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A review by hereiskyra
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The freaking banter is off the charts from the first damn conversation. These two stole every bit of my heart! They are both adorable and witty. From dates to forehead kisses to sitting in beanbags chairs at the mall to taking care of each other when they were sick, there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t love about their love story.
Little things that I absolutely loved:
Justin on the pool floaty 🦄 🍩
Any mention of the docking station 😭
Surveys and questionnaires 📋
I went into this not even knowing it would be connected to my favorite Abby Jimenez book, Part of Your World. I love that! This is quite possibly my new favorite, or at least tied for favorite. It’s so damn good. Ahhhhhhh!
Emma is the girl who deserves the world and gets nothing but scraps her whole life and takes them with a smile. She is the embodiment of childhood trauma and going along with her journey of finding her way out of it was magical (and super depressing 🙂). I loved that this was so much deeper than a “curse” and a love story. It had all the depth in the world and included so many important and different subjects.
Listening to Justin struggle to come to terms with his own mothers betrayal and how it affected his life but home too. I never understand people who are able to forgive those that don’t even understand they need to apologize.
Emma’s mom always just chose wrong and yet she continued to forgive her and give her another shot, even though she put her in danger more than once and abandoned her both physically and emotionally. I don’t think I’ll ever look at carrots the same way.
She just wanted that love and acceptance from her mom. I get it.
“Always choose empathy”
“I wish I could do that, I wish I could go on with my life and not hold a grudge against mom”
Me too, Justin. Me too.
I think I identify with this story the most and it’s not because I experienced it but in a way, I do relate to her relationship with her mother.
Some of that really hit home. Being left by your mother at a young age is awful and I didnt starve and I wasn’t scared because I had my grandparents… which broke a little bit of my heart because Emma could’ve had hers and so much more family and support and love but didn’t because her mother was so selfish.
I’m glad she finally had enough. Good riddance!
And honestly… Fuck you, Amber.
“She wasn’t my burden anymore. And I hadn’t even realized how heavy she’d been for me to carry because I’d done it for so long. I’d finally set her down and that started with me forgiving her.”
On a (semi) happier note… This is the one and only time I fully support and think that a third act breakup makes sense. Emma desperately needed some time with her family and on her own to find her way through the grief she was experiencing. And she knew it wasn’t fair to put Justin or his family through the trauma of going through that grief.
She thought she was like Amber because she ran but her walking away was the most unselfish thing she could have done for everyone she cared about.
I love the relationship she had with his siblings and I thought her picking his sister up at the school when she got her period was just about the most perfect way the story could have come back together.
I love imagining a world in which all my favorite characters are thriving and living their best lives. These two deserved everything and I couldn’t love the ending they got more.
“Not just for the summer?”
“No, forever this time.”
Tropes:
Sunshine/Sunshine
Fake Dating
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Little things that I absolutely loved:
Justin on the pool floaty 🦄 🍩
Any mention of the docking station 😭
Surveys and questionnaires 📋
I went into this not even knowing it would be connected to my favorite Abby Jimenez book, Part of Your World. I love that! This is quite possibly my new favorite, or at least tied for favorite. It’s so damn good. Ahhhhhhh!
Emma is the girl who deserves the world and gets nothing but scraps her whole life and takes them with a smile. She is the embodiment of childhood trauma and going along with her journey of finding her way out of it was magical (and super depressing 🙂). I loved that this was so much deeper than a “curse” and a love story. It had all the depth in the world and included so many important and different subjects.
Listening to Justin struggle to come to terms with his own mothers betrayal and how it affected his life but home too. I never understand people who are able to forgive those that don’t even understand they need to apologize.
Emma’s mom always just chose wrong and yet she continued to forgive her and give her another shot, even though she put her in danger more than once and abandoned her both physically and emotionally. I don’t think I’ll ever look at carrots the same way.
She just wanted that love and acceptance from her mom. I get it.
“Always choose empathy”
“I wish I could do that, I wish I could go on with my life and not hold a grudge against mom”
Me too, Justin. Me too.
I think I identify with this story the most and it’s not because I experienced it but in a way, I do relate to her relationship with her mother.
Some of that really hit home. Being left by your mother at a young age is awful and I didnt starve and I wasn’t scared because I had my grandparents… which broke a little bit of my heart because Emma could’ve had hers and so much more family and support and love but didn’t because her mother was so selfish.
I’m glad she finally had enough. Good riddance!
And honestly… Fuck you, Amber.
“She wasn’t my burden anymore. And I hadn’t even realized how heavy she’d been for me to carry because I’d done it for so long. I’d finally set her down and that started with me forgiving her.”
On a (semi) happier note… This is the one and only time I fully support and think that a third act breakup makes sense. Emma desperately needed some time with her family and on her own to find her way through the grief she was experiencing. And she knew it wasn’t fair to put Justin or his family through the trauma of going through that grief.
She thought she was like Amber because she ran but her walking away was the most unselfish thing she could have done for everyone she cared about.
I love the relationship she had with his siblings and I thought her picking his sister up at the school when she got her period was just about the most perfect way the story could have come back together.
I love imagining a world in which all my favorite characters are thriving and living their best lives. These two deserved everything and I couldn’t love the ending they got more.
“Not just for the summer?”
“No, forever this time.”
Tropes:
Sunshine/Sunshine
Fake Dating
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Vomit, Excrement, Mental illness, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent