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gemsliterarygems 's review for:
Just for the Summer
by Abby Jimenez
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Justin has a problem in that every woman he breaks up with goes on to find The One immediately afterwards. After a Reddit thread goes viral about his bad luck (and his terrible apartment featuring a large toilet billboard right outside his only window), Emma decides to DM him. She's been having the same run of bad luck. After a lot of chatting over text and video calls they decide to have a go at dating each other to break the curse, with Emma, who travels for work with her best friend Maddy, spending the summer in his town.
Just for the Summer is book 3 in the series, but I read it as part of a buddy read after checking that it only had minor spoilers for books 1 and 2, which I'm planning to now go back and read. No doubt I'd have enjoyed the references to characters from the previous books doing cameos but it was still good without that. Emma's had a rough upbringing with her Mom being completely neglectful and her ending up in foster care with Maddy's Moms. She periodically goes missing and then reappears to cause chaos, a lot of which is to do with mental health problems, but it leads to Emma being unable to settle down or find happiness herself. Justin's got his own issues having lost his Dad young and now needing to step up to look after his siblings as his Mom has her own drama going on. The book is part romcom and part two people healing whilst falling for each other. Justin is every green flag going and Emma's Mom is pure toxic energy. I enjoyed the story, the characters and the fact it was a bit deeper than a simple romance, but would've liked Emma to have listened to Maddy a bit earlier on! Definitely a well written, feel good read though. I'll be back next month for another buddy read of book 1.
Just for the Summer is book 3 in the series, but I read it as part of a buddy read after checking that it only had minor spoilers for books 1 and 2, which I'm planning to now go back and read. No doubt I'd have enjoyed the references to characters from the previous books doing cameos but it was still good without that. Emma's had a rough upbringing with her Mom being completely neglectful and her ending up in foster care with Maddy's Moms. She periodically goes missing and then reappears to cause chaos, a lot of which is to do with mental health problems, but it leads to Emma being unable to settle down or find happiness herself. Justin's got his own issues having lost his Dad young and now needing to step up to look after his siblings as his Mom has her own drama going on. The book is part romcom and part two people healing whilst falling for each other. Justin is every green flag going and Emma's Mom is pure toxic energy. I enjoyed the story, the characters and the fact it was a bit deeper than a simple romance, but would've liked Emma to have listened to Maddy a bit earlier on! Definitely a well written, feel good read though. I'll be back next month for another buddy read of book 1.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment