Seventeen-year-old Saoirse has finished with exams and is facing a long hot summer before uni. She plans to party, get drunk, watch horror movies and forget all her troubles by kissing girls. Ever since the breakupocalypse with her ex Hannah, she’s been alone and angry, dealing with the hole left in her family by her sick mother’s absence. Worse, Dad drops a bombshell: he’s remarrying at the end of the summer. Enter the scene: Ruby, who might just be the prettiest girl Saoirse’s ever seen. A romcom fan and a believer in true love, Ruby challenges cynical Saoirse to try a summer romance with the serious parts left out, just like in the movies. But what happens when the falling in love montage ends?
Lucky Find
I couldn’t pass by this book when I spotted it in a second-hand store. Although I’d never read anything by the author, I’d seen this book online and the cover and synopsis drew me in. I prefer male queer romances and have barely read any sapphic ones, which I wanted to challenge and change. This summer romance offered me this chance! I initially believed it to be just that, a light-hearted summer romance with some heart break and a lot of make-up. This book nonetheless surprised me with its intensity and emotionality.
Sometimes it occurred to me that I might not end up like Mum, that I could spend decades waiting for the disease to take hold and it never would. I wouldn’t know if I’d wasted half my life until it was too late. Which was worse? – page 258
Summer of Love
Saoirse is probably the most cynical and pessimistic character I have ever read. Which is not meant as a negative note because she has enough reason to be. She was recently broken up with by her best friend gone girlfriend and cut another friend out of her life due to feeling betrayed by her. So, she enters the summer vacation with one simple rule: have fun but don’t kiss any lesbian or bi girls who could want more. Because Saoirse is done with falling in love. Additionally, her dad just got engaged to his new girlfriend although her mother is still somewhat in the game. I was especially drawn in by these early revelations and explanations. Saoirse thus struggles to keep herself together on several fronts. But Ruby somehow knows how to get her out of her bad mood, although not directly to open to her.
Over and over again I kept settling into a new way of living. I’d reel and then adapt and just when I thought I knew what life was going to be now, it threw something else at me. I thought I was living on a roller coaster like everyone else, ups and downs, but my life was more like emotional dodgeball and I kept getting hit. And yet again, like at all the worst moments of my life, I had nowhere to turn. – page 311
Romance and Frustration
I think frustration is one of Saoirse’s dominant feelings in this summer. She is stuck in a life that doesn’t really makes sense to her anymore. That is not to say that she is suicidal. Instead, she has lost her drive after feeling abandoned and feeling guilty for abandoning a loved one herself. This book nicely balances the feeling of falling in love and the fear of loosing another person and yourself. It was way less light-hearted than expected but certainly also has many hilarious moments. I early on felt especially interested in Oliver and he turned out to be a great side character and a loyal friend. We get to witness some of his self-discovery but foremost accompany Saoirse on her way to excepting the unpredictability of life. I also appreciate the book’s happy ending of sorts that is nonetheless way more realistic than most fiction.
In conclusion
Expecting a more light-hearted story, it took me quite a while to get into the right mood for this book. Once I got to appreciate Saoirse’s emotional struggles, I found many important messages and heart-felt dialogues in this summer romance. It was surely more than that!
The author:
Ciara Smyth studied drama, teaching, and then social work at university. She thought she didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up. She became a writer so she wouldn’t have to grow up.
She enjoys jigging (verb: to complete a jigsaw puzzle), playing the violin badly, and having serious conversations with her pets. Ciara has lived in Belfast for over ten years and still doesn’t really know her way around. Source