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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
A story with twists and turns and secrets of the past that are fairly predictable. The main character has a lot of trauma and in turn her bond to her old friend and coconspirator makes her question her own personal validity. TW: physical abuse, sexual assault, pregnancy loss, manipulation, mental/emotional abuse
Not every thriller is thrilling. The Summer We Buried is not Jody Gehrman’s first rodeo, but it does not exactly speak to a deft handle on her material. If you want nearly everything laid out for you in advance, The Summer We Buried may be rewarding – otherwise you can tell you don’t need to dig it up at a mere glance.
Tansy is a guidance counsellor at a college. Selene, a friend that she hasn’t seen in seventeen years, tells Tansy that she must try to convince a student – Selene’s own daughter Jupiter – to break up with her seemingly abusive boyfriend, or the truth of seventeen years ago will be revealed.
That summary is the proper vagueness that you want from a blurb. If you read The Summer We Buried, you will find out what happened on that fateful summer eve almost instantly. Where other contemporary authors might drip feed the events of the past, interspersed through a novel either in alternating chapters, or gradual revelations through dialogue, Gehrman plays her hand at the very first opportunity. The power of blackmail is that you can’t reveal the terms to anyone lest you get exposed; Tansy shares her secret so widely that it’s amazing that Selene has any power over her at all.
Later revelations stretch the bounds of credulity, making one wonder how Selene and Jupiter had managed to function in society in the years prior to Tansy’s reappearance in their lives.
With a cavalier endgame that suggests that the criminality of every crime is relative, The Summer We Buried collapses into its own ridiculousness. A thoroughly unsympathetic cast of characters and a near terminally foolish narrator make The Summer We Buried an eminently forgettable novel – degrees of sameness do not matter if it’s a good version of the same, but The Summer We Buried synthesises none of the good and leaves only the ashen remains of a thriller’s bones.
An ARC of The Summer We Buried was provided by Crooked Lane Books in exchange for review.
Tansy is a guidance counsellor at a college. Selene, a friend that she hasn’t seen in seventeen years, tells Tansy that she must try to convince a student – Selene’s own daughter Jupiter – to break up with her seemingly abusive boyfriend, or the truth of seventeen years ago will be revealed.
That summary is the proper vagueness that you want from a blurb. If you read The Summer We Buried, you will find out what happened on that fateful summer eve almost instantly. Where other contemporary authors might drip feed the events of the past, interspersed through a novel either in alternating chapters, or gradual revelations through dialogue, Gehrman plays her hand at the very first opportunity. The power of blackmail is that you can’t reveal the terms to anyone lest you get exposed; Tansy shares her secret so widely that it’s amazing that Selene has any power over her at all.
Later revelations stretch the bounds of credulity, making one wonder how Selene and Jupiter had managed to function in society in the years prior to Tansy’s reappearance in their lives.
With a cavalier endgame that suggests that the criminality of every crime is relative, The Summer We Buried collapses into its own ridiculousness. A thoroughly unsympathetic cast of characters and a near terminally foolish narrator make The Summer We Buried an eminently forgettable novel – degrees of sameness do not matter if it’s a good version of the same, but The Summer We Buried synthesises none of the good and leaves only the ashen remains of a thriller’s bones.
An ARC of The Summer We Buried was provided by Crooked Lane Books in exchange for review.
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for a review, however all opinions are my own.
If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for a good "back in the day" cover-up story that comes back to the surface in the present. That said, this book does a great job showing what happens when you think you buried something in the past, but it doesn't stay buried,
I love the idea of best friends who are polar opposites, and that's what you get in Tansy and Selene. Tansy is the more settled of the best friends - she mostly plays it safe and lives a relatively normal life, trying to keep the past behind her while figure out her next move into her future. And Selene is the most destructive of the two, seemingly never settling down, always toeing the line between what's right and what's wrong.
In the past, Selene helps to save Tansy from a dangerous situation, but that situation ends up creating a secret that ties the two together forever. That secret pulls them apart, and for a long time, they have no connection.
In the present, Selene comes back into Tansy's world, asking for help in a situation with her daughter Jupiter. When Tansy tries to say no, Selene reminds her that they have a secret that could bring both of them down.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well written and the stories are well thought out. Selene is crazy enough to keep you guessing, while you root for Tansy and want her to get out of the stressful situation that she's found herself in.
The question is: will Tansy do the right thing? Or will her secret with Selene bring both of them tumbling down?
If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for a good "back in the day" cover-up story that comes back to the surface in the present. That said, this book does a great job showing what happens when you think you buried something in the past, but it doesn't stay buried,
I love the idea of best friends who are polar opposites, and that's what you get in Tansy and Selene. Tansy is the more settled of the best friends - she mostly plays it safe and lives a relatively normal life, trying to keep the past behind her while figure out her next move into her future. And Selene is the most destructive of the two, seemingly never settling down, always toeing the line between what's right and what's wrong.
In the past, Selene helps to save Tansy from a dangerous situation, but that situation ends up creating a secret that ties the two together forever. That secret pulls them apart, and for a long time, they have no connection.
In the present, Selene comes back into Tansy's world, asking for help in a situation with her daughter Jupiter. When Tansy tries to say no, Selene reminds her that they have a secret that could bring both of them down.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well written and the stories are well thought out. Selene is crazy enough to keep you guessing, while you root for Tansy and want her to get out of the stressful situation that she's found herself in.
The question is: will Tansy do the right thing? Or will her secret with Selene bring both of them tumbling down?
Tansy hasn't seen Selena in almost twenty years after they were involved in a murder that they never told anyone about. Tansy has now moved on with her life and moved across the country. But then one day Selena walks into her office at the college she works at demanding that Tansy help her get her daughter out of an abusive relationship. Tansy of course can't do this as a counselor and because she doesn't know Selena's daughter Jupiter at all.
Things get very complicated very quickly with Selena basically blackmailing Tansy, and Tansy running into a fellow teacher at the university who also happens to be Selena's brother. This leads to them in a way working together to attempt to keep Tansy under control, while also helping Jupiter with her current life situation.
Overall this book was a lot. I never knew what direction it was going to take because of how Selena would just pop up out of know where. Then you have Selena's brother who, while trying to be a good brother and an uncle, is also dragging Tansy into it all as he tries to control the entire situation to keep Jupiter safe and Tansy from doing anything illegal. This is all extremely messy and confusing at times because of how each of them have secrets when it comes to Tansy. One thing I did like about this book though was how Tansy and the brother worked together to keep Jupiter safe and how she was the top priority for both of them. It was nice to see them not pushing Jupiter in any direction and instead just being there for her and helping whenever she called. This, of course, upset Selena but this situation wasn't about her, and because of that you could tell it bothered Selena and she tried to control the situation by bringing up the blackmail every chance she could.
All in all, this was an okay book. I had to know how it was going to end, and what was going to happen to Jupiter. I was happy with the ending for the most part, still a lot of secrets but that's just this book in general tons of secrets from everyone involved in the story.
Things get very complicated very quickly with Selena basically blackmailing Tansy, and Tansy running into a fellow teacher at the university who also happens to be Selena's brother. This leads to them in a way working together to attempt to keep Tansy under control, while also helping Jupiter with her current life situation.
Overall this book was a lot. I never knew what direction it was going to take because of how Selena would just pop up out of know where. Then you have Selena's brother who, while trying to be a good brother and an uncle, is also dragging Tansy into it all as he tries to control the entire situation to keep Jupiter safe and Tansy from doing anything illegal. This is all extremely messy and confusing at times because of how each of them have secrets when it comes to Tansy. One thing I did like about this book though was how Tansy and the brother worked together to keep Jupiter safe and how she was the top priority for both of them. It was nice to see them not pushing Jupiter in any direction and instead just being there for her and helping whenever she called. This, of course, upset Selena but this situation wasn't about her, and because of that you could tell it bothered Selena and she tried to control the situation by bringing up the blackmail every chance she could.
All in all, this was an okay book. I had to know how it was going to end, and what was going to happen to Jupiter. I was happy with the ending for the most part, still a lot of secrets but that's just this book in general tons of secrets from everyone involved in the story.
I decided to read this after seeing a couple of friends raving reviews. I listened to it on audiobook and overall it was a great book full of suspense. The authors prose was catchy and it made me become fully invested. For me, this was a non-gorish type thriller.
TW: rape and suicide; however, neither was triggering for me as it wasn’t in depth.
TW: rape and suicide; however, neither was triggering for me as it wasn’t in depth.
3 stars
A story about a bound between friends, about promises, blackmail, motherhood, abuse and friendship.
A long time ago Selene helps Tansy to get out of a very bad situation, but her acts are a bit too violent. There is a muted pact between the two friends who don't see each other for 20 years, until Selene swings back in Tansy's life asking to cash on a favour. She strongly believes that her daughter is in a relation with an abusive man so she's asking for help to convince her daughter Jupiter to leave the guy.
The story is good and promising but there are too many things that makes the reader wonder how is this happening. From Tansy getting involved with Jupiter's uncle and hiding from Jupiter her long friendship with her mother.
The ending was as well a bit far fetched in my opinion. Not a bad book, but it could have been better.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this nice book!
A story about a bound between friends, about promises, blackmail, motherhood, abuse and friendship.
A long time ago Selene helps Tansy to get out of a very bad situation, but her acts are a bit too violent. There is a muted pact between the two friends who don't see each other for 20 years, until Selene swings back in Tansy's life asking to cash on a favour. She strongly believes that her daughter is in a relation with an abusive man so she's asking for help to convince her daughter Jupiter to leave the guy.
The story is good and promising but there are too many things that makes the reader wonder how is this happening. From Tansy getting involved with Jupiter's uncle and hiding from Jupiter her long friendship with her mother.
The ending was as well a bit far fetched in my opinion. Not a bad book, but it could have been better.
Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this nice book!
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Makes me wonder how many people I've met who have secretly killed people
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
The Summer We Buried by Jody Gehrman
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twenty years ago, Tansy and Selene were best of friends. Selene, ten years older seemed to have been well lived and drew Tansy in. After a tragic night, Tansy separated herself as far as she could from Selene. Now, Selene has found Tansy, a guidance counselor at Selene’s daughter college. Selene wants a favor paid back from that night long ago and will stop at nothing to get her way.
A slow burn thriller for me. I enjoyed the story but often found myself not easily engaged. There were some gripping part but overall just not a “couldn’t put it down” novel.