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kristina_h's review
4.0
With six different points of view, The Gypsy Moth Summer reminds me of an overgrown garden, where characters’ lives are like tangled roots that weave in and out of one another, desperate to feed and bloom.
Fierro’s prose is thick with detail; I often had to reread sentences several times, not an easy feat for a novel so long. Deconstructing her heavy sentences was worth it, however; I was transported back to the 90’s, mostly through the young and impressionable Maddie, ripe with the culture of her decade. At times the vernacular felt forced, but not enough to detract from the story. Fierro’s robust descriptions made me I feel like I could pick each of her characters out in a crowd of millions. Not that I would want to; each of them with their own buried secrets, some deeper and darker than others.
At times the novel barely crept along, like a newly sown seed. At other times it seemed rushed, blooming overnight. And so much, maybe too much, happened in those last pages; as if someone took a weed wacker to the garden, hungry and merciless.
In the end, I wouldn’t mind rereading The Gypsy Moth Summer and spending more time in Fierro’s fine, albeit dense, garden.
Fierro’s prose is thick with detail; I often had to reread sentences several times, not an easy feat for a novel so long. Deconstructing her heavy sentences was worth it, however; I was transported back to the 90’s, mostly through the young and impressionable Maddie, ripe with the culture of her decade. At times the vernacular felt forced, but not enough to detract from the story. Fierro’s robust descriptions made me I feel like I could pick each of her characters out in a crowd of millions. Not that I would want to; each of them with their own buried secrets, some deeper and darker than others.
At times the novel barely crept along, like a newly sown seed. At other times it seemed rushed, blooming overnight. And so much, maybe too much, happened in those last pages; as if someone took a weed wacker to the garden, hungry and merciless.
In the end, I wouldn’t mind rereading The Gypsy Moth Summer and spending more time in Fierro’s fine, albeit dense, garden.
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
3.0
Finished reading: June 2nd 2017
"What good are the rules," Jules asked, "the laws, moral this and that, when you can't follow them and protect your family at the same time?"
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
Spoiler
Ever since I first heard about The Gypsy Moth Summer I've been intrigued by this story. I've heard lots of interesting things about it since I first added it to my list, but somehow it has taken me months to actually pick it up. One of the reasons is probably that I tend to have mixed reactions when it comes to literary fiction... And unfortunately The Gypsy Moth Summer ended up being one of those books where the genre just didn't work for me. I really wanted to like this story and the plot is without doubt both intriguing and well developed. I liked the idea behind the island of Avalon, its history and all events leading up to its 'climax' during the summer of 1992. Why wasn't my reading experience better then, would you wonder? First of all, during the whole length of this story I found myself unable to connect to the characters OR get used to the writing style, which put a mayor damper on things. I'm not saying this story isn't well written, but it's what you call an acquired taste or at least doesn't appeal to everyone. It just all felt a bit too chaotic to my taste and I personally struggled with this story. I understand the gypsy moth information bits are used to bind the plot together and these insects play a both a literal and symbolic role in the story, but unfortunately they mostly ended up distracting from the plot. And as for the characters: like I said before I found it impossible to warm up to them and I couldn't really appreciate the liberal use of sex, drugs and alcohol in the story without consequences either. It might be that those elements are used to symbolize the chaos unfolding on the island, but it mostly made me dislike the characters even more. All in all The Gypsy Moth Summer definitely wasn't for me... But if you enjoy reading literally fiction and like the sound of this story, don't let my review discourage you.
It's the summer of 1992 on Avalon, a small islett off the coast of Long Island. The normally quiet island is being invaded by gypsy moths, the caterpillars eating everything that they can find and becoming a true plague. The insects are becoming one of the main topics of conversation on the island, but that is not the only thing the islanders talk about. Leslie Day Marshall, the daughter of Avalon's most prominent family, returns to the island with her husband and children. Nothing special would you say, but the fact is that Leslie's husband Jules is African-American and the island is packed with predominantly white conservatives quick to form their opinions about the family... And than there is the topic of the factory and the graffiti.
I really wanted to enjoy this story and I still think the plot itself is both rich, provoking and fascinating, but unfortunately The Gypsy Moth Summer ended up being one of those titles that just isn't for me. Literary fiction can go either way with me in general, so that might just have been the problem here; if you enjoy the genre I would suggest still giving this story a go. That said, I couldn't ignore the chaotic feel of the storytelling, my lack of connection to the characters, certain elements that bothered me or the fact I couldn't warm up to the writing style.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
sbufkin's review
2.0
This showed up on a list of fun beach reads and something about the description pulled me in. I was initially taken with it, but the whole thing descended into absurd melodrama. That's bad enough, but the unforgivable part for me is the way the novel treated the black characters, using their experiences for sensation value without adequately presenting their interiority.
lindseycstraub's review
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
This book has everything: sex, drugs, murder and botany, set to the audible chewing of a defoliating plague of moths. If that doesn't get your attention, there's nostalgia-inducing early 90's teen pop culture references, forbidden lovers, a pot-smoking septuagenarian and a steadily growing sense of dread that culminates in a shocking ending.
This book has everything: sex, drugs, murder and botany, set to the audible chewing of a defoliating plague of moths. If that doesn't get your attention, there's nostalgia-inducing early 90's teen pop culture references, forbidden lovers, a pot-smoking septuagenarian and a steadily growing sense of dread that culminates in a shocking ending.
amandalorianxo's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The writing itself wasn’t bad. I liked the throwback to the 90’s but it felt like too many subplots were being merged into one book.
amos0924's review
3.0
I was lucky to receive this as a Goodreads ARC giveaway. I enjoyed how the author captured the authentic voice of teenagers and small town politics, in this coming of age story
_ainsley's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
honestly i read it in a day and i’m still a little confused about the ending? so much happened all at once for me. it was a good book but i just don’t understand why it was all just thrown in at the end i was like, there needs to be more pages for what just happened and it lacked that detail.
sonnetical's review
3.0
Hm, what to say?
I read this because a friend mentioned this was her favorite and I truly wanted to read it then and there and find out what she liked about this book that has such a dreamy title.
I liked Julia Fierro's narrative style, her prose was easy to understand although a little vague at times. There were memorable characters like Veronica and Brooks. There were characters which seemed too flat and were left undeveloped. I did like how she shows the gap between people's perspectives and their understanding of how the world goes on. The relationships were portrayed with the rawness that you find in them in reality. However, the ending felt too forced and rushed. Too open-ended, perhaps. A lot happened towards the end and it seemed so fast paced all of a sudden.
All in all, it was a nice read. It had its flaws but there were things to like as well.
I read this because a friend mentioned this was her favorite and I truly wanted to read it then and there and find out what she liked about this book that has such a dreamy title.
I liked Julia Fierro's narrative style, her prose was easy to understand although a little vague at times. There were memorable characters like Veronica and Brooks. There were characters which seemed too flat and were left undeveloped. I did like how she shows the gap between people's perspectives and their understanding of how the world goes on. The relationships were portrayed with the rawness that you find in them in reality. However, the ending felt too forced and rushed. Too open-ended, perhaps. A lot happened towards the end and it seemed so fast paced all of a sudden.
All in all, it was a nice read. It had its flaws but there were things to like as well.