Book Review: ‘Summer Sons' by Lee Mandelo
This is going to be a case of “practice what you preach”. Me and Sophie have been busy creating some exclusive content for our paid Substack subscribers, including some mini guides and classes in different subjects. Some more niche and nerdy, and other more generally related to book blogging and reviewing.
So, when we talk about how to review a book that you actively did not enjoy… Well…
Look, the key here is honesty and neutrality. And by “neutrality” I mean, “don't be a cow”. There's always plenty of ways I can say “this book wasn't for me” without being mean about it.
What I always remind myself is that very rarely is a book rejected by readers unanimously. Every book has its reader, it's just sometimes a little more polarising (see: ‘The Magicians' by Lev Grossman).
I had such a good feeling about ‘Summer Sons', I've had it on my reading radar for a long time, and with spooky season approaching, it felt like the perfect time to bump it up the TBR, and even go so far as to feature it on season six of the podcast.
The thing about hype is that it's always gonna get ya. I had heard great things about ‘Summer Sons', and I must have been wearing low-star review blinkers because I just didn't see any.
If you're not sure what ‘Summer Sons’ is about, here's the summary:
“Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers, until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom with bleeding wrists that mutters of revenge.
As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble, letting in the phantom that hungers for him.”
Also trigger warning include: Suicide, Death, Blood, Homophobia, Racism, Drug use
(but check out the whole list on The StoryGraph)
Ah, dear. It should have been an easy win, but the crux of the problem is that I just failed to connect with the characters. Whether that was through a clash of Writing Style vs Reader Preference, or something else, I'm not sure. But I was left feeling like I wasn't given enough of a chance to really get to know the characters, in particular, the relationship between Andrew and Eddie.
And this is a real problem considering they are central to the whole story.
In the podcast episode, both me and Sophie agree that Sam was the one character that stood out, and who we wanted to see more from. But the cast, as a whole, fell a bit flat.
One thing I really appreciated in this book however, was the commitment to the tone. The dark, moody (and/or haunting) vibe was consistent from start to finish. Unwaveringly so. I loved that.
I just felt like the whole thing was a bit undercooked. It was as though it wanted to lean in too many directions, and I ended up feeling confused about where this fits into a genre. That's not to say that a book has to fit into a genre, but if you're going to start marketing it as “Dark Academia” or “Southern Gothic” or “Horror” then I need to see those key genre touchpoints.
There are a couple of reviews floating around that go so far as to call this a YA. Absolutely not.
Overall, I can appreaciate ‘Summer Sons' for taking some really intense and difficult issues head on, and fearlessly. It's consistent and well written (if you gel with that kind of writing style), and I think that it has a lot of potential, that unfortunately for me as a reader, was not realised, but for others might be the bees knees.
It was a bit of a struggle, but you can't win ‘em all.
Written by Sarah
