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A review by bookstolivewith
Summer Island by Natalie Normann
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Summer Island by Natalie Normann follows Ninni Toft, a woman reeling from a shocking break-up who longs to retreat to her childhood home on a remote island, and Jack Greene, a London chef who has just had a few shocking revelations of his own and has to decide what to do next. When they meet, tensions are running high — but they also can’t seem to resist each other.
I wanted to love this one. It should have been a great summer read: light and breezy, with quirky side characters, a remote island retreat, strong familial ties, lots of Norwegian cultural and language references (which makes sense considering Normann is a prolific Norwegian author, and this is her first book in English, which is awesome!) and some incredulous plot twists.
But it fell short for me — I didn’t DNF it but I wasn’t emotionally or otherwise invested, and when I finished, I felt... relief that it was done, as mean as that sounds. The romance aspect of the plot felt somewhat rushed and sudden and it didn’t make me laugh either, which I always consider a plus in a summer read, although a few scenes made me smirk and there’s definitely a little peak at some steamy moments. I don’t think it’s a bad book by any stretch, just not for me!
I wanted to love this one. It should have been a great summer read: light and breezy, with quirky side characters, a remote island retreat, strong familial ties, lots of Norwegian cultural and language references (which makes sense considering Normann is a prolific Norwegian author, and this is her first book in English, which is awesome!) and some incredulous plot twists.
But it fell short for me — I didn’t DNF it but I wasn’t emotionally or otherwise invested, and when I finished, I felt... relief that it was done, as mean as that sounds. The romance aspect of the plot felt somewhat rushed and sudden and it didn’t make me laugh either, which I always consider a plus in a summer read, although a few scenes made me smirk and there’s definitely a little peak at some steamy moments. I don’t think it’s a bad book by any stretch, just not for me!