Four Summer Book Reviews – Is a Rave Review Everything?

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Summer reading and summer book reviews go hand-in-hand.

I will try to make my thoughts on each book as concise and nice as possible.

I have to say a few things here.

The first is that I bought two books last summer as a challenge to get out of a reading rut.

Blame it on social media and the shrinking attention span of the masses, or the fact that I almost majored in English and journalism and hence (for a time) had ruined my love of reading for a good decade or both.

But here we are.

Embracing a Good Beach Read – Hits & Some are Maybe Not for Me

Slowly embracing the slow burn of a good book, but also trudging through hate reading other books.

I have only hate read once before — the Faerie Queen is absolute torture to read.

Awful (please don’t hate me for voicing my opinion that nobody asked for). 

I read the books slowly, rolling my eyes at times because I was not too fond of some of the books for some of the time that I was reading them.

Do not fear — they do have artistically redeeming qualities, and I would not have known that if I had put them down mid-read.

Two books I started last summer and finished this summer that I was easily able to put each down and re-enter their worlds without having to re-read — I remembered the plot, and so that has to mean something, right?

Let’s dive Into these books, shall we?

Happy Place by Emily Henry

I purchased this book mid-spring last year, as I typed “beach reads” into the Apple bookstore search bar.

Reading through a handful of options —

Selecting “Happy Place” seemed to be a no-brainer as I thought this would be the best option for getting out of a reading rut.

I could not have been more wrong.

While reading “Happy Place,” I had flashbacks to the film “10 Things I Hate About You” and the guidance counselor’s line where she is sitting at the desk waiting for Kat —

Typing away and pausing, only to audibly decide on the words —

“Quivering member” (it did have a similar style of writing at times, and I had to laugh).

Rave Review or Not – Summer Book Reads

I really tried to like this book — I really did!

It had rave reviews (at first glance the year prior).

Recently, I revisited the reviews, and people are split on this book.

Some people love it, and others hate it.

As a summer read, I found it to be based on a really under-developed main character.

Beach reads (not her other book — just a beach read book in general) should require less brain power as you follow the conversations along (IMO).

I found this to be a maze of conversation that, most of the time led to nowhere —

Often leaving conversations that as a reader, felt unnecessary and anti-climatic.

This is, of course, the entire point, and is an artistically driven choice (but you don’t find that out until later in the book).

Conversational pieces in this book are a ping-pong event between the lead observing others and the supporting characters carrying the brunt of the storyline through conversation and reactions.

It does feel a bit like reading someone’s diary who doesn’t know themselves very well and can’t speak their mind (all things that are explained in the book).

Read Happy Place for the Ending

However, this book does end on a happy note (hence the title), and I did enjoy it around the last hundred pages.

So, I am glad I stuck it out.

However, it was not an easy book for me to finish, and I thought about quitting it entirely (throughout my time reading it).

Maybe as a 20-something, I would have enjoyed it more.

It is a coming-of-age story focusing on expectations of self and of others.

There is a great, underlying message to the story —

It just drags on in places, and I found it to be a bit much at times.

I even found myself wanting to re-order the chapters to captivate the reader’s attention more (the reader is me) —

Something I have never done while reading a book in my life.

On a greater scale, I really liked that I didn’t find the bones of the book until the end.

There is nothing worse than giving a book a full read and finding that there was (in fact) nothing holding the storyline together. 

In the end, the book does save itself.

Perseverance to understand the writing was pretty cool.

I give it 5/10 stars on my summer reading list.

Wednesday’s at One

This book grabs you pretty quickly.

Even after reading the synopsis, you cannot wait to pick it up and fully commit to the book.

The main character is absolutely a head case who is also a therapist –A therapist without boundaries, yet has created a wall between himself and those he cares most about.

Or does he?

As you read the book, you really begin to dislike the lead character for how self-absorbed he is towards his wife and children.

You cannot help but have empathy for the main character in his internalized chaos —

But you also realize in the same book that he is willing to lose everything because he loves himself more than his family.

I have never hated the main character of a book more than I did in this book.

What I loved about the story is that there is redemption for him, forgiveness even.

Will he take it?

Who is this mysterious woman who knows of his past?

Guess you’ll have to read the book.

I give this book 7/10 stars because it is interesting, even if the main character is the most unaware/self-aware/obsessed person you’ll read about for a mile.

But he’s saving everyone because of his career.

Read it and let me know what you think.

Call Me a Cab – Donald E. Westlake

I loved this book.

It was released in 2022 (written in the 1970s) and reads like a screenplay.

You cannot help but read it and imagine Dustin Hoffman driving the cab or a Pamela Tiffin type playing the supporting role.

It’s very well-written and captivating.

The writer does a credit to understanding the nuances of career women and the changing dynamic in the workforce.

For its time, it was a really progressive book.

I hope this gets made into a film.

I kept imagining the leads while reading it.

My dream casting would be Diana Agron for the supporting actress–

Mia Goth as the supporting role later on in the film — and the cab driver himself?

I imagine someone unknown.

Idk?

This was the first time I read a book and thought, what actor would play this role?

When it gets made (if it gets made), I hope they stick to making it as if it were made in the 1970s –Embracing grainy film, terrible mustard tones — going all out for the time and place it was written in.

Such a fun read.

10/10 stars.

A must-read.

The Un-HoneyMooners

Hands down, my favorite beach read from the romance novel section this go-around.

Well-written, engaging, culturally rich, and adventurous.

It’s great to read about a confident woman who knows her worth and still knows she has a lot to learn and a lot to grow through, which is always a fun read for me on a personal level.

I couldn’t recommend this book enough and I don’t want to give too much away.

You should absolutely add this to your reading list.

10/10 stars.

Let me know if you have read these?

What are your thoughts?

xx,

Nikita