Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - One Italian Summer

This was hard to read because I found nursing grieving my own mother all throughout it, yearning to know her in her youth, wanting to hold her and tell her how proud I am of her and how proud I am to be her daughter. If only I too could get a do over…a book about how mothers and daughters can and it to be for each other.

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lavatea's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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graceboyd's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Awful. Goodreads has the in depth review

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cakeroo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

For my fellow Gilmore Girls fans- Lauren Graham narrates the audiobook version of One Italian Summer and she does an amazing job.

The originality of the plot of One Italian Summer appealed to me quite a bit, but nothing else lived up to my expectations. The characters were boring and their experiences read a bit like wish fulfillment (with the exception of the mother's death). Who wouldn't want to spend a summer in Italy eating amazing food, drinking wine all day, going dancing, falling for a handsome & wealthy stranger? The heavier aspects of the novel were overshadowed by the romantic ideal of an Italian summer. In addition to being boring, I found some of the characters' actions to be reprehensible.

Spoiler

The main character cheats on her husband but it isn't treated as such. The main character's mother abandons her infant daughter to party in Italy for a summer and everyone excuses this behavior after the initial (and very short lived) feeling of betrayal. Personally, I think it's dangerous and reductive to contribute to the narrative that a woman's life and sense of self stops the moment she has a child. Women continue to be individuals after becoming mothers. They can also continue to change and grow without having to abandon their families. I think there is much more to be gained in having children than lost, and it would have been nice if the book had explored that more

.

I think the author's writing really shined when she wrote about grief. The passages about Katy's depression during her mother's illness, and the subsequent anger and grief, were really moving. She didn't shy away from the dark thoughts that can come from grieving. I also enjoyed her descriptions of setting. In the end, I think this author is probably a decent writer and I will likely give her another chance.

Edit: I knocked this down from 2.5 to 2 stars because I remembered that Katy unironically mentions shopping at Erewhon.

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butle2em's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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reasek's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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ktv's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Really liked this. It was a chill book. This was my first audiobook too, and I was addicted to it. I've literally never gotten thru a book so fast.
The spicy scenes weren't even spicy but I was still in shock, jaw dropped, hand over my mouth and everything. I think it was mostly due to it being narrated to me.
6/6/23 edit: this wasn't as good as i thought immediately after reading. i decided to change my rating because i recently finished tfgsc. i didn't take that much off the original rating (4.25) because of the fact that it was my first audiobook and i had a good experience with it.

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