Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - One Italian Summer: A Novel

This book was such an amazing read! I read it leading up to and during my trip to Italy this summer, and I was reading during my brief visit to the Amalfi Coast, and this book captured the energy I got there perfectly! It was the perfect book to compliment the first part of my trip. I'm so happy I finally read this book, and I'm both very upset and very happy that I didn't read it sooner. I loved following Katy and watching how she navigates the grief of losing her mother, while also coming to some very important realizations about herself, her mother, and their relationship. It was a beautiful story set in a beautiful place. The writing in this book felt like the magic of the story, if that makes sense, and it made for a great experience. This book is quite the emotional read as well, as it does follow a main character who has just lost her mother, who she considered her best friend. As wonderful as it was to watch her navigate that, it was also very emotional to read as well.

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jessicabearbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

3.5

Every day the world is born again. Every day the sun rises. It is a miracle, I think. A simple, everyday miracle. Life.

This was the perfect summer read for sitting by the pool in the Italian sun. If you're looking for a quick, lighthearted read that's full of sunshine - read this. Rebecca Serle writes descriptions really well so I felt I was there with Katy the entire time. I was on the boat, I was in the hotel, I could feel the summer air (perhaps this is because I physically could but I believe Serle's writing had something to do with this also ;)

I wasn't a huge fan of Adam. I think he was a tad manipulative and clearly just wanted a summer fling. I didn't like the infidelity storyline but I understood why it was happening. That being said, Katy still made that choice and I don't like that it got swept under the rug and forgotten about.

The whole time travel plot was confusing. It was very clever but I think was a bit problematic and just difficult to understand.

Katy drinks so much wine oh my god. Every other page was her having a drink phaha. I tried not to judge but it was funny.

The plot twist was unexpected and a nice addition to the story - I felt the plot as a whole was potentially a little flat BUT I think the point of this story wasn't to have a heavy plot, but to make the reader feel something, and I did. I didn't sob like I thought as there really isn't as much Mother/Daughter heartbreak as is marketed I think. But the story and relationship is sweet none the less.

The quotes throughout are beautiful. This book was from the library but I'm for sure going to think about buying a copy to annotate next summer.

Majorie - Taylor Swift
Supermarket Flowers - Ed Sheeran

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strawb3rrysugar's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

3.0

If you like a comfy summer beach read that details delicious meals in a beautiful location, and you can get past the kind of monotonous character work and the main character's immaturity that borders on astounding at points, you'll like this book. The rush job the ending does plummeted this book from 4 stars to three for me. And if you're hoping for an explanation of how the book's time-travel mechanic works, you won't get one, unless Grief Vibes count.

I understand why the MC is the way she is, to an extent (though it borders on emotional incest very often) - she's intentionally built up an image of her mother in her head and has a hard time looking at the world without Mom-tinted glasses. But her exploration of this dynamic and the characters' development is incredibly surface level, and it feels like you're admiring a Pinterest board more than a person who haunts the narrative. Not an atrocious read, just kind of meh.

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mamasuereads's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No

2.5

I listened to the Audible audio and the narrator's voice did nothing to help me enjoy this story. I read this as my first read along on fable and because the title included the word summer. I was hoping the story would brighten but that did not happen for me. I do have to say, there is a lot of descriptive detail for both material items as well as Positano, Naples, and Capri Italy. There was just too much grief and relationship uncertainty in this book.

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mamasuereads's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No

2.5

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I thought this was well—written and interesting. I love the time-travel element in her books that isn’t super science-fictiony. I couldn’t connect with the characters as much as I would’ve liked, primarily I think because this is a story about a woman who has such a deep, abiding love for and affectionate relationship with her mother. As someone who has a difficult mother/daughter relationship I couldn’t imagine what this would be like — it almost seemed like fantasy. I did enjoy the setting of the novel and how the imagery brings to life Positano for the reader. I also liked that there were some parts that were real (the hotel and the people who work there). It is the type of book you don’t want to put down, however, which I love.

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theonlybaillie's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

There were so many parts of this book that I loved and so many that I really did not like. I loved the setting and descriptions of food/vibes. I enjoyed how the author wrote about emotions. I didn't enjoy the characters, unfortunately. I just found myself being incredibly annoyed by our MC and the lack of consequences for the things that she does in this book.

Spoiler opinions:

I hate a cheating trope. And I hate that there were no consequences for doing that. Her husband did not deserve that. He was nothing but supportive during her grieving, and he gave her the space she needed. He 100% deserves to know the truth. But it conveniently happened during the *magic period* so it apparently doesn't count to our MC. Okay.

So we will do an average of 3 stars.

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larissakoch's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.75

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