica we’re all more familiar with—but mostly in the countryside, where the poorer people reside among the farmland, the deep forests, the rivers, and the waterfalls. The reader is transported to what’s probably a new and unfamiliar place. Even the language is different. The Patois dialogue took some getting used to—I forgot to use the handy word bank at the beginning of the book since I was reading an ebook—but once I quit trying to translate each word and settled into the story, it wasn’t an issue. In fact, it enhanced the book for me, forcing me to be even more immersed in the world.

Secondly, the fact that this novel is an #OwnVoices made the story even more powerful. I could feel the author’s connection to her main character, Tilla. I felt like Bromfield was using Tilla to speak her own truth, and it was heartbreakingly honest.

And it’s worth it to read this novel for those reasons alone. It’s why I have no regrets for picking it up, and I’m fairly confident it will be a novel that sticks with me for a long time.

Now on to what bothered me…

Bromfield has written many beautiful passages, I highlighted many lines, but it often became too melodramatic, and I couldn’t help thinking that maybe less would have been more. BUT, I also kept reminding myself that the book is considered young adult, and more purple prose is acceptable in the YA genre.

The many side characters are hard to keep straight in the beginning. While a few of them are standouts, well-rounded and real (particularly Tilla’s father and her cousin Andre), there are several side characters that I wish had been given more attention, primarily Tilla’s mother and her sister Mia. The book also has multiple antagonists—more than what’s typical for YA, and it becomes almost overwhelming. I felt like I was left with little time to process between each traumatic experience Tilla endured. Maybe the author was trying to do too much instead of just focusing on a few issues, leaving the reader with little breathing room.

Without spoiling anything, I’m not sure how I felt about the ending, as well. It felt rushed, but I was ready for the novel to be wrapped up after such an emotional ride. Maybe if the middle part of the novel had been shortened a bit and the ending extended, it would have given me more time to sit with the characters and process what I’d just read?

I hope my review doesn’t dissuade readers from picking it up. It’s a novel to be discussed, and I’m eager to hear your thoughts. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been so conflicted about a book, and to me that’s not necessarily a negative thing. Reading Hurricane Summer is enlightening and inspirational. It deals with important and urgent issues that deserve the utmost respect. And I feel like this is only the beginning for Bromfield. She’s written a novel from the depths of her heart and soul, and I’ll be eager to see what she does next. So where does that leave my rating?? I’m gonna average out the positives and negatives and settle on 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.

Content Warnings

decklededgess's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

trigger warnings: rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, slut shaming, physical abuse, negligent parent, natural disaster, near death experience, blood, death of loved one, cancer mention, abortion mention, teenage pregnancy mention, bullying, infidelity and extramarital affair, misogyny, colourism, grief, suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety

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.

Content Warnings

More...