Reviews - Sommarboken | The StoryGraph

3.33k reviews for:

Sommarboken

Tove Jansson

4.0 AVERAGE

cheryllovesbooks's review against another edition

4.25

emotional 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

A tender, quiet novel told in a series of vignettes about a grandmother and granddaughter spending summer on a small Finnish island. Jansson captures the rhythms of nature, the prickliness and love in family bonds, and the subtle shifts of the season. The prose is beautiful, but the pacing is slow — I learned not to read it at night or I’d lose the thread. It reminded me of my own summers on my grandparents’ island in Lake Nipissing, where lessons came in unexpected forms: from my Finnish grandmother’s steady presence to my grandfather, paralyzed from an accident, who taught me CB radios, Robert Service’s poetry, and the storytelling of country and western music. Quiet, contemplative, and best read when you have space to savour it.

flissoutdoors's review against another edition

4.0

Finland is on my to visit list, lovely book about relationships and connecting with the environment around you

macklin's review against another edition

Perfect book to read at the cottage. So many similar feelings.

rebeccavalley's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny reflective relaxing slow-paced

A beautiful series of vignettes about a grandmother and her young granddaughter on a remote island in Finland over the course of one summer. A meditation on nature and growing up and getting old and death and what it means to love someone and to love and deeply know a place.

wornbookenthusiast's review against another edition

5.0

funny lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

ju_lia's review against another edition

3.0

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

anelaming's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I reread this book every summer if I can. The dark humor and reflections on death and living hit different now I live on an island. Everything more pointed, and yet outside of time. Relationships real and exposed, including the island itself. I love this book.