A review by heyleigh05
The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 The Summer of Everything is a YA novel about Wes, a Black queer boy, embarking on the next phase of his life before he starts college. This is the last summer before his friends split up to follow separate paths and is last opportunity to admit his all-consuming crush on his friend Nico. Wes also loves working at this indie bookstore that he frequented since he was child. The bookstore is like his second home. However, due declining customers and increasing debts the bookstore is at the risk of closing. Wes is determined to save the bookstore and pursue his crush, but he’s worried that the weight of adulting may be too much for him.

I’m just gonna say that I was bored reading this book which is disappointing because I was anticipating it. I finished this book and felt nothing except looking forward to reading another book. I wanted to like it more but it just didn’t do it for me. Let's start with the corniness. Wes is written as one of those characters who constantly reminds us how nerdy they are. Everything is “nerdtastic” and “amazeballs”, imagine New Girl (the show) but with teenagers. It's just corny and I don’t think teenagers act like this. Wes is the stereotypical nerd who's obsessed with comic books and superhero characters, and that's pretty much the only defining thing about him. I’m not into comic books and stuff personally, but I would like to think that even comic book nerds don’t make liking comic books the crux of their personality. Pretty much all that I took away from Wes’s character is that he’s a comic book nerd, has a massive crush on his friend, and is committed to his favorite bookstore. I didn’t find his character engaging and frankly none of the other characters were engaging either. They all had a very rigid character type that felt stale and lacked dimension.

This next point is kind of a side note and I’m not going to go too much into it, but Wes is biracial and “white-passing”, and I simply don’t understand why that is an important character detail if it's not part of the plot. Like why? And then at some point in the book his friend with two Black parents has to reaffirm Wes’s Blackness...like why? It’s not his friend’s job to make him feel better about himself. It just comes across a little like I don’t feel a part of the Black community and I need you to affirm me. I don’t know, I’m sure that’s not the intention of the author, but that’s kind of how it read to me.

This book just wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be and I ultimately just found it to be corny. I gave this book three stars to be generous, but my feelings about it are pretty lackluster. I wanted to like it more because Julian Winters seems like a nice guy and its so important to have stories about Black queer boys. I do want to read more of Julian Winters’ books! I might have a different experience with his other books, but this book was just a miss for me.