A review by henyouise
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have very strong feelings both ways for this book- so I've compiled a list.
BEWARE! SPOILERS BELOW!
Spoiler
Pros: The setting is STUNNING. I loved all the descriptions of Positano and it did make me look up flights to Italy.I also liked the ending it felt nice to see Katy take someone else's feelings into account. And the final moments on the boat was so precious.
Cons: Time travel?? How did we get to 1992? Maybe I don't understand magical realism but that was a weird bomb to drop 4/5 of the way through the book.
For most of the book Katy is so wildly selfish. I get that she's supposed to be grieving and that we all grieve differently but it just felt like she was abandoning Eric/her whole life because she couldn't deal with her mom dying. She's weirdly attached to her mom for most of the novel and needs to go to therapy.
For a long time I wanted to give this book 2 stars but it wraps up nicely and didn't make me angry to read anymore. So 3/5 stars
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content