Title: The Summer of Everything
Author: Julian Winters
Publisher: Duet Books (Interlude Press)
Publication date: 08 September 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
Comic book geek Wesley Hudson excels at two things: slacking off at his job and pining after his best friend, Nico. Advice from his friends, ‘90s alt-rock songs, and online dating articles aren’t helping much with his secret crush. And his dream job at Once Upon a Page, the local used bookstore, is threatened when a coffeeshop franchise wants to buy the property. To top it off, his annoying brother needs wedding planning advice. When all three problems converge, Wes comes face-to-face with the one thing he’s been avoiding—adulthood.
Now, confronted with reality, can Wes balance saving the bookstore and his strained sibling relationship? Can he win the heart of his crush, too?
Book links (note: you are free to use your own affiliate links or to other booksellers):
Amazon — https://amzn.to/39Rn11z
Book Depository — https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Summer-of-Everything/9781945053917
IndieBound — https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781945053917
Goodreads — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50156232-the-summer-of-everything
I have to admit, I usually don’t delve too much into the YA contemporary side of fiction. When I do I usually enjoy myself, but I tend to stick to fantasy/science fiction a lot more. I saw the synopsis of this book and the idea of a bunch of teens wanting to save a local bookstore really interested me. Then I realized that the main character was a black comic book geek, and I really wanted to read it. Then I saw that one main plot point of the book is him pining after his best friend Nico, and I signed up for the tour. If you know me, you know I am a sucker for a good friends-to-lovers romance novel.
I really enjoyed learning about Wesley’s relationship with his parents, especially with his mother who is a famous author. I never really thought about how the children of authors would look at their parents’ works, but Wesley discusses his experiences a lot in this novel.
I also love how the importance of small local bookstores is emphasized in this novel. Those magical little places provide kids with a safe space to discover themselves, get their first summer jobs, and make friends. When I used to live in North Carolina, I spent my childhood in a local bookstore called Ed McKay’s. It was a very small chain, but each store had a tight-knit group of employees that knew most of the regular customers by name. That store also sold video games, music, and movies, so it was a haven for my young self who could get an old Gameboy game for 3 bucks and a few books for another dollar or two. This story reminded me of this place I used to love, and the good friends that I made there. Wes and his friends had so much fun just working in that bookstore, I loved reading about their California adventures!
The slow-burn crush between Nico and Wesley was cute to read about. I didn’t like some of the decisions that Wesley while he dealt with those feelings. Nevertheless, I couldn’t totally judge him for it as I understand how rough it can be to admit your feelings for someone. But I feel that the book wasn’t as much about the crush between these two and more about the growth of those in the friend group as a whole. This took some of the pressure off me when reading as I got breaks from the romantic stress to learn about these other characters.
I can’t really put an exact finger on what brought this from a 5 star to a 4 star read for me. It was a variety of small things, such as an awkward conversation here to some slower-than-desired pacing there. I also felt like I wasn’t as connected with the side characters as well as I would have liked to be.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an LGBT contemporary YA fiction story.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 books.
My Top 5 Favorite Quotes
- “Who do you want to be in five years?” Frankly, Wes doesn’t know who he wants to be in five minutes. An influencer? A teacher? Alive after suffering through that last chapter of his mom’s book?
- “I think I’m acceptably attractive on a scale fo one to that guy who’s in all the teen Netflix movies.”
- “I heard you once stabbed a guy for dog-earing a Superman book.” Wes hadn’t. It was a total accident involving a pen and minimal bloodshed.
- He’s so tired of this – the gay thing. The constant assumption that, because a guy is queer, he loves playing dress up and lives for musicals and obsesses over Drag Race.
- “People don’t respect who you are. Or they don’t understand, so they pretend it’s not real?”
About The Author
Bio:
Julian Winters is a best-selling and award-winning author of contemporary young adult fiction. His novels Running with Lions and How to Be Remy Cameron (Duet, 2018 and 2019 respectively), received accolades for their positive depictions of diverse, relatable characters. Running with Lions is the recipient of an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award. How to Be Remy Cameron was named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and received a starred review from School Library Journal.
A former management trainer, Julian currently lives outside of Atlanta where he can be found reading, being a self-proclaimed comic book geek, or watching the only two sports he can follow—volleyball and soccer. His third novel for Duet Books, The Summer of Everything, will be released in September 2020, to be followed by Right Where I Left You from Viking Children’s/Penguin in 2022.
Author links:
Author website — http://julianwinters.com/
Goodreads — https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17571829.Julian_Winters
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/wintersjulian/Twitter — https://twitter.com/julianw_writes
