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meghankg 's review for:
Summer of '69
by Elin Hilderbrand
Despite including some heavier topics (abuse, war, etc…), as expected this was another easy read from Hilderbrand. While it once again takes place during the summer on Nantucket (and a bit on Martha’s Vineyard) I was surprised by how “un-beachy” most of it felt, but perhaps that was impacted by the fact that I read this while very far away from the beach. While I enjoyed getting to see the different experiences and storylines from the various members of the Levin-Foley family, the more coming-of-age focused sections from Jessie’s perspective were by far the strongest and most engaging parts, so I was disappointed in their lack of frequency as the novel progressed. Additionally, while the entire premise is that it is centered around a single family’s experience during the historic summer of 1969, I often kept forgetting the historical setting; the majority of the events, conflicts, and character experiences really could have happened at any time, and if specific historic events (such as the Moon Landing) weren’t included, I frankly would have gotten the same experience from a novel set in the 2000s. Maybe that was the point? The universality of these experiences? Or maybe I’m reading too much into a light book. Either way, this was another enjoyable escapist novel that offers the comforting familiarity of Hilderbrand’s easy style of writing and engaging character-driven stories.