The Summers

by Iva-Marie Palmer

[Leah]

When author Iva-Marie Palmer sent me a message on Twitter offering me not only the opportunity to host a giveaway for a Kindle Paperwhite and other bits and bobs, but also the opportunity to read and review her novel The Summers, I was quite pleased. It sounded like a wonderful novel, set in Cape Cod (which makes a change as it's usually the Hamptons!) and I was very excited to download the novel to my Kindle. I love Young Adult books - they very rarely fail to make me happy - they're not as angsty as New Adult (some are, I'm sure, but I like the light-hearted ones, okay?) and if I ever feel like I need a lighter read, with a bit of sweet romance, Young Adult is usually the genre I lean towards as it ticks all of those boxes, and I was very, very interested to meet Ryan Landry.

Being a British person, it's quite unfathomable to me that American's travel to somewhere each summer for two or three months - in England, we maybe go on a fortnight's holiday (or, as I live in Tenerife, I don't go on holiday at all, and because I'm in full-time employment, I get four weeks holiday a year, that I can't take all in one go) so I live for these novels that are set in these glorious communities - Nantucket, Cape Cod, The Hamptons, where you can just celebrate Summer the way you're supposed to - hang out with friends, maybe get a little job for extra money, meet a cute guy.... They're living the dream, and I'm extraordinarily jealous. The Summers is one of those glorious types of novels I love, although it's tinged with a hint of sadness as the Sommers are returning to their beach house, after three years away, after the death of their mother.

Even though the Sommers family have been away from the Cape for so long, it's still like arriving somewhere comfortable, where you know everyone. There's the Landry's next door, and Kate's had a crush on their oldest son Ryan since she can remember, desperate for him to notice her, even though he's three years older. It's that wonderfully comfy-cozy, girl-next-door and boy-next-door typical romance and it just makes me sigh and wish to be American, and to live in Cape Cod. I thought it was so great that Kate and Ryan got on like a house on fire, straight away. No awkwardness, no skirting around each other, it was great. But my favourite aspect of the novel was Kate's absolute ambition to be a writer. I really admire an 18-year-old who knows she wants to be a writer and her story ideas were awesome. I loved the idea of the lady who maps things, I would actually read that.

I wasn't so hot on Kate keeping her romance with Ryan a secret. I could understand her reticence, since her sister had him as a summer fling three years previous, but at the end of the day Eliza was getting married so it was kinda irrelevent to the story, so she should have just manned up and told her. For a dish like Ryan, why wouldn't you?! I enjoyed getting to know Kate's sisters - and if Iva-Marie felt up to it, I'm sure we could have books about all four of the Sommers sisters... I particularly liked strong-minded Tea. She knew what she wanted, and a story about her would be all kinds of awesome. The ending was perhaps my least favourite part of the novel, because it was the ultimate in frustrating endings (and I've had my share of those this year). It just ended. With no real word on what would happen next... It wasn't definitive enough, and I like my endings definitive with a full stop. Even an Epilogue would have worked for me, but not what we got, which was kinda disappointing. Overall though, it's a great little beach read, perfect for lazy summer days.This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read