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A review by beate251
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy."
I first read Abby Jimenez around Valentine's Day when the Improbable Meet-Cute Series was downloadable on Amazon. From the six short stories, hers, "Worst Wingman Ever", was the only one I really rated.
So when this came up I knew I had to put in a request for an ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for being kind enough to provide one. I read this in one sitting, until deep into the night.
"I didn’t know how to stay, and I didn’t know how to leave."
This book comes under false pretences. It promises a light-hearted romantic comedy with an impossibly cute meet-cute - two people both claim that after breaking up with someone said person will meet The One within six months. We all know they are going to meet up to test the charm on each other and we all think we know how it's going to end. But we get a so much more intense story which is full of emotion, mental health issues, heartbreak and sadness.
Emma is a travel nurse on 3 months assignments together with her best friend who is also her foster sister. She has been abandoned by her mother all her life. Justin is a software engineer about to take guardianship for his three younger siblings. Both characters are very mature in outlook as they had to grow up fast and, interestingly, they have great friends - even Justin's guy friends are really there for him.
"Sometimes the best way to show love or be kind to someone is to meet them where they are.”
The story is told in alternating dual POV, so both Emma and Justin get their say. Both have baggage due to their parents, and in Emma's case her mother's abandonment leaves her so severely damaged that it's not clear until the very end whether she can heal. Sometimes not even the love of a good man seems enough. And Justin is a seriously fantastic character, with his own problems, but he never stops caring.
"Not everything that comes out of crisis is bad. Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help."
This is the most romantic book I have read in ages - it's a romance I can totally believe in and not the insta-love for someone because they are hot. A romance where someone is there for the other person because they don't know how not to. When you're on the island of someone's soul. I have never been so frightened in a story that it wouldn't work out for the main characters.
"You can love someone and still not be willing to give up your way of life for them. And then there are those you love who you’d take a bullet for. It’s all the same emotion, just different levels."
The cover is utterly utterly beautiful.
Now excuse me while I wipe my eyes and hunt down Abby Jimenez' entire back catalogue. Apparently characters from previous books are wandering through this but I can honestly say it works well as a standalone.
I first read Abby Jimenez around Valentine's Day when the Improbable Meet-Cute Series was downloadable on Amazon. From the six short stories, hers, "Worst Wingman Ever", was the only one I really rated.
So when this came up I knew I had to put in a request for an ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for being kind enough to provide one. I read this in one sitting, until deep into the night.
"I didn’t know how to stay, and I didn’t know how to leave."
This book comes under false pretences. It promises a light-hearted romantic comedy with an impossibly cute meet-cute - two people both claim that after breaking up with someone said person will meet The One within six months. We all know they are going to meet up to test the charm on each other and we all think we know how it's going to end. But we get a so much more intense story which is full of emotion, mental health issues, heartbreak and sadness.
Emma is a travel nurse on 3 months assignments together with her best friend who is also her foster sister. She has been abandoned by her mother all her life. Justin is a software engineer about to take guardianship for his three younger siblings. Both characters are very mature in outlook as they had to grow up fast and, interestingly, they have great friends - even Justin's guy friends are really there for him.
"Sometimes the best way to show love or be kind to someone is to meet them where they are.”
The story is told in alternating dual POV, so both Emma and Justin get their say. Both have baggage due to their parents, and in Emma's case her mother's abandonment leaves her so severely damaged that it's not clear until the very end whether she can heal. Sometimes not even the love of a good man seems enough. And Justin is a seriously fantastic character, with his own problems, but he never stops caring.
"Not everything that comes out of crisis is bad. Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help."
This is the most romantic book I have read in ages - it's a romance I can totally believe in and not the insta-love for someone because they are hot. A romance where someone is there for the other person because they don't know how not to. When you're on the island of someone's soul. I have never been so frightened in a story that it wouldn't work out for the main characters.
"You can love someone and still not be willing to give up your way of life for them. And then there are those you love who you’d take a bullet for. It’s all the same emotion, just different levels."
The cover is utterly utterly beautiful.
Now excuse me while I wipe my eyes and hunt down Abby Jimenez' entire back catalogue. Apparently characters from previous books are wandering through this but I can honestly say it works well as a standalone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment
Moderate: Vomit and Sexual content