A review by iheartya311
The Drowning Summer by C.L. Herman

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book was, well, a mess. The first third of it was OK but I had invested too much time in it to DNF when it veered toward being simple and uninteresting. The characters were unlikable and hard to relate to because of the way they're written; it was near impossible to feel any sympathy for them. I didn't understand the point of identifying the supporting characters (such as "white girl", Mexican American, Japanese American), and doing so along with creating the characters to be bisexual lent no value to the story. It felt like a forced attempt at being inclusive. The only thing that saved this book from a one star rating was the surprise "who dunit" at the end.