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A review by klutzykara
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
The coming of age story of an Indigenous teenage girl in Canada (Métis like the author herself) and the trauma, racism, discrimination, & abuse they face is an important one. I am always wanting to read more from Indigenous authors and would be interested to read more from Jen Ferguson in the future if I thought the below wouldn't be an issue.
My overall enjoyment of the story was sadly dampened by the way other topics (of identity&mental health, not the above topics) were handled. I didn't want to give this story a bad rating because Indigenous stories are so important, but because of the harm I felt and fear others could fear I feel I need to.
I was upset by the way Lou's best friend, Florence, was treated. Her manic behavior is described and glossed over, sometimes pointing out how it makes her flaky, drink too much, & cheat on her girlfriend, as well as references to not being on her meds. Yet, Lou never wants to be the one to reach out and check on her. She was cast aside, it felt like, and treated badly by the character and portrayed negatively in the writing for too long. As someone affected by this, I think that if you can't address it with care and compassion, it should not be included. I had heard it would be in the story, and knew it probably wouldn't make me feel good, but it still hurt & the story's effects stick with me.
I also think Lou's feelings that her identity (asexuality/demisexual) was a result of the trauma (her own & generational) were understandable and valid, and important to work through, but I think it may have become more harmful than helpful for some readers as it takes a while to get to Lou work through it. It would have helped a lot to have Lou to have this conversation earlier (& perhaps not with King but a family member even? It felt kind of like he was mansplaining although that could just be me and could have been better from a family member) and also for other characters' bisexuality to be discussed with more respect.. King was very flippant about it and Florence was once again not treated with much empathy.
My overall enjoyment of the story was sadly dampened by the way other topics (of identity&mental health, not the above topics) were handled. I didn't want to give this story a bad rating because Indigenous stories are so important, but because of the harm I felt and fear others could fear I feel I need to.
I was upset by the way Lou's best friend, Florence, was treated. Her manic behavior is described and glossed over, sometimes pointing out how it makes her flaky, drink too much, & cheat on her girlfriend, as well as references to not being on her meds. Yet, Lou never wants to be the one to reach out and check on her. She was cast aside, it felt like, and treated badly by the character and portrayed negatively in the writing for too long. As someone affected by this, I think that if you can't address it with care and compassion, it should not be included. I had heard it would be in the story, and knew it probably wouldn't make me feel good, but it still hurt & the story's effects stick with me.
I also think Lou's feelings that her identity (asexuality/demisexual) was a result of the trauma (her own & generational) were understandable and valid, and important to work through, but I think it may have become more harmful than helpful for some readers as it takes a while to get to Lou work through it. It would have helped a lot to have Lou to have this conversation earlier (& perhaps not with King but a family member even? It felt kind of like he was mansplaining although that could just be me and could have been better from a family member) and also for other characters' bisexuality to be discussed with more respect.. King was very flippant about it and Florence was once again not treated with much empathy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault