Scan barcode
A review by deadhighwaybooks
Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard
5.0
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take a life changing vacation that you won’t soon forget for years to come? Melissa and Patrick did, and let me tell you, I won’t forget it either!
I saw the thunderstorm release of this book, and was intrigued instantly. I missed out on that gorgeous edition, sadly, so I just had to wait for its normal release. Then something amazing happened. A call for reviewers, which I immediately jumped on and received the long awaited book as an advanced reader copy! Miracles do happen, folks! So that leaves us here for the review.
A general run down of what this story is all about. Melissa and Patrick decide to take a vacation down to Florida in order to escape their current situation, and bond with Hoyt, Melissa’s abusive boyfriend. It’s not a new vacation spot for Melissa, so Melissa and Patrick do have a decent advantage. It was told as if we all knew the place by heart. Along the way they encounter some things that seem a bit fishy. One thing leads to another in plot twist after plot twist, until we meet our grand finale. I will leave you with this summary so as not to give anything away. This is a review, but I still want to persuade you all to read it for yourself.
At no point in this book did I think to myself: Get on with it.
At no point during the impending conclusion did I experience that “why isn’t this over” anger that I sometimes experience towards the end of a book. This story was told in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t do anything else but finish this story. At several points during this reading I did feel like it was moving towards being a cosmic horror story. I was hooked from the very beginning and it didn’t let me go until the very last word.
If you want a little bit of The Fisherman by John Lagan mixed with a uniquely told story, then this book is most definitely for you. Whatever you do, think twice before swimming this summer.
I saw the thunderstorm release of this book, and was intrigued instantly. I missed out on that gorgeous edition, sadly, so I just had to wait for its normal release. Then something amazing happened. A call for reviewers, which I immediately jumped on and received the long awaited book as an advanced reader copy! Miracles do happen, folks! So that leaves us here for the review.
A general run down of what this story is all about. Melissa and Patrick decide to take a vacation down to Florida in order to escape their current situation, and bond with Hoyt, Melissa’s abusive boyfriend. It’s not a new vacation spot for Melissa, so Melissa and Patrick do have a decent advantage. It was told as if we all knew the place by heart. Along the way they encounter some things that seem a bit fishy. One thing leads to another in plot twist after plot twist, until we meet our grand finale. I will leave you with this summary so as not to give anything away. This is a review, but I still want to persuade you all to read it for yourself.
At no point in this book did I think to myself: Get on with it.
At no point during the impending conclusion did I experience that “why isn’t this over” anger that I sometimes experience towards the end of a book. This story was told in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t do anything else but finish this story. At several points during this reading I did feel like it was moving towards being a cosmic horror story. I was hooked from the very beginning and it didn’t let me go until the very last word.
If you want a little bit of The Fisherman by John Lagan mixed with a uniquely told story, then this book is most definitely for you. Whatever you do, think twice before swimming this summer.