Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

PLEASE READ THIS!!
As an asexual Canadian teenager this book meant the world to me (The main character is demisexual living in Saskatchewan). It talked about love, sex, race, and family in a way I've never seen before. This book was emotional in a slow, warm way, and the author poured so much love into the pages it shines through clearly. It's the perfect summer read, with long muggy days and delicious ice cream. Lou's journey is about accepting herself and her culture, and the relationships with the people around her- but it' so much more than that. This is a story that will stick with me.

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ntripp's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I enjoyed this book more than I expected too. I highly recommend people check it out. I'd say high school ages and up.

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midnight_rain0302's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense 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? No

4.75

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librarybookscene's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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libscote's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Lou knows that her birth is from a horrible event in her mother's past. She's kept secrets herself, and now she's carrying a big one--her birth father is out of jail and trying to contact her. He shows up different places, leaves her letters. Additionally, her friend King is back in town, and that brings up a lot of confusing feelings. What do they mean to each other? This story deals with the heartbreaking way Native people have been treated, and although this story takes place on the Canadian plains, it's definitely relevant to the United States as well.

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szucker6's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

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klutzykara's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

The coming of age story of an Indigenous teenage girl in Canada (Métis like the author herself) and the trauma, racism, discrimination, & abuse they face is an important one. I am always wanting to read more from Indigenous authors and would be interested to read more from Jen Ferguson in the future if I thought the below wouldn't be an issue.

My overall enjoyment of the story was sadly dampened by the way other topics (of identity&mental health, not the above topics) were handled. I didn't want to give this story a bad rating because Indigenous stories are so important, but because of the harm I felt and fear others could fear I feel I need to.

I was upset by the way Lou's best friend, Florence, was treated. Her manic behavior is described and glossed over, sometimes pointing out how it makes her flaky, drink too much, & cheat on her girlfriend, as well as references to not being on her meds. Yet, Lou never wants to be the one to reach out and check on her. She was cast aside, it felt like, and treated badly by the character and portrayed negatively in the writing for too long. As someone affected by this, I think that if you can't address it with care and compassion, it should not be included. I had heard it would be in the story, and knew it probably wouldn't make me feel good, but it still hurt & the story's effects stick with me.

I also think Lou's feelings that her identity (asexuality/demisexual) was a result of the trauma (her own & generational) were understandable and valid, and important to work through, but I think it may have become more harmful than helpful for some readers as it takes a while to get to Lou work through it. It would have helped a lot to have Lou to have this conversation earlier (& perhaps not with King but a family member even? It felt kind of like he was mansplaining although that could just be me and could have been better from a family member) and also for other characters' bisexuality to be discussed with more respect.. King was very flippant about it and Florence was once again not treated with much empathy.

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