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A review by ruth_miranda
Until September by Harker Jones, Harker Jones
5.0
What a beautiful book. This is the one word that I associate the most with this story - beautiful.
What could have been an annoying tale of beautiful people leading beautiful lives and spending their summers in beautiful backdrops - and I honestly expected that, when I first started reading past that alluring prologue - turned out to be what I'm sure will remain one of my favourite, most touching reads of this year. I loved the story with all its swoops and swirls and that constant sense of impending doom, which was done masterfully, right from that prologue, loved the writing both down-to-earth and poetic, loved the mood the author's prose weaves into the tale, loved the characters - mostly because I did not love most of them at all, and that was the best part of it. They all felt real, vivid, THERE. As if I could have come across them any given time, at any given summer place. I loved how bitchy and downright poisonous Claudia always sounded, because she was the smartest one who could see right through Kyle, I loved Dana for her quietness and barely there presence - and how she turned out to be the one who remains steadfast through all that happens - I loved Carly's aloofness and lack of depth, I loved Trent's spoiled personality and his tantrums and the way he acted so immature and childish but at the same time, capable of a loyalty that ran deep in his veins, I loved Trey's meanness and his bitterness and his obsession, I loved Jack's innocence and fears and how he becomes more and more real throughout the narrative, until we're confronted with Jack as he is and not as Kyle sees him, and I loved Kyle.
I loved his poignancy and his passion, his unflinching belief in a love that's supposed to be a summer fling and not meant to last, the pain of his past, the weight he carries and that others chose to place on him, the way he loses himself, the desperate acts, the search, the never giving up, and how his heart never changes, in the end.
I also loved that my own country features in the book at some point and the author wrote Porto instead of Oporto as most English speaking people do. Would have prefered to have seen a bit more attention put into the use of the Portuguese language when the priests speaks it to the boys - we don't say 'Si', that's Spanish, it's 'Sim' for us, and it's not 'O avós' because 'O' is a singular pronoun, and 'avós' is plural - it's said 'Os avós'. This is the only remark I have to make, and it's such a tiny one it made no difference at all in my love for this tale
I am really glad I came across this novel, for it was one of my best reads so far, and I will never forget it. These characters and their story will stay with me forever.
Thank you to Book Sirens and the author for providing me with an ARC.
What could have been an annoying tale of beautiful people leading beautiful lives and spending their summers in beautiful backdrops - and I honestly expected that, when I first started reading past that alluring prologue - turned out to be what I'm sure will remain one of my favourite, most touching reads of this year. I loved the story with all its swoops and swirls and that constant sense of impending doom, which was done masterfully, right from that prologue, loved the writing both down-to-earth and poetic, loved the mood the author's prose weaves into the tale, loved the characters - mostly because I did not love most of them at all, and that was the best part of it. They all felt real, vivid, THERE. As if I could have come across them any given time, at any given summer place. I loved how bitchy and downright poisonous Claudia always sounded, because she was the smartest one who could see right through Kyle, I loved Dana for her quietness and barely there presence - and how she turned out to be the one who remains steadfast through all that happens - I loved Carly's aloofness and lack of depth, I loved Trent's spoiled personality and his tantrums and the way he acted so immature and childish but at the same time, capable of a loyalty that ran deep in his veins, I loved Trey's meanness and his bitterness and his obsession, I loved Jack's innocence and fears and how he becomes more and more real throughout the narrative, until we're confronted with Jack as he is and not as Kyle sees him, and I loved Kyle.
I loved his poignancy and his passion, his unflinching belief in a love that's supposed to be a summer fling and not meant to last, the pain of his past, the weight he carries and that others chose to place on him, the way he loses himself, the desperate acts, the search, the never giving up, and how his heart never changes, in the end.
I also loved that my own country features in the book at some point and the author wrote Porto instead of Oporto as most English speaking people do. Would have prefered to have seen a bit more attention put into the use of the Portuguese language when the priests speaks it to the boys - we don't say 'Si', that's Spanish, it's 'Sim' for us, and it's not 'O avós' because 'O' is a singular pronoun, and 'avós' is plural - it's said 'Os avós'. This is the only remark I have to make, and it's such a tiny one it made no difference at all in my love for this tale
I am really glad I came across this novel, for it was one of my best reads so far, and I will never forget it. These characters and their story will stay with me forever.
Thank you to Book Sirens and the author for providing me with an ARC.