aspiringcowboy 's review for:

The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison

2.0

---

I'm just kind of disappointed overall. the plot was interesting, but I don't feel like Mercedes had a distinct enough voice; her narration felt too close to Priya's, and I get that it's just Hutchison's style, but if you're going to do a shift between perspectives then you need to have a better change in tone. there were also some pretty homophobic-feeling remarks, especially regarding Lee; Mercedes' comment about how Lee would "look like a woman if you put a wig on him" is just... uncomfortable. not to mention how messy and stereotypical and ultimately problematic it is for Mercedes to be an emotionally unavailable lesbian unable to maintain a relationship. I don't know, I just had a bad time reading this. I think we should've all just stopped after the first two books