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A review by kbusemeyer
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The ending definitely saved the book a bit for me but I still didn’t love it. My favorite thing about the book was the way Positano was written about; I think the author did a great job at capturing the magical atmosphere and immersing the reader in Italy.
I found the whole thing with Adam extremely weird, even if it was “30 years in the past”. It felt really icky to read about and then for Eric to show up and Katy to suddenly remember that she does love him and they reunite even though she technically slept with Adam a few days ago.
The switch between present and past was really well done, like I kind of had an inkling from a few things (the phone and Adam not knowing some popular things) but it never felt like it was an obvious thing.
I hated the conflict, it felt contrived and like it was only there so Katy could have the revelation later that her mom doesn’t belong to her or her family. Also there was a lot of building to Katy realizing that she didn’t ask enough questions about her mom to get to know her that I found more convincing.
I think it was probably just a culmination of the grief and the shock of realizing her mom left while she was still young, but still.
Overall, maybe I just didn’t super connect to a woman whose identity was completely tied to her mothers. I think the grief and self-discovery piece was nice, but all the elements together just didn’t do it for me I guess. Although I do want to visit Italy and the Amalfi coast now!
I found the whole thing with Adam extremely weird, even if it was “30 years in the past”. It felt really icky to read about and then for Eric to show up and Katy to suddenly remember that she does love him and they reunite even though she technically slept with Adam a few days ago.
The switch between present and past was really well done, like I kind of had an inkling from a few things (the phone and Adam not knowing some popular things) but it never felt like it was an obvious thing.
I hated the conflict, it felt contrived and like it was only there so Katy could have the revelation later that her mom doesn’t belong to her or her family. Also there was a lot of building to Katy realizing that she didn’t ask enough questions about her mom to get to know her that I found more convincing.
I think it was probably just a culmination of the grief and the shock of realizing her mom left while she was still young, but still.
Overall, maybe I just didn’t super connect to a woman whose identity was completely tied to her mothers. I think the grief and self-discovery piece was nice, but all the elements together just didn’t do it for me I guess. Although I do want to visit Italy and the Amalfi coast now!
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death