A review by henyouise
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


I have very strong feelings both ways for this book- so I've compiled a list.

BEWARE! SPOILERS BELOW!

Pros: The setting is STUNNING. I loved all the descriptions of Positano and it did make me look up flights to Italy.
I also liked the ending it felt nice to see Katy take someone else's feelings into account. And the final moments on the boat was so precious.

Cons: Time travel?? How did we get to 1992? Maybe I don't understand magical realism but that was a weird bomb to drop 4/5 of the way through the book.
For most of the book Katy is so wildly selfish. I get that she's supposed to be grieving and that we all grieve differently but it just felt like she was abandoning Eric/her whole life because she couldn't deal with her mom dying. She's weirdly attached to her mom for most of the novel and needs to go to therapy.


For a long time I wanted to give this book 2 stars but it wraps up nicely and didn't make me angry to read anymore. So 3/5 stars
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