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A review by donnaeve
The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel
4.0
The ending was not what I expected.
I read McDaniel's sophomore book, BETTY, before this one and it was my favorite of 2020. Actually, I don't pick favorites but in this case I did. That was a knock your sox off story. I wrote a review for it for the New York Journal of Books, which you can find here:
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/betty-novel
I always pop in and out of Goodreads to make little quips as I read a book, dropping thought nuggets as to how I'm getting along in the story, revealing what I'm thinking about. As to why this isn't a 5 star read - and I fully expected it to be after BETTY - mostly has to do with some of the writing and some of the storyline. Like I'd hinted at in my little truth bombs periodically, there were certain sentences I couldn't get into. This isn't the author's fault. And, I should add, there were more gorgeous sentences that made up for those I scratched my head over. In some ways, it was almost like she was riffing and playing with words just to see. And that's also called art.
A couple examples:
"I wondered if their child would look like a muscled dove, the build of it's father and mother."
"Watching the way that strand of damp hair fell across his eye, like a sort of whole world holding."
There were scenes where the wonderful world building painted stunning, vivid colors in my mind. The character development was a natural progression, realistic and insightful. The idea of the story was unique, so fresh. I loved Sal - his name a cross between Satan and Lucifer. Quirky. interesting characters abounded, from Fielding to Grand, to Autopsy (how's that for a name) to Stella, to Fedelia and on. What a brilliant idea, to have the devil come and spend time among a family. What a surprise to find myself loving that devil, with his poetic, and ancient wisdom tucked away in the body of a thirteen year old black kid.
What took that fifth star? Maybe some of those odd sentences I couldn't get my head around, but honestly, I think it was that ending, where I thought, huh? why go this route?
Many times I've read other reviews where a reviewer might say something like "the author seemed rushed" or "the author didn't seem to know how to end their story" etc. While I thought McDaniel's ending could have gone differently, using one that would have left a mystery in the readers mind, one that could have married the other elements of the novel's magical essence and then matched it up to the conclusion, I think the way an author chooses to end her book is her business, and hers alone. I think to say it's rushed, or they didn't know where to go might be true for some, but in this case, I sense that McDaniel is careful with her choices.
This is why writing is art, and why we read the art, and why we think about the art, and why we can never say it ought to have been this, or that. That wouldn't be art, and I do think McDaniel is a very skillful artist of words.
Highly recommend.
I read McDaniel's sophomore book, BETTY, before this one and it was my favorite of 2020. Actually, I don't pick favorites but in this case I did. That was a knock your sox off story. I wrote a review for it for the New York Journal of Books, which you can find here:
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/betty-novel
I always pop in and out of Goodreads to make little quips as I read a book, dropping thought nuggets as to how I'm getting along in the story, revealing what I'm thinking about. As to why this isn't a 5 star read - and I fully expected it to be after BETTY - mostly has to do with some of the writing and some of the storyline. Like I'd hinted at in my little truth bombs periodically, there were certain sentences I couldn't get into. This isn't the author's fault. And, I should add, there were more gorgeous sentences that made up for those I scratched my head over. In some ways, it was almost like she was riffing and playing with words just to see. And that's also called art.
A couple examples:
"I wondered if their child would look like a muscled dove, the build of it's father and mother."
"Watching the way that strand of damp hair fell across his eye, like a sort of whole world holding."
There were scenes where the wonderful world building painted stunning, vivid colors in my mind. The character development was a natural progression, realistic and insightful. The idea of the story was unique, so fresh. I loved Sal - his name a cross between Satan and Lucifer. Quirky. interesting characters abounded, from Fielding to Grand, to Autopsy (how's that for a name) to Stella, to Fedelia and on. What a brilliant idea, to have the devil come and spend time among a family. What a surprise to find myself loving that devil, with his poetic, and ancient wisdom tucked away in the body of a thirteen year old black kid.
What took that fifth star? Maybe some of those odd sentences I couldn't get my head around, but honestly, I think it was that ending, where I thought, huh? why go this route?
Many times I've read other reviews where a reviewer might say something like "the author seemed rushed" or "the author didn't seem to know how to end their story" etc. While I thought McDaniel's ending could have gone differently, using one that would have left a mystery in the readers mind, one that could have married the other elements of the novel's magical essence and then matched it up to the conclusion, I think the way an author chooses to end her book is her business, and hers alone. I think to say it's rushed, or they didn't know where to go might be true for some, but in this case, I sense that McDaniel is careful with her choices.
This is why writing is art, and why we read the art, and why we think about the art, and why we can never say it ought to have been this, or that. That wouldn't be art, and I do think McDaniel is a very skillful artist of words.
Highly recommend.