Invincible Summer, by Hannah Moskowitz
Published: April 19, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
ISBN: 9781442407510
Genre: Contemporary YA
Pages: 336
Source: Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab
Series: n/a
Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?
Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....
There's something about a character driven plot that's remarkably refreshing after paranormal after paranormal.
Invincible Summer is not what I expected. (Nothing is ever what I expect, I really have to stop judging books by their cover.) I thought it would be this light, fun read. Light? Definitely not. Fun? Not the word I'd use.
The problem is, I'm not sure what I can really say about it. I loved it, but I can't find the words to tell you why.
Oy.
Another misconception the cover gave me was the point of view. I thought this would be about the girl on the cover, but it's actually from a teen boy's perspective. (Didn't read the blurb before I began reading the novel) I think for the first time, I genuinely felt like a female author nailed the teenage boy mind. (not that I really know what goes through a teenage boy's mind, but I've never read a book from a boy's perspective that felt 100% authentic, until now)
There are so many different themes woven throughout the story, it's hard to pinpoint what I would consider the central theme. There's rape, emotional abuse, fear, disabilities, death, coming of age, divorce, sex, family dynamics. One of these things is something I'm not a fan of reading about, because I feel as though I've dealt with it enough in life. I won't say which it is, because I really don't want to spoil anything. But I will say, it makes me want to hate Invincible Summer. But I don't--I can't. Because the book is written beautifully, with life-like characters, and a story I'm not likely to forget.
I've never read Moskowitz's first novel, Break
. Always wanted to, but never did. Now, I kind of think I have to.5/5 Stars
Great review; at first I had no interest in this (based on the cover) but it keeps looking more and more interesting. From what I've heard, the cover seems to not do this book justice at all.
ReplyDeleteIt really doesn't do it justice. I think it's a beautiful cover, and there's an element in the book that it is definitely appropriate for, but it's slightly misleading.
ReplyDeleteI know right? Awesome character driven story. thanks for the reviwe.
ReplyDeleteBrandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog