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narcissia's review
3.0
The first thing I should say about this book is that the synopsis is pretty misleading. It makes it sound like Invincible Summer is about two boys who love the same girl, and that is so not what this book is about. It's about a dysfunctional family, and the ways that they are broken and the ways in which they break.
I enjoy the minimalistic style of prose that Hannah Moskowitz uses to tell this story. The writing is good, and it sucked me into this family's summers. But the sparse narrative also kept me feeling like I was being held at an arm's length from the characters. Things go unmentioned until they finally are, which is one of the problems with the family that is reflected in the narrative. I like that the style mirrors the family's inability to communicate their issues, but it might also dampen the sympathy that the reader feels for the characters. At times, I also find the characters to be a bit unbelievable. Some of their actions, reactions, and obsessions just don't always feel natural to me. It wasn't that I felt put off by their behavior (though at times I did), but that if the prose is going to make me feel detached from the character, I'd like that character to be more relateable and sympathetic, otherwise I have a more difficult time becoming invested.
The setting isn't the typical summery book beach. It doesn't leave out the grit. The sand on this beach gets into their clothes and sticks to them. It gets carried into the house and pools in the furniture. It sticks to the scalp. This beach is sweaty and sticky and salty and messy and real. I am glad that this beach felt real, and good, and bad.
This is not a fast-paced book. It studies the family through Chase's eyes, it shows us pieces of them and it leaves things out by giving us a view only of the surface, without a look at the depths until finally the buried things are brought up into view. The plot happens over four summers in the family's beach house. The parts of the year that are not spent at the beach are skipped over entirely, which makes sense because the main character mentions several times that he feels like anything important that ever happens to him is always connected to the summer. It's rare that those other parts of the year are mentioned, until the fourth summer when there is some looking backward to be done.
Aside from the few issues that I have with the lack of a personal connection to the characters, I think it's a brilliantly told novel. I also think that it's one of those books that I can appreciate more the more that I think about it or reread it. It's a sad yet beautiful story.
I enjoy the minimalistic style of prose that Hannah Moskowitz uses to tell this story. The writing is good, and it sucked me into this family's summers. But the sparse narrative also kept me feeling like I was being held at an arm's length from the characters. Things go unmentioned until they finally are, which is one of the problems with the family that is reflected in the narrative. I like that the style mirrors the family's inability to communicate their issues, but it might also dampen the sympathy that the reader feels for the characters. At times, I also find the characters to be a bit unbelievable. Some of their actions, reactions, and obsessions just don't always feel natural to me. It wasn't that I felt put off by their behavior (though at times I did), but that if the prose is going to make me feel detached from the character, I'd like that character to be more relateable and sympathetic, otherwise I have a more difficult time becoming invested.
The setting isn't the typical summery book beach. It doesn't leave out the grit. The sand on this beach gets into their clothes and sticks to them. It gets carried into the house and pools in the furniture. It sticks to the scalp. This beach is sweaty and sticky and salty and messy and real. I am glad that this beach felt real, and good, and bad.
This is not a fast-paced book. It studies the family through Chase's eyes, it shows us pieces of them and it leaves things out by giving us a view only of the surface, without a look at the depths until finally the buried things are brought up into view. The plot happens over four summers in the family's beach house. The parts of the year that are not spent at the beach are skipped over entirely, which makes sense because the main character mentions several times that he feels like anything important that ever happens to him is always connected to the summer. It's rare that those other parts of the year are mentioned, until the fourth summer when there is some looking backward to be done.
Aside from the few issues that I have with the lack of a personal connection to the characters, I think it's a brilliantly told novel. I also think that it's one of those books that I can appreciate more the more that I think about it or reread it. It's a sad yet beautiful story.
loganmeadows's review
2.0
I didn't like this book that much. It made me angry most of the time and it was way confusing and unclear.
caumann's review
2.0
Not at all what I was expecting, the cover and the summary on the back are very misleading. I thought this was going to be a light, summer read and it wasn't at all. I wasn't expecting the drama and I wasn't in the moood for it. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, which really makes it hard to like a book. The writing wasn't that great either. BOO!
dynamicdylan's review
5.0
Shitdamn, this book was good.
Chase is such a great voice, I loved him. Noah was a great brother. Claudia was loving and wild. Gideon was cute. Lucy was adorable.
It's not a fun summer read. It's a book about the disintegration of a family. And it's amazing.
Chase is such a great voice, I loved him. Noah was a great brother. Claudia was loving and wild. Gideon was cute. Lucy was adorable.
It's not a fun summer read. It's a book about the disintegration of a family. And it's amazing.
patke's review
4.0
Full review on Sniff Books, Not Drugs http://tinyurl.com/3whkvxb
To Sum It Up
My favourite quote: "There is no going back, so fuck you, universe." Leave it to Chase to say something profound while flipping the middle finger to the universe. That's why I love him.
Definitely not a light summer read. Highly emotional and nerve wracking.
Perfect character development and plot.
Cover and synopsis are pretty misleading. Don't judge this book based on the cover.
To Sum It Up
My favourite quote: "There is no going back, so fuck you, universe." Leave it to Chase to say something profound while flipping the middle finger to the universe. That's why I love him.
Definitely not a light summer read. Highly emotional and nerve wracking.
Perfect character development and plot.
Cover and synopsis are pretty misleading. Don't judge this book based on the cover.
katie_esh's review
2.0
This book was not at all what I anticipated based off the description. Between the unrealistic quoting of paragraphs of philosophy by teenagers and the unengaged parents, I had a lot of issues with this book. I spent the entire time reading wondering why exactly the point was. If this was supposed to have some profound theme, I didn't figure it out. Chase, Noah, and Melinda were trying to be adult while being immature children at the same time, and I cannot even talk about this book anymore.
banrions's review
4.0
I hate this cover. That is the only conclusion I have been able to come to right now. It is entirely misleading. I also think it will turn people away from the novel, or give them the wrong idea. I never would have read this if it weren't for other people's reviews on it and that's mainly because of the cover.
But that is enough gripping on that.
I could relate a lot to this book. I have a semi big family, parents who sure as shit don't get along, an aunt who used to work at Perkins School for the Blind and Deaf (so as a kid I spent a lot of time with a select few of deaf and blind children) and almost every summer as a kid, we went to Cape Cod.
I liked Chase. I liked his voice, I liked him as a person, and he felt real to me. I'm just going to say this right now, all the Camus was a bit odd. I've read a lot of reviews and this seems to get the general thought. It wasn't completely unbelievable that these boy would become obsessed with an author and quote him constantly. As a teen, I did things like this all the time, I just thought with a few less long ass quotes, it would have been a little easier to take in as slightly more believable.
But anyway, back to Chase and the rest of the characters. Chase was the second child, but many times you would think he was the oldest. He was the glue that held this family together. He worshiped his older brother who was constantly leaving him. I think the fact that Noah was always leaving had a lot to to with why Chase put him on this pedestal. If he wasn't constantly leaving Chase, maybe he could have relaxed a bit. Noah was also a great character, surprisingly, I related to him a little more than Chase. I mentioned I have a large family (1 sister, 2 brothers) I'm the oldest. I resent this like crazy. My sister (who is number 2 in order) seems older than me. She's more responsible, people mistake her for the older one a lot and many times I feel like she is my older sister rather than the other way around. My parents don't get along, we're not even gonna go into that issue because I'll rant and you just don't need to hear that. The point is, instead of running like Noah, I retreated to my room. I get Noah. Boy do I get him. As for the younger siblings, I liked Claudia a lot, but I never believed her age. The novel encompasses 4 summers, she's 11 in the first and 14 by the end. She acts like she's 14 in the first one and goes on from there and no one says anything. Sure Chase and Noah once in a while tell her to chill and act her age but she and Chase's friend Shannon (who is a boy) have this weird dating relationship. Shannon is Chase's age, so by the time they actually date she is 14 and he is 17. He's talking about dating her every summer. What 15 year old wants to date an 11 year old? It was weird and it bothered me. I loved Gideon. And that is all I have to say about that.
Parts of this book annoyed me, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but I related it it so much, grew to care and love the characters that all in all, I loved it and was very glad I ignored the cover and read it. I would recommend you do so as well.
Edit 11/11/12 Re-read*
I was gonna delete all that and start over, because my feelings have changed a little, but I decided not too. I think I needed to read this one twice. I still haven't figured out why exactly.
But that is enough gripping on that.
I could relate a lot to this book. I have a semi big family, parents who sure as shit don't get along, an aunt who used to work at Perkins School for the Blind and Deaf (so as a kid I spent a lot of time with a select few of deaf and blind children) and almost every summer as a kid, we went to Cape Cod.
I liked Chase. I liked his voice, I liked him as a person, and he felt real to me. I'm just going to say this right now, all the Camus was a bit odd. I've read a lot of reviews and this seems to get the general thought. It wasn't completely unbelievable that these boy would become obsessed with an author and quote him constantly. As a teen, I did things like this all the time, I just thought with a few less long ass quotes, it would have been a little easier to take in as slightly more believable.
But anyway, back to Chase and the rest of the characters. Chase was the second child, but many times you would think he was the oldest. He was the glue that held this family together. He worshiped his older brother who was constantly leaving him. I think the fact that Noah was always leaving had a lot to to with why Chase put him on this pedestal. If he wasn't constantly leaving Chase, maybe he could have relaxed a bit. Noah was also a great character, surprisingly, I related to him a little more than Chase. I mentioned I have a large family (1 sister, 2 brothers) I'm the oldest. I resent this like crazy. My sister (who is number 2 in order) seems older than me. She's more responsible, people mistake her for the older one a lot and many times I feel like she is my older sister rather than the other way around. My parents don't get along, we're not even gonna go into that issue because I'll rant and you just don't need to hear that. The point is, instead of running like Noah, I retreated to my room. I get Noah. Boy do I get him. As for the younger siblings, I liked Claudia a lot, but I never believed her age. The novel encompasses 4 summers, she's 11 in the first and 14 by the end. She acts like she's 14 in the first one and goes on from there and no one says anything. Sure Chase and Noah once in a while tell her to chill and act her age but she and Chase's friend Shannon (who is a boy) have this weird dating relationship. Shannon is Chase's age, so by the time they actually date she is 14 and he is 17. He's talking about dating her every summer. What 15 year old wants to date an 11 year old? It was weird and it bothered me. I loved Gideon. And that is all I have to say about that.
Parts of this book annoyed me, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but I related it it so much, grew to care and love the characters that all in all, I loved it and was very glad I ignored the cover and read it. I would recommend you do so as well.
Edit 11/11/12 Re-read*
I was gonna delete all that and start over, because my feelings have changed a little, but I decided not too. I think I needed to read this one twice. I still haven't figured out why exactly.
kristid's review
2.0
I'm going to have to agree with the statement, "Not your typical beach read." In fact I wouldn't use the words beach read to describe this book at all. This isn't a fluffy mindless entertainment while you soak up the rays at the beach. This is a gritty and raw story of a dysfunctional family.
Hannah Moskowitz is a very talented writer, I enjoy her minimalistic style. And after reading and loving her debut novel Break, I was very excited to read her sophomore novel, Invincible Summer. Unfortunately the story line didn't deliver for me this time.
While there were elements of the story that I did enjoy, again Hannah's writing for one, the unsettling family dynamic, the characterization and Chase's voice as another..... they were overshadowed by things that didn't work for me. Like, the love triangle between Noah, Chase and Melinda and the constant quoting of Camus. I have to admit that anytime I noticed italicized writing I had to skip over those parts.... and Chase's need of Noah. It seemed somewhat unnatural, I understand that they were close siblings, but desperately missing him after he'd been gone for a few hours? Having siblings of my own, I just don't see that. But than again my family was semi-normal. :)
Overall, Invincible Summer is an intense story, featuring compelling characters in a heartbreaking situation. With Moskowitz's signature writing style, it's quite easy to devour the book in one setting.
Hannah Moskowitz is a very talented writer, I enjoy her minimalistic style. And after reading and loving her debut novel Break, I was very excited to read her sophomore novel, Invincible Summer. Unfortunately the story line didn't deliver for me this time.
While there were elements of the story that I did enjoy, again Hannah's writing for one, the unsettling family dynamic, the characterization and Chase's voice as another..... they were overshadowed by things that didn't work for me. Like, the love triangle between Noah, Chase and Melinda and the constant quoting of Camus. I have to admit that anytime I noticed italicized writing I had to skip over those parts.... and Chase's need of Noah. It seemed somewhat unnatural, I understand that they were close siblings, but desperately missing him after he'd been gone for a few hours? Having siblings of my own, I just don't see that. But than again my family was semi-normal. :)
Overall, Invincible Summer is an intense story, featuring compelling characters in a heartbreaking situation. With Moskowitz's signature writing style, it's quite easy to devour the book in one setting.
linamclane's review
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.