Sunday 29 March 2015

Review ~ The Summer Remains by Seth King

Reviewed by Donna ~ 4.5 Stars

“…sometimes you just gotta jump, and then make your parachute on the way down.”

Well, anyone that follows me knows that I love a tear jerker and this one succeeded on very many levels. Wow, this was one emotional book, yet so uplifting all the same. There are many messages contained within these pages, messages that will make you look at life differently, look at yourself differently and look at others differently. Life is what you make it and there is always that special someone for everyone, no matter when you meet or how long you have together, their presence will stay with you forever, just like this book will stay with me forever.

“Hi. My name is Cooper Nichols, and I am absolutely swimming in love with a girl named Summer Johnson.”

Seth King can write, I am still dumbfounded that this was written by a twenty-five year old, the writing is so mature yet youth shines through, the writing is moving and captivating, yet humorous and funny, in short, this book was perfectly balanced. I highlighted so much of this book, haunting yet beautiful words that together made me melt, swoon, cry, laugh and every other possible conceivable emotion in between. In short, it was just amazingly poetic.

Summer is broken on the inside and the outside, yet she doesn’t let her health and her scars alter her lust for life. Even though she has lived a really sheltered life through health and over protective parents, she hasn’t lost her snark and her sass or lost that beautiful person underneath. Like any girl her age she wants to experience life, she wants to make the most of the hand that life dealt her and the one thing that she feels she has missed the most is love. Every girls dream is to fall in love, but she has never been in the right place to find it. Her social media is blowing up with friends her age getting engaged, getting married and having a family and she desperately wants a piece of that for herself, so she puts herself out there, she joins a dating app and in true Summer style, she is nothing but blunt.

“Hi. I’m Summer. As you can see in my pictures, I’m kinda mangled. Childhood accidents suck. If that’s something you can get over, swipe right. If you chew with your mouth open, count NASCAR races among your hobbies, take mirror selfies, or refer to girls as “ sluts,” “bitches” or “cum catching slut bitches,” then swipe left. If not, I’m your girl. I like reading, confetti cake, cynicism, hate-watching the Kardashians, and not much else. Come dislike the world with me.”

After many a doozie Summer gets a message from Cooper, at last a seemingly sane and intriguing match, little does Summer know that this meeting will give her the summer she has always wanted and the one thing that she has always wanted to do.

“You’re beautiful, and beautiful things don’t demand attention. It just gravitates to them.”

Cooper too had his scars, but he didn’t wear his, he kept them inside, he internalized everything. But as good as he was for Summer, Summer was good for him. These two were made for each other and so Seth King brought to life one of the most beautiful, heart breaking, soul reaching love affairs that I have ever had the pleasure to read.

“You know, we all have scars, Summer . If yours are only on the outside, you should consider yourself lucky.”

This book made me feel…every single emotion purged off the page and hit me straight in the heart, I lived their story with them, and it was captivating from the very first word until the very last. The authors note at the end was another emotional kicker and once I had read that and the tears had subsided once again I realised how this author had captivated Summer and Coopers story. You felt the blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul that this author gave on every page, it brought this couples story to life and now that I have read it, I understand it all.

“Because right then and there, for the first time in my life, I decided to tell my brain to shut the fuck up and let my heart take the wheel instead.”

I loved this book with a passion, while there were a few little things that niggled at me, hence the 4.5 even those didn’t detract from what a beautiful story this was. I highly recommend this book to everyone and will remind you to have the tissues nearby, you will need them, but at the end you will stand back in awe and admire the fantastic book you have just read. Seth King is a new author to me, but he will definitely not be a stranger.

“Let love destroy you – God knows life is going to, anyway.”

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