Where I got it: From Publisher for review for blog tour
Rating: 5 stars
Cover Rating: 3.5 stars (This one is hard to hate, because it is a fantastic cover—it really made me want to read the novel—it has absolutely nothing to do with the novel. The cover makes you think of fun summery beach read, and that is not what you will find inside. Unless you consider Camus as a fun summery beach read.)
Genre:Young Adult
Publication Date: April 19, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Page Count: 269 p.
Chase should have been named Stay. He's the one who's always left behind when his older brother, Noah, runs away all the time. Every summer Chase's family and the Hathaway's meet at the beach. There Chase learns about love, family, lust, sex, life and loss. A lot can happen in four summers. Nothing from the off season matters on the beach, the summers always pick up like there was no time in between. Chase falls in lust with the girl that his brother is interested in, summer after summer. Chase is the second oldest but with Noah unable to take the duties of being the eldest child Chase is often left holding the family from falling to bits summer after summer.
Oh my goodness. This novel. Seriously, make sure you pick up this book right now, as long as you don't have delicate sensibilities. They are teenagers, and they swear and have sex. They recite Camus that they memorize, after Melinda opens up their eyes to his essays. I never got around to reading Hannah's first novel, Break, because it had a male narrator. I have been betrayed by male narrators in the past and have come to trust only David Levithan for a YA male perspective. Now I can safely add Hannah to that list, because Chase's voice was perfect. He had so much going on in those four summers, so much to deal with. I loved the snippets of Camus thrown in, it complimented the characters and situations so nicely. Camus is the exact sort of summer they all had year after year. It was fantastic that all the brother read him too, I think that just really made their connection seem that much greater. Honestly my favorite character in this whole novel was the youngest brother, Gideon. He was deaf, but you could tell, especially when he was eight, that he had this whole other perspective of the people and events in his life. He was probably the most put together character, he seemed confident in himself and unconditionally loving of his family. Even though he was a little kid he understood so much about what was going on. I thought it was great how Hannah seamlessly incorporated him into the story. It was great to see how everyone else acted around him and for him. This is one of my favorite novels of the year, even though it was not at all what I expected. When I first saw the cover I expected a light beach read. Then I heard Hannah talking about how it was about family, but I still figured it would be kind of a light read. What I got instead was this fantastic, emotion-driven messed-up family/summer drama that crushed me and inspired me. I know that I will have to pick up and read Break
as soon as I get a chance, because if it is even half as good as this one was it will be awesome. It's hard to talk too much about this novel without talking about the end. I think I'll go further into detail on my goodreads review so that I can hide the spoilers. Seriously though make sure you check this one out
as soon as you get a chance.
Chase should have been named Stay. He's the one who's always left behind when his older brother, Noah, runs away all the time. Every summer Chase's family and the Hathaway's meet at the beach. There Chase learns about love, family, lust, sex, life and loss. A lot can happen in four summers. Nothing from the off season matters on the beach, the summers always pick up like there was no time in between. Chase falls in lust with the girl that his brother is interested in, summer after summer. Chase is the second oldest but with Noah unable to take the duties of being the eldest child Chase is often left holding the family from falling to bits summer after summer.
Oh my goodness. This novel. Seriously, make sure you pick up this book right now, as long as you don't have delicate sensibilities. They are teenagers, and they swear and have sex. They recite Camus that they memorize, after Melinda opens up their eyes to his essays. I never got around to reading Hannah's first novel, Break, because it had a male narrator. I have been betrayed by male narrators in the past and have come to trust only David Levithan for a YA male perspective. Now I can safely add Hannah to that list, because Chase's voice was perfect. He had so much going on in those four summers, so much to deal with. I loved the snippets of Camus thrown in, it complimented the characters and situations so nicely. Camus is the exact sort of summer they all had year after year. It was fantastic that all the brother read him too, I think that just really made their connection seem that much greater. Honestly my favorite character in this whole novel was the youngest brother, Gideon. He was deaf, but you could tell, especially when he was eight, that he had this whole other perspective of the people and events in his life. He was probably the most put together character, he seemed confident in himself and unconditionally loving of his family. Even though he was a little kid he understood so much about what was going on. I thought it was great how Hannah seamlessly incorporated him into the story. It was great to see how everyone else acted around him and for him. This is one of my favorite novels of the year, even though it was not at all what I expected. When I first saw the cover I expected a light beach read. Then I heard Hannah talking about how it was about family, but I still figured it would be kind of a light read. What I got instead was this fantastic, emotion-driven messed-up family/summer drama that crushed me and inspired me. I know that I will have to pick up and read Break
as soon as I get a chance, because if it is even half as good as this one was it will be awesome. It's hard to talk too much about this novel without talking about the end. I think I'll go further into detail on my goodreads review so that I can hide the spoilers. Seriously though make sure you check this one out as soon as you get a chance. First Line:
"Gideon keeps falling down."
Favorite Lines:
"I want to tell her not to speak, want to say it, but her lips are on mine again and I taste me and I taste her and I don't taste what we're saying and I don't taste Noah. I taste Camus—I owe to such evenings the idea I have of innocence."
uggh that cover...pretty much I look at it and go "too bad my butt doesn't look like that!"
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot of really good things about this one, but yeah, it does seem to give off the impression of being lite and fun, not serious. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
PS - I am so jealous of the author's last name. Moscowitz?! LOVE IT. Reminds me of 'Mousekowitz' from AN AMERICAN TAIL :))
I keep reading amazing reviews on this book and I am super excited to read it, even more so than before. Hannah is awesome and I really enjoyed Break, her first novel. She's super honest which I love.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is the first all out, incredibly positive review I've seen for Invincible Summer, and it makes me happy. I've yet to read it, but after hearing some not so great things, I bumped down on my TBR list. I may have to push it back to the top though because you loved it so, so much. I've always loved male narrators (and haven't been burned, like you) so both this one and Break have been on my must-read list for a while now. My fingers are crossed that I'll love IS as much as you. Thanks for the review!
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