Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - One Italian Summer

At first, One Italian Summer really wasn't my cup of tea, not least of all because I don't think I could've related less to the protagonist or her relationship with her mother, and I wondered if I should just DNF it and keep it moving. I ended up being glad I didn't—the protagonist's arrival to herself in and of itself was worth it, not to mention the lush setting and the fact that tears were streaming down my face by the end.

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chandlerkl's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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bethanyt123's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

**spoiler alert** No. No, no, no no no no no.

I read this via audiobook, which is narrated by the spectacular and illustrious Lauren Graham. She was perfect.

This book though… man. I hated every second of it. The poor writing, the confusing plot, the stupid internal monologue that reflected the disbelief I was feeling, KATY assuming she has some kind of right to meddle in EVERYONE’s lives after knowing them for a week, and the seeming disregard for morality. Am I supposed to be happy that she

cheated on her husband, never told him, and just moved on with her marriage with not even a discussion? Didn’t she have sex with her husband in the same bed while thinking about her affair?! UGH. Gross!

Also, if you’re writing a modern day time traveling story and you want the reader to be invested and able to suspend belief to any degree, do not write any words similar to:

it was almost impossible that my dead mother was standing before me.

I was done from that point. I hoped for redemption in the ending, but alas- there was none. This was just, blech.

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ryleecanread's review against another edition

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This FMC sucked. She had the weirdest relationship with her mother, was horrible to her husband, cheated, didn’t allow anyone but her to grieve, got involved in weird things with the hotel, and was just generally a weird and shitty person. I don’t care how this ended

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chemeducator's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Writing: 3.75⭐️/5

Rebecca Serle writes almost hard and clear about what hurts. Something in her writing felt a bit distant to me when talking about very intimate emotions, but overall the writing of the novel did not take away from the reading experience, and in fact, felt relatively focused and pointed. I do wish Serle had pushed the writing a bit further, doing a bit more showing rather than telling at the heart of the hardest moments.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

Alright, so at certain intervals all the characters feel real. At other times, they didn’t quite fit. Both Katy’s mom and Katy felt real for the most part. However, the hotel’s staff very much slipped into the novel to be very convenient plot devices. In a similar vein, Katy herself – while a well-developed character – read as extremely juvenile at times. Her obsession with keeping her mom to herself was odd, and her anger at finding out her mother left her as a child (which results in her sleeping with someone who is not her husband almost out of revenge), felt very petulant and small. I understand everyone processes grief differently, but I had a hard time buying into a 30-year-old woman thinking about her mother as “hers” in a very toddler-like way.

Plot: 3⭐️/5

The overarching plot felt interesting, but the details really didn’t feel right. I understand, on a deep level, needing to run away in order to heal from loss and manage grief. However, the way the character then acted as she ran into her mother and started to fall for a stranger in her hotel felt a bit disjointed. In regards to the magical realism, it's also implied that she really did travel back in time, which means she cheated on her husband and decided to never reveal that to him, which, all in all, felt very immature and shitty. Another hold-up I had was the sheer number of details that were so unnecessary. It felt a bit travel journal-ly in the way that Serle chose to recount nearly every meal our MC ate. While I appreciate that as an appeal to travelling to Italy, it felt incongruent with the purpose and theme of the novel.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those looking for a “lighter” read about death and grief
Those looking for a bit of summer escapism into Italy with some serious topics

Content Warnings?

Death of parent, grief, death, abandonment, infidelity, sexual content, gaslighting, medical content, terminal illness, chronic illness, cancer

Post-Reading Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

Oh. I guess?

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

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acasillas97's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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giraffesandaudiobooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

Amazing descriptions of scenery. Delicious food. A chance to get to meet your mom before she is really your mom. A fun read and feels like your are transported to Italy!!

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