devyngian's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
4.0
Smart writing and well-drawn characters. The main character, 13-yr-old Riddle, was a bit of a brat at times, and at times I questioned her actions (or inactions), but I believed the story enough to get really into it. It had a good balance of mystery, romance, intrigue, and nostalgia.
starness's review against another edition
3.0
This is a story about families and the secrets held within and the devastating consequences because of them. This book is told from the point of view of 12 year old Riddle who is an only child thrust into the world of adults and adult problems and all the contentions of her difficult parents she is amidst their marital woes which start to slowly unravel and Riddle finds herself in the centre of it all. Riddle witnesses something untoward and doesn't completely understand what she sees and this is the crux of the main plot. At times it's overwritten and is often laid on thick and it doesn't seem like the language is suited to the main protagonist and doesn't feel natural or authentic but I did enjoy the razor sharp and quick witted insults delivered back and forth by her parents particularly from the mother Greer who has a ferocious acid tongue and doesn't hold back the insults. These people are rich pompous self absorbed and not nice people! The book drags and feels overly long at times and is over wordy which feels abit out of place for me. I read this as an audio so not sure if that's the reason I didn't completely connect with this book. It has some enjoyable moments for me but I found it lacked some oomph and believability.
76carrieanne's review against another edition
3.0
I won this on Goodreads Giveaways!
I found myself interested in this book from beginning to end. While I think many people may read this book and wonder why Riddle makes the choice to stay quiet, I can understand it. I think you have to realize that not only were her parents preoccupied most of the time, but this was set in 1972. The majority of kids and parents didn't have the open lines of communication that most do now. I thought the writing was sharp and witty - and in Gula's case, appropriately dark...
I found myself interested in this book from beginning to end. While I think many people may read this book and wonder why Riddle makes the choice to stay quiet, I can understand it. I think you have to realize that not only were her parents preoccupied most of the time, but this was set in 1972. The majority of kids and parents didn't have the open lines of communication that most do now. I thought the writing was sharp and witty - and in Gula's case, appropriately dark...
lazygal's review against another edition
2.0
Such a great idea: a near-teen see something she shouldn't, is too scared to tell (and convinces herself that she hasn't seen anything, really), but ultimately has to confront the horror. Meanwhile, family secrets are being revealed and lives being upended. Sadly, the overwrought, overly arch writing made this a difficult read (I was able to actually skip chunks and still follow the plot easily).
Riddle James Camperdown (named after Jimmy Riddle Hoffa) lives one of those genteely impoverished lives, with a servant and horses, on Cape Cod. Her father is running for Congress, disgusted by what's happening in Vietnam and with Watergate and unions, while her mother is a former actress who's trying too hard to sound like something from a Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn movie. Mom, Dad, the man who owns the estate next door (named Ginger, nicknamed Gin) and Michael Devlin were all friends as children, but as adults Dad and Michael aren't speaking, Michael jilted Mom at the altar (pre-marriage to Dad), and Gin's just been there. Why the friendships and engagements failed has implications for today ("today" being the 1970s) and All Comes Out during the book.
As I said, great premise but bad execution. Sentences like "skin so fair you could see the blood boil" don't make me want to keep on reading.
ARC provided by publisher.
Riddle James Camperdown (named after Jimmy Riddle Hoffa) lives one of those genteely impoverished lives, with a servant and horses, on Cape Cod. Her father is running for Congress, disgusted by what's happening in Vietnam and with Watergate and unions, while her mother is a former actress who's trying too hard to sound like something from a Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn movie. Mom, Dad, the man who owns the estate next door (named Ginger, nicknamed Gin) and Michael Devlin were all friends as children, but as adults Dad and Michael aren't speaking, Michael jilted Mom at the altar (pre-marriage to Dad), and Gin's just been there. Why the friendships and engagements failed has implications for today ("today" being the 1970s) and All Comes Out during the book.
As I said, great premise but bad execution. Sentences like "skin so fair you could see the blood boil" don't make me want to keep on reading.
ARC provided by publisher.
elizj____'s review against another edition
4.0
I wrote about this book in my blog: http://www.elliejerow.com/review-last-summer-camperdowns/
To sum up, don't listen to the haters re: Riddle's precocious vocabulary. She's a weird kid who is growing up with eccentric parents and without many other kids around. I loved the language of the book. It was a delight to read. I loved disappearing into the world of The Camperdowns for a while.
To sum up, don't listen to the haters re: Riddle's precocious vocabulary. She's a weird kid who is growing up with eccentric parents and without many other kids around. I loved the language of the book. It was a delight to read. I loved disappearing into the world of The Camperdowns for a while.
hmonkeyreads's review against another edition
3.0
I finished today and I'm still mulling it over. It's good, but I'm not quite sure how to rate it.
The mystery and the villian are creepy and wonderful and the characters are well drawn. I think my struggle was with the time period. The story takes place in 1972 but the whole thing seemed more old fashioned than that. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was in 1952 or some earlier time period.
Bottom line: secrets are nothing but trouble!
The mystery and the villian are creepy and wonderful and the characters are well drawn. I think my struggle was with the time period. The story takes place in 1972 but the whole thing seemed more old fashioned than that. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was in 1952 or some earlier time period.
Bottom line: secrets are nothing but trouble!
editrix's review against another edition
I liked this! It was way overwritten (a veritable hailstorm of metaphors) but delightfully so (the hailstones are marshmallows), and it was a bit like listening to a favorite song on repeat—it’s the same thing over and over and over again, but that’s what you’re going for. (Now, I don’t think that’s what the author was necessarily going for—were the characters supposed to be one-dimensional caricatures?—but that’s what *I* was going for as a reader because I found the one-dimensional characters fun to hang around with in an Emily Gilmore sort of way, and I wanted nothing more than to hear their limited few traits described in infinite showoffy ways.)
This wasn’t the best book ever, and the pacing was pretty slow for the genre, but I liked the atmosphere and social milieu (East Coast rich people swanning and quipping around their seaside mansions) and I’m always so (too?) forgiving of adolescent narrators, which...let’s just say it allows me to enjoy a wider range of stories. This was a bit like “Atonement” but written in Sharpie rather than fountain pen. Is this...did I find a “beach read” on accident?
This wasn’t the best book ever, and the pacing was pretty slow for the genre, but I liked the atmosphere and social milieu (East Coast rich people swanning and quipping around their seaside mansions) and I’m always so (too?) forgiving of adolescent narrators, which...let’s just say it allows me to enjoy a wider range of stories. This was a bit like “Atonement” but written in Sharpie rather than fountain pen. Is this...did I find a “beach read” on accident?
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
This was way too over-written for me to get more than fifty pages into it. It felt like Kelly was laboring to create excessively literary sentences and paragraphs and the result was unrealistic characters and a plot that was taking too long to develop. Not for me.
maryrobinson's review against another edition
2.0
There was so much good about this coming-of-age story – the wonderful setting on Cape Cod in upper- crust society, the sharp characterization of two glamorous parents who are smart and funny and unconventional, and, of course, the wildly precocious 12-year-old daughter Riddle – but there also were several factors that were problems.
I could not get over that Riddle was way too smart and articulate for her age or that, once the story got moving, there was just too much repetition - of both plot elements and moaning and groaning about the main dilemma involved. Yes it was unrealistic, but more important, it just got boring.
I could not get over that Riddle was way too smart and articulate for her age or that, once the story got moving, there was just too much repetition - of both plot elements and moaning and groaning about the main dilemma involved. Yes it was unrealistic, but more important, it just got boring.