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A review by ashleynewman
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So I did not love In Five Years and this book did have a few similar elements that I did not like (infidelity, an ungrateful and often immature protagonist who doesn’t appreciate their loving partner for no good reason), but I preferred this over IFY.
There were many things I did not like about Katy. She was obsessed with her mother, Carol, convinced that their relationship was a truer love than either woman’s relationship with their respective husbands (which I found completely laughable and ridiculous…not to mention unhealthy and not something any mother (at least not my mother) would/should want for their daughter).
The mother daughter relationship is very Lorelei/Rory co-dependent and toxic and causes the daughter to treat everyone in her life besides Carol like total garbage. Katy (who is 30 years old, I think that’s important to point out) is incredibly self-centered and believes her mother’s life should revolve around her. I understand loving a parent, but being (self-proclaimed!) “in love” with them in the way Katy describes is quite bizarre and off-putting.
She acts as if her father and her own husband are not allowed to grieve her mother because SHE was Carol’s great love, and obviously this should be about Katy. Her husband is loving and supportive in a way I don’t see many husbands be, but she gets annoyed at him for grieving his mother-in-law, leaves him to go to Italy alone, and has an affair with a random hotel guest.
However, nearly all the flaws I found in Katy were intentional, and she realizes by the end that she’s been going about life the wrong way. THAT is what made me end up loving this book.
The setting was its own character and definitely makes me want to get to Positano and stay at the Poseidon.
There were many things I did not like about Katy. She was obsessed with her mother, Carol, convinced that their relationship was a truer love than either woman’s relationship with their respective husbands (which I found completely laughable and ridiculous…not to mention unhealthy and not something any mother (at least not my mother) would/should want for their daughter).
The mother daughter relationship is very Lorelei/Rory co-dependent and toxic and causes the daughter to treat everyone in her life besides Carol like total garbage. Katy (who is 30 years old, I think that’s important to point out) is incredibly self-centered and believes her mother’s life should revolve around her. I understand loving a parent, but being (self-proclaimed!) “in love” with them in the way Katy describes is quite bizarre and off-putting.
She acts as if her father and her own husband are not allowed to grieve her mother because SHE was Carol’s great love, and obviously this should be about Katy. Her husband is loving and supportive in a way I don’t see many husbands be, but she gets annoyed at him for grieving his mother-in-law, leaves him to go to Italy alone, and has an affair with a random hotel guest.
However, nearly all the flaws I found in Katy were intentional, and she realizes by the end that she’s been going about life the wrong way. THAT is what made me end up loving this book.
The setting was its own character and definitely makes me want to get to Positano and stay at the Poseidon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Abandonment