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stac_bend's review against another edition
4.0
Kristin Hannah is one of my comfort authors, so I had to read another book by her starting the new year. This wasn’t my favorite Kristin Hannah, but I still enjoyed it. I only felt it had so much build up with little resolve. I just wanted more from the ending after such a long haul.
obsidian_blue's review against another edition
4.0
"Summer Island' deals with a young woman Ruby who is estranged from her famous mother (Nora) and barely talks to her older sister and father who is long remarried with a new child. Readers are slowly walked through these two women's histories and we find out what Nora did to have her estranged from Ruby and partially estranged from her other daughter as well.
I liked the character of Ruby. She was feisty, but passionate. Also was totally in the wrong several times so I did feel for her. What was good though is that she didn't just stick her head in the sand when she slowly found out her mother's real history which led to her own. I do wonder though how she didn't see what was really going on? I think sometimes you see what you want, and this book takes a mirror up to those who believe that their childhoods were perfect and turns it on their head when it's revealed not so much.
I felt for Nora too though I wish we had gotten more involved with her storyline. I liked how the book focuses on Ruby with Nora coming along to give clarity to more and more. I wonder though why she didn't try sooner with Ruby though? Did she not just want to deal with rejection? Was it easier? Considering that Nora's job was an Agony Aunt of sorts it seems surreal she was advising other people on their lives when her life was really not this idealized thing. When Nora's past comes a calling, I think Hannah did a great job showing the repercussions of what would happen.
One reason why I gave this only four stars though, is that we don't spend much time with Ruby's sister (Caro) who was dealing with some very real things. I didn't like how her storyline ended up, since it felt tacked on (give everyone a happy ending). It would have worked for me if there was a sequel dealing with Caro and what was going on in her marriage and how she felt overwhelmed as a mother.
The other person this book focuses on is Ruby's old boyfriend Dean and his brother who is dying of cancer. I really wish that Dean had been cut out of the book. He added nothing to the story and I find it hard to believe based on what we see of him initially, that he was sitting around pining for his teenage girlfriend. He and Ruby really didn't have any chemistry, and I was more focused on the storyline focusing on Ruby and her mother, and then Ruby and her sister then with him.
The writing was really great and the book flowed wonderfully. We get to see the roller coaster of Ruby and Nora's relationship and how flawed things were and why neither one of them really wanted to revisit the past.
The setting of Summer Island in the San Juans didn't really get used that well. We had people go sailing and go to the beach once in while, but nothing else really. I would have liked the beach aspect or the small island life with people that both characters would have known get used a lot more.
I liked the character of Ruby. She was feisty, but passionate. Also was totally in the wrong several times so I did feel for her. What was good though is that she didn't just stick her head in the sand when she slowly found out her mother's real history which led to her own. I do wonder though how she didn't see what was really going on? I think sometimes you see what you want, and this book takes a mirror up to those who believe that their childhoods were perfect and turns it on their head when it's revealed not so much.
I felt for Nora too though I wish we had gotten more involved with her storyline. I liked how the book focuses on Ruby with Nora coming along to give clarity to more and more. I wonder though why she didn't try sooner with Ruby though? Did she not just want to deal with rejection? Was it easier? Considering that Nora's job was an Agony Aunt of sorts it seems surreal she was advising other people on their lives when her life was really not this idealized thing. When Nora's past comes a calling, I think Hannah did a great job showing the repercussions of what would happen.
One reason why I gave this only four stars though, is that we don't spend much time with Ruby's sister (Caro) who was dealing with some very real things. I didn't like how her storyline ended up, since it felt tacked on (give everyone a happy ending). It would have worked for me if there was a sequel dealing with Caro and what was going on in her marriage and how she felt overwhelmed as a mother.
The other person this book focuses on is Ruby's old boyfriend Dean and his brother who is dying of cancer. I really wish that Dean had been cut out of the book. He added nothing to the story and I find it hard to believe based on what we see of him initially, that he was sitting around pining for his teenage girlfriend. He and Ruby really didn't have any chemistry, and I was more focused on the storyline focusing on Ruby and her mother, and then Ruby and her sister then with him.
The writing was really great and the book flowed wonderfully. We get to see the roller coaster of Ruby and Nora's relationship and how flawed things were and why neither one of them really wanted to revisit the past.
The setting of Summer Island in the San Juans didn't really get used that well. We had people go sailing and go to the beach once in while, but nothing else really. I would have liked the beach aspect or the small island life with people that both characters would have known get used a lot more.
comfycozy_reader's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
4.5
cardschic1082's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite book by Kristin Hannah. A mother-daughter reunite as the mother has been in an accident and needs assistance. Ruby ends up taking care of her mother, whom she harbors a lot of resentment towards. Throughout the story, relationships (even outside the mother/daughter) are healed and past discretions are dealt with. I liked the book but it’s not my favorite.
hbdee's review against another edition
5.0
DEPICTION OF AN ISLAND COTTAGE
I laughed, I cried--I've read Kristin Hannah before, and often, but this is the first time she's used profanity and humor! And oh, how it works. You'll laugh, you'll cry; somehow she always nails a deep humanity I find endlessly encouraging despite what's happening in the world.
We have an omniscient observer following failed comedian Ruby Bridge, who carries an enormous chip on her shoulder about her mother having abandoned the family when she was 11. (From time to time, the narrative reverts to first person to tell Ruby's story.) In short, She hates her mother; she's tried to make a career of that, but either she's too, too bitter, or her delivery is wildly off the mark. She's convinced it's just the latter, but she is truthful when she finally visits her dying friend Eric, for the first time in many years:
"...'[H]ow’s the comedy biz?” She took a smaller drag this time, breathed in, held the smoke in her lungs, then released it. After that, they passed it back and forth. “I’m not funny enough to make it big.” “You’re a riot. You always cracked me up.” “Thanks, but that’s like being the prettiest girl in Paducah. It doesn’t make you Miss America. The funniest girl on Lopez Island isn’t going to knock ’em dead on Leno. Sad truth.” “Are you giving up on it?” “I guess so. I think I’ll try my hand at writing.” She giggled. “Get it—try my hand at writing.” Eric laughed with her. “It’s not like you can try your foot,” he said between bursts of laughter. They both knew it wasn’t funny, but just now, with the sweet smell of pot clouded between them, it seemed hilarious. “What kind of book will you write?” “Well, it won’t be on the joys of sex.” “And it won’t be on fashion.' ”
Her mother Nora Bridge, meanwhile, has become a famous--and, not coincidentally, vastly wealthy--"Dear Abby" sort, who gives heartfelt advice to strangers. She emphasizes the need to stick with family above all, but her adoring public has no idea that she--didn't. Meanwhile, she is regularly visiting the hospitalized young man dying of cancer, who still has a great sense of humor and is very well grounded in HIS humanity; at 31, Eric has been cruelly shunned by HIS vastly wealthy family, ever since coming out as a teen. He hasn't even spoken to his younger brother, formerly his bff, in many years. Here are two broken families: the Bridges and the Sloans, who grew up as neighbors on an idyllic island and lived happily as neighbors, until it all fell apart.
A final catastrophe strikes when Nora's former lover, with whom she'd had an affair while still married, decides to capitalize on her fame by publishing photos in which she'd posed nude for him. The hatred directed at her is immediate and inordinately staggering; her career is not only ruined in a day, but she is suddenly hounded everywhere she goes, with paparazzi even at her building's door. Emotionally destroyed, she gets drunk and drives her Mercedes into a tree. Once released from the hospital she will of course need help, with one leg in a cast and a wrist that won't do anything wrists do.
Nora flees to their old summer home on the island. Ruby is gently corraled by her older sister Caroline, to spend a week with their mom to help her get around; Caroline has her own family issues. Of course, Ruby must first clean the house that no one has been in since the family breakup. Surrounded by all the evidence of a once happy home, Ruby must try her hand at cooking for the first time. She must mind her tongue--but no, she won't do that. She'll inflict as much emotional trauma as she can, because SHE's the victim, here. In fact, she's only doing it because she's agreed to write and publish a poison piece to hurt her mom even more, replete with followup interviews on TV. With time together, however, Ruby's perspective begins to soften. Eric offers encouragement, after being not merely abandoned but also utterly disowned by his rich mother. He tells Ruby:
" 'I forgave my mom, and when I did that, my chest stopped hurting all the time.” “I don’t know how you couldforgive her. What she did—” “Was human, that’s all.” “What about now?” He sighed, pushed a hand through his hair. “It’s harder now. I realize how precious time is. I want just one moment with her to tell her I love her. To hear—” His voice broke, dropped to a whisper. “To hear her say she loves me.” Ruby turned to him, touched his face. He smiled, pressed his hand on top of hers. “Forgive your mother, Ruby.” “I’m afraid,” she said, using the words she rarely allowed herself to speak aloud. He let go of her arm. “Christ. Time is short, don’t you understand that? We bump along, blindly assuming we have forever to do things, say things...but we don’t. You can feel perfectly fine, and go to your annual checkup on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, and discover that your
time’s up. Game over.” She looked down at him. “How do you forgive someone?” He smiled tenderly. “You just...let go. Unclench.' ”
Hannah's sense of humor never fails:
"She experienced one of those rare moments when, for a split second, you see yourself through a stranger’s eyes. Her hair was too short, and raggedly cut, as if that stupid, gum-chewing, purple-haired girl at the beauty school had used pinking shears instead of scissors. What in God’s name had made Ruby choose to dye it Elvira Mistress-of-the-Night black? It made her skin look vampire-pale in comparison. No wonder she’d been unable to attract a decent guy. Laura Palmer looked better in Twin Peaks—and she’d washed up dead on the shore." Talk about looking "peaked!" I laughed out loud at the implied pun from which author Hannah so carefully restrained herself
There's a Q & A before her afterword, in which Hannah makes some cogent comments:
"...[H]olding one’s anger close is a bad thing that sabotages one’s ability to find happiness."
"I fell in love with Eric. He was the purest and most honest character in the book from the beginning, and yet he was the one who could not ultimately reconnect with his own family in the way he would have liked. Thus, he represents the tragedy of lost chances. I hated writing about his mother’s inability to accept him, but it was important in this novel to show the dark side, to remind Nora and Ruby about the brevity of life. Eric was a constant reminder that we don’t have an endless amount of time in which to change the course of our lives."
And this:
"I am fascinated by the way we Americans idolize—and then tear apart—our icons. It’s a fine line to walk if one is famous. You can be loved for very little and then hated for a misstep equally small. I love the bright lights and dark shadows of it." No other country does it like this, just one more indication of our national mental disorder.
Kristin Hannah is a gem especially for those of us who like some soap, along with ancient and still relevant truths, in their reading. I love her for it. Have tissues handy.
angeleestlife's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kourts_reads's review against another edition
4.0
what a sweet story about mending relationships, and appreciating what and who you have while you have them❤️ this is my first Kristin Hannah book and she writes so beautifully, i can’t wait read more!
lnetzel's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the author's book The Great Alone, which is a more recent work I believe. This book was an easy read but the characters did not resonate with me, as those of The Great Alone did. There is a lot stuffed into the flawed characters of this one, like Hannah was covering a lot of territory all in one story. There is alcoholism, infidelity, multiple instances of estrangement, a young character dying of cancer who is also gay, etc. It's all too much I think but I still finished it.
I didn't realize that this was originally published in 2001, and was dumfounded when the gay character was described as having this "lifestyle." Alas, a lot more people considered being gay as a choice of a lifestyle, like choosing to be a hermit, back in 2001.
I think Hannah's writing is of a higher quality now and she is likely more enlightened as well. Her characters in The Great Alone were much richer than this book. It only took me 10 days of nightstand reading to get this one done, so it's a good summer, or otherwise quick read because I fall asleep fast!
I didn't realize that this was originally published in 2001, and was dumfounded when the gay character was described as having this "lifestyle." Alas, a lot more people considered being gay as a choice of a lifestyle, like choosing to be a hermit, back in 2001.
I think Hannah's writing is of a higher quality now and she is likely more enlightened as well. Her characters in The Great Alone were much richer than this book. It only took me 10 days of nightstand reading to get this one done, so it's a good summer, or otherwise quick read because I fall asleep fast!