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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was better than I expected and reminded me of Mary Jane. The second half surprised me with the turn it took, but not in an unsatisfying way.
Good story, a couple of shocking revelations, but didn’t end the way I had predicted my my head. 3.5 stars.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Set at Martha’s Vineyard in the 1960s, coming of age summer read, although some parts of the story were fairly far fetched
What the hell did I just read?
It was 300 pages of barely any plot and the thinnest of love triangles, followed by 40 pages of
Oh, and really fucking homophobic ending. Disturbingly so, for a book published in 2020.
Look, the BONES of a good story are there. I liked Heddy - the poor Brooklyn girl trying to get her college scholarship back - until the last 40 pages, when she turns into I guess? I liked the setting of the book. There was an interesting IDEA here, but none of it was really developed, none of it WENT anywhere, and the ending was fucking bizarre.
I expected a fun beach read with lots of details about Martha's Vineyard in the 1960s. I got... whatever this was instead.
It was 300 pages of barely any plot and the thinnest of love triangles, followed by 40 pages of
Spoiler
CRIME, GUN, AND EXTORTION.Oh, and really fucking homophobic ending. Disturbingly so, for a book published in 2020.
Look, the BONES of a good story are there. I liked Heddy - the poor Brooklyn girl trying to get her college scholarship back - until the last 40 pages, when she turns into
Spoiler
a criminal accomplice because... love...I expected a fun beach read with lots of details about Martha's Vineyard in the 1960s. I got... whatever this was instead.
I'm all for books that reveal the ugly side of those polished, wealthy lives, and this smart summer read didn't disappoint. And I love a good plot twist with less than 20 pages to go.
This could’ve been so good but it fell apart half way through. Sad. I thought it was gonna be a good one.
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads contest.
I have passed the book on to another reader in need of some pandemic reading material.
I have passed the book on to another reader in need of some pandemic reading material.
For the most part, I was engrossed in this c0ming of age "historical fiction" set in the summer of 1962 on Martha's Vineyard. It reads like those summer nighttime soap operas / mini series that used to pop up in the 80s and 90s. It's easy to picture the sun soaked beaches, the pedal pushers and rhinestone cat eye glasses, the handsome men, the gossipy club ladies and the hardworking help in the kitchen.
I thought the ending was a bit farfetched but it tied in with that whole summer soap opera feel.
Two big quibbles from the end of the book that really took me out of the era: a character calls for 911 which wasn't "invented" until 1968 and a character who barely learned to drive a car is able to drive a BOAT with no problem even though she had only ever been ON a boat 3 times in her life.
I thought the ending was a bit farfetched but it tied in with that whole summer soap opera feel.
Two big quibbles from the end of the book that really took me out of the era: a character calls for 911 which wasn't "invented" until 1968 and a character who barely learned to drive a car is able to drive a BOAT with no problem even though she had only ever been ON a boat 3 times in her life.