Reviews

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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kennnedyexe's review against another edition

3.0

this was going to be a 2 star but i liked the ending so i guess it can have a generous 2.5 (rounded up)
let's get into it
preface: i just think this wasnt really for me. someone who is more interested in cars and masculinity (?) might get more out of it. mainly cars though. you gotta really be into cars.
i love a flawed, unlikable main character. it is more interesting and makes for a better story usually. but the first like. 65% of this book was just SO aggravating. the main character (andrew) is so fucking stubborn and just such an asshole to people who are actively trying to help him??? and also. if you are here to investigate your friend's murder. WHY are you so unwilling to like, read his journals and talk to his friends or just like do anything useful?? it was so frustrating to read.
next, the drug name-dropping was just so... cringe? like i get it yall are "wild" OH MY GOD also the amount of driving under the influence. there are like maybe two times that we are told they drive with out being incredibly fucked up on one drug or another.
and speaking of cars....
I DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR STUPID UGLY CARS AND HOW FAST YOU CAN GO IN THEM
and the amount of car metaphors used in the writing?? i just uhg
and the whole toxic masculinity vibe was soooo painful. like we get it! they are big tough men who drive stupid cars and drink beer!
i did like the running gag of andrew describing every man he saw in painstaking detail and describing the women as "and there was a girl" and then being like "no im not gay!! what!" that was funny.
also some of the descriptions of things made me physically cringe. especially the singular sex scene.
and also a small thing but the random name brand drops throughout were so weird
but the ending i thought was pretty good and i do love folklore i just wish it had been more of a focus yknow? instead of ugly annoying stupid in depth descriptions of cars

cait_readsxox's review against another edition

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3.0

There were some parts where I felt like the story pacing was slow and I didn't care for what was happening. I honestly was going to dnf at the halfway point but I decided to push through. It was a good book and I enjoyed the ending. I definitely felt uneasy at the end scene with Dr troth and the ritual occult stuff. I would have liked more of that amped up creepy stuff. I would say that most of the horror elements didn't give me scary haunting vibes, I wanted more creepy scenes. I did enjoy the immaculate writing of this book. This is like 3.5 stars for me.

fox_bug's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

for the bitches who really loved the dream thieves. but scarier and a little sexy

liter_ely's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

ergocogitosum's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

scoobierubie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

To explain first, I think that Summer Sons was a 4 for me namely because it took a while to build up steam. The author really enjoyed languishing in their own metaphor, and while it worked most of the time and led to some beautiful descriptions and visuals, in the beginning they felt the need to describe a lot of the minutia of interactions to the point where it slowed down, in my eyes, both the characterization progress and the progress of the mystery. I can’t fully explain where this book clicked for me? But about halfway through it really sharply picked up steam and I was hooked from there to the end. The ending portion was truly so good and so emotionally cathartic and interesting that I can’t give this book below a 4, but at the same time the struggle I experienced getting into it in the beginning isn’t erased simply because the author stuck the landing. I would recommend this book? But recommendations will always come with the caveat of “give it time to get going.”

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