Reviews

The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

ahepp's review

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

soliteyah's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I was occasionally confused by the different timelines (it didn't help that there were different people with the same names), but the book got more immersive as it went on.

bsmith27's review

3.0

Fairly good story about a small island off of New England, where the difference between rich and the Summers and the poor for the Portuguese a large. Tell the story of star-crossed lovers and siblings. It starts with the wedding of a rich mogul and new stepfather. The narrator is the step-daughter and newcomer to the island. She falls in love with a Portuguese fisherman. But of course she thinks her sister is in love with him. After a long time it comes out that Isabel the sister and the Portuguese fisherman are actually siblings and whenever in love. In the middle the Portuguese fisherman is accused of killing the stepdaughters stepfather andgoes to jail for many years. Difficult storyline to follow because it jumps between two and sometimes three timelines. The author spends more time on one of the timelines making it difficult to follow the Portuguese timer. It is a good novel overall not awesome.

petealis's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

doesitcomeinabook's review

2.0

Kinda boring and not especially well written - one might call it wordy for the sake of being wordy. I didn't enjoy the characters for the most part, and the plot has one too many "I can't have him but at least our love bore fruits" for me to be able to ignore.
Lastly, as a portuguese woman, I can attest to the names being out of place for a community of immigrants (not a João around, weird surnames and names that indeed exist, but are really uncommon). Every time the author spoke of the portuguese culture and tradition I rolled my eyes.

Now, for the positive parts, I was curious and interested for a while after the murder took place, and I enjoyed Joseph and Miranda's relationship in the past timeline.

hrhindle's review

dark sad tense medium-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

3.0

annamk1704's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

immabehazzie's review

4.0

I didn’t really know what to expect. I just saw that it was recommended to me a while ago. The writing was elegant and the story was mesmerizing. Reading it felt like a daytime soap opera, which I actually liked because heavens know I love daytime soap operas.

The story felt predictable but at the same time I didn’t really know where it was going. I don’t know how I felt about that. But I did like how the story is told from alternating time periods and by two different women. This was definitely a good book.

slsteele's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

teneke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.25