Scan barcode
linamclane's review against another edition
2.0
I think this was the first YA book I've read in the Pretentious Upper-Middle Class Male Ennui genre. Make of that what you will. I loved the prose and gagged to death about pretty much everything else.
literatureish_liz's review against another edition
5.0
This story is about Chase and his family over the course of his 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th summer. Simply put this book is a beautiful albeit melancholy love poem about summer, family and growing up (whether you want to or not). Chase closely examines his role in his family, the older brother who actually isn't the older the brother and what he has come to expect from his family members. His older brother has a tendancy to dissapear, his younger brother has a tendancy to fall down, and his younger sister has a tendancy to take her clothes off. All the while Chase is seemingly caught in the middle and is constantly the glue that holds them all together. Every summer his family vacations next to the same family, the Hathaways. Melinda Hathaway is alluring, insightful, interesting and also dating Chase's older brother, cue an interesting sub-plot.
What is amazing about this novel is that the focus is always on Chase and his family and while you wouldn't expect that to be riviting, I assure you it is. Chase grows up, he changes, his world changes, what he wants from females and even from his life changes and we as readers see that through the scope of his relationship with his family. I loved this book. I sat down and greedily read it in one sitting conscious that I had to get up super early for work the next day. I laughed with Chase, I cried for Chase, and I felt connected to each of his family members. All the Camus quotes in the book (and there were tons) added, I felt, to the story's beauty and spoke to how Chase felt in that moment in that summer. It made me painfully nostaglic for the summers of my youth where Camus (whether I knew it then or not) is etched in my heart as well.
So, I reccommend this book and you don't have to read it all one sitting. But you should read it when you're ready for something gripping and thoughtful. Read it in the summer and remember what your own teenage summers were or are like and how it's so difficult to view the world through anything but your family sometimes.
Here is my favorite quote:
"You're always going to be the same you, just older. It's not like there's a moment when you wake up and go, Shit, I'm grown-up, I don't feel like myself anymore. I don't tell him, but this is the scariest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life. Being grown-up should feel like a big transition. It can't be something that, despite my best efforts, I've been drifting closer and closer to every summer. It needs to be a shock. I need to know at what point to stop holding on."
What is amazing about this novel is that the focus is always on Chase and his family and while you wouldn't expect that to be riviting, I assure you it is. Chase grows up, he changes, his world changes, what he wants from females and even from his life changes and we as readers see that through the scope of his relationship with his family. I loved this book. I sat down and greedily read it in one sitting conscious that I had to get up super early for work the next day. I laughed with Chase, I cried for Chase, and I felt connected to each of his family members. All the Camus quotes in the book (and there were tons) added, I felt, to the story's beauty and spoke to how Chase felt in that moment in that summer. It made me painfully nostaglic for the summers of my youth where Camus (whether I knew it then or not) is etched in my heart as well.
So, I reccommend this book and you don't have to read it all one sitting. But you should read it when you're ready for something gripping and thoughtful. Read it in the summer and remember what your own teenage summers were or are like and how it's so difficult to view the world through anything but your family sometimes.
Here is my favorite quote:
"You're always going to be the same you, just older. It's not like there's a moment when you wake up and go, Shit, I'm grown-up, I don't feel like myself anymore. I don't tell him, but this is the scariest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life. Being grown-up should feel like a big transition. It can't be something that, despite my best efforts, I've been drifting closer and closer to every summer. It needs to be a shock. I need to know at what point to stop holding on."
thedisabledreader's review against another edition
sad
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Child death
moomeri's review against another edition
3.0
I am not satisfied with the book. I'm giving it 3 stars only because it had its nice moments throughout the first few pages. As many people have said, the cover is very misleading. At first I thought the book was going to be about 2 brothers fighting for the same girl, and as a secondary theme would be the family. This was certainly not the case, as the whole books centers on the family dysfunction, adding a girl in between for about 4 pages in total.
Apart from that, I had a HUGE problem with Chase. I cannot even imagine him being real, the things he says, the way he expresses himself, just didn't seem real for a 15-17 year old boy. I hated the fact that he refers to his siblings as 'the kids'. The constant references to Camus get anoying as the book progresses, and also the reference to 'playing house' is a bit out of place. Moreover, the relationship between Noah and Chase is a little weird, the amount of hugs between them, the sharing of Melinda, the running away, it's all over the place. I was also hoping that Bella's character was going to be developed somewhere in the novel, but it never was. It seemed as if she was going to be a big part of the novel at the beginning, but she only appeared for a few moments after that summer.
I did enjoy the presence of Gideon. He is a deaf little boy who struggles with communicating, because his parents do not know ASL. He may be the only character I could truly imagine.
Apart from that, I had a HUGE problem with Chase. I cannot even imagine him being real, the things he says, the way he expresses himself, just didn't seem real for a 15-17 year old boy. I hated the fact that he refers to his siblings as 'the kids'. The constant references to Camus get anoying as the book progresses, and also the reference to 'playing house' is a bit out of place. Moreover, the relationship between Noah and Chase is a little weird, the amount of hugs between them, the sharing of Melinda, the running away, it's all over the place. I was also hoping that Bella's character was going to be developed somewhere in the novel, but it never was. It seemed as if she was going to be a big part of the novel at the beginning, but she only appeared for a few moments after that summer.
I did enjoy the presence of Gideon. He is a deaf little boy who struggles with communicating, because his parents do not know ASL. He may be the only character I could truly imagine.
perfectjohan's review against another edition
5.0
so painful my t shirt is wet from crying my chest physically hurt this was so beautiful and im definitely be looking up Camus
erikawastaken's review against another edition
3.0
I don't even know how to do my usual pro/con rating for this novel.
The book started as a 4, went to a 5 and then settled at a three honestly,
The family was already so broken and so demoralized, it seems like they could have been split apart without Gideon's death.
Extremely well-written, neat use an anachronistic timeline, page turner!
The book started as a 4, went to a 5 and then settled at a three honestly,
Spoiler
the downfall in the end was that it simply suffered from too much tragedy. Divorce, rape, and now death?The family was already so broken and so demoralized, it seems like they could have been split apart without Gideon's death.
Extremely well-written, neat use an anachronistic timeline, page turner!
pikasqueaks's review against another edition
3.0
I had a difficult time reading this. The thing is, the author's writing is good, and that's what kept me going. But if I had to read one more obsessive reference to Camus, I would have probably put the book down. Maybe it's just the predisposition I have to disliking philosophy, but I think I would have enjoyed this a heck of a lot more if it wasn't absolutely everywhere.
And maybe I dislike "summer" as a destiny, destination, and life too much to be necessarily impartial.
I'm going to aim for reading another one of the author's books, though, because I like her writing. With the exception of "her rape victim face," and "stopped living like a gypsy," and some other pretty cringe-worthy lines -- but that's what you expect from a child, like Chase.
And maybe I dislike "summer" as a destiny, destination, and life too much to be necessarily impartial.
I'm going to aim for reading another one of the author's books, though, because I like her writing. With the exception of "her rape victim face," and "stopped living like a gypsy," and some other pretty cringe-worthy lines -- but that's what you expect from a child, like Chase.
shadowin's review against another edition
1.0
Bittersweet and Bewildered.
This book was just so confusing!! In every way...the characters, how they would act, Their emotions, and my emotions towards the book.
I don't know how to explain this book....
The main character, who's a guy, whined like a girl!
Okay, I gave this book three stars.... Because I liked how real if felt with the situations and circumstances.
But in general.. I was just confused on how to feel about this book. I usually cry in the sad parts, but I wasn't attached to the characters to cry.
Either ways, it's still a decent book that's easy to read.
This book was just so confusing!! In every way...the characters, how they would act, Their emotions, and my emotions towards the book.
I don't know how to explain this book....
The main character, who's a guy, whined like a girl!
Okay, I gave this book three stars.... Because I liked how real if felt with the situations and circumstances.
But in general.. I was just confused on how to feel about this book. I usually cry in the sad parts, but I wasn't attached to the characters to cry.
Either ways, it's still a decent book that's easy to read.
michelle_pink_polka_dot's review against another edition
1.0
Ok when I read the overview on this book i was thinking, Oh it's a book about a secret romance. A brother torn between his love for a girl and betraying his own brother, right? ummm no. This book is about family dyfunction and weirdness. There is a very brief section that involves the girl, but it's never a secret between the brothers, it's kind of icky. I don't think 2 brothers would knowingly share a girl, because it's creepy.
Also I totally get that some parents don't watch their kids, but I don't need a book about it. And what teenagers quote prose? It's weird. Sorry but I wish I could get my money back on this one.
PS- NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER, this one fooled the heck out of me.
Also I totally get that some parents don't watch their kids, but I don't need a book about it. And what teenagers quote prose? It's weird. Sorry but I wish I could get my money back on this one.
PS- NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER, this one fooled the heck out of me.