Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories Book Review

About

Edited by: Stephanie Perkins

Authors: Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Brya, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina Lacour, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, and Jennifer E. Smith

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance

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Synopsis

Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below (Spoilers start after the smiley face 😊)

To the summer lovers,

Summer is it’s own kind of magic ✨. A season filled with sand between our toes, ice cream dripping down our hands, sun temporarily tanning our already red-faces, and endless nights full of dancing, laughter, or the good kind of tears. Summer is where anything can happen and anyone can become anyone they choose to be. That’s the beauty of summer.

And there’s nothing more beautiful than a summer romance. I mean, that’s whenI typically stock up on summer romances! 💕 I read this book a few years back and decided I needed to be reminded what summer is all about, so I picked it up again and it was like reading it for the first time.

What I loved the most about collective author anthologies is the way each author brought his/her unique voice to the story. You could really tell which author was which based on the writing style and the general storyline that the author gravitates towards. It was also nice to see some authors play it differently from their usual style/book type. The main thing I highly loved was how not one romance sounded the same! And there were twelve romances. That’s a feat within itself and it attests to the artistry that these authors have. I also highly respect how they were all able to craft this complex world within the span of 30 or more pages. They were able to create such intense family dynamics, personal internal and external hardships, and of course, romance, in such a short amount of time. I mean, I’ve been working on writing projects and it takes me PAGES to get all the words out, but you know when they say less is more, they genuinely mean it. And it again attests to these authors’ artistry and skillfulness for writing in how they were able to condense so much, but just the right amount of everything to leave you feeling satisfied, but still having questions. And I think that’s the best thing an author can do 💛.

So without further ado, here are my little reviews for each novella 😊

Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail by Leigh Bardugo

“Some of us wear our hearts. Some of us carry them.”

(pg 26)

I could tell that this was a Leigh Bardugo novella 😄. It had an aspect of magical realism that I enjoyed with the whole Loch Ness Monster—Idgy Pidgy thing. It was such sweet, simple romance that only grew as time went on. I liked the whole mystery about how reserved Eli was because there was obviously something more to him. He would only go to the library, he ate Watermelon ice cream pops even though to Gracie those weren’t the best flavor, and he kept to himself. She thought him kind of weird and strange, which I bet we’ve all been there where we’ve seen the Eli’s of the world and thought the same thing. Trust me, I’ve been there. And it’s rude of me to be judgmental when I don’t know the Eli’s of the world, and Gracie figured out it was rude of her too.

Because there Eli was actually a fun person. And as someone who doesn’t talk much and would be pegged as “shy” I understand Eli. People think that because we’re quiet and keep to ourselves that there’s something wrong with us or that we’re boring or dull, when really sometimes it’s just hard to open up and talk to people. For Eli, it was for a completely different reason. I thought he was being closed off to Gracie when she was asking him about going to New York for college because he was keeping a secret that he was embarrassed about and didn’t want her to know. Or that he was just clueless and couldn’t read her obvious body language, so when Gracie found him in the cave at the end, I was like, was Eli homeless? Was that why he never talked about his family or his life in New York or why he was so fascinated with medievalthings?

I mean, he was on the brink of hypothermia in a cold cave by a lake.

But he was actually Idgy Pidgy, the serpent like thing and it gave me some Little Mermaid vibes where he could walk on land only during the summer. It explained why he spent all his time soaking up all the books he could read, eating anything and everything new he could try, and why he wasn’t the best socially. But I think because Gracie was someone who noticed him at the lake, he took an interest in her and that’s why he was drawn to her on land and they fell in love despite it all. When people say love turns you into someone else, they mean it 😂. Gracie turned into the female equivalent of Idgy Pidgy so she could be with Eli, which I thought was very cute, but it makes me question the entire dynamics of how they could be in a relationship as water monsters. Can they talk? I bet they slither all over each other 😂. UGH, that’s weird.

When Gracie turned into a water serpent, truly the first thing that crossed my mind was what about Gracie’s mom? What was she going to think when her daughter was no longer there? Apparently, Annalee told her the whole story, no matter how crazy it must have sounded and if I was Gracie’s mom I would have been like this lady is crazy and my daughter is missing. But then I thought it was interesting how Eli and Gracie could go back on land each summer for three months and how they would travel anywhere together. I also liked how they would make time to see the mother. That had to be a shock—-had to be proof that Annalee wasn’t crazy. I’m wondering, do they age?

Annalee was a mysterious character too because this whole time she knew who Eli was and she put Gracie and Eli together. She told Gracie to ask Eli about Idgy Pidgy in the beginning because he was it. It made sense because when they started working together, the mission to find Idgy Pidgy died down because they couldn’t and the story just focused on them.

The End of Love by Nina LaCour

“The end of love. The end of family. The end of being a daughter to people who wake up together in bed, leave their toothbrushes in the same little cup, roll their eyes and sigh and maybe hate each other but still come home to the same place each evening and sit at the same table.”

(pg 50)

I knew I was getting older when I could understand all the mathematical grammar and things Flora was learning 😂. I would NOT retake geometry for “fun” over my summer break because that would mean I’d hit an all time low 😂. And honestly my geometry teacher wasn’t the best and then I had another geometry teacher for the second half of the semester, who was actually my real geometry teacher who let the co-geometry teacher do whatever she wanted and what she did was talk about boats all class, but that’s not important.

But Flora didn’t hit an all time low, she was just going through a lot. I could relate to Flora because my parents are divorced and when your going through it, it’s beyond difficult because you’re whole world changes. You go from having one household with all these memories to different houses that will never be the same. What Flora expected was her parents to be holding onto things and to be saddened by the divorce, but they were nothing but happy to let go. And from the parent’s perspective, I get it. They were happy to move on from this part of their life and if they really didn’t like the marriage anymore, it made sense why it was so easy to let things go and to be eager to move on. But Flora was put in the middle. When my parents divorced I was put in the middle. And I remember I stayed home a lot and tried to soak up just having the last ounces of seeming like a “normal” family and for Flora she was trying to hold onto objects that reminded her of her wholesome family and when things were normal. So I really felt for Flora. I also understood the part of her that needed to be distracted and to get out of the house while her parents were busy throwing everything away and moving on. Because going through everything she was, can feel confining. For me, my release was books. Flora’s was geometry.

I liked how she was able to rekindle old friendships and crushes she had with the people who took geometry. I liked the little moment where Flora was debating whether or not to sit next to Maggie and her friends because she put her bag down at the front already or how there weren’t any more seats near them, so she stayed at the front. I’ve been through the whole should-I-sit-by-them or no too many times to count 😅. Side tangent, but when you sit down in a classroom, do you change your seat the next time, or do you already make a home out of that seat? I’m a one time seat kind of gal.

There was this one moment that I thought was beyond unprofessional, where the teacher went outside to have a random midday picnic with his lover or something. I mean, dude, you have a job to do! Get your butt back inside and teach! Or at least save your picnic for later instead of having it straight out the window for the whole class to see 🤪. Goodness, I would have FIRED him.

But I liked how they invited her to go camping with them because it made her feel like they actually still wanted to be friends with her. Before that she wasn’t going to go because she was going to curtain shopping with her mom. Her mom really sprung everything on her so quickly and I think Flora’s reaction to the mom showing her the new house was natural. I think it also hurt Flora a lot more that her mom didn’t ask her for any input because Flora and the mom seemed to have a close relationship and with the whole divorce it could have felt like her mom was moving on without her.

So Flora went to the camping grounds to get her mind off things again and there, they had this conversation about Flora wanting to one day get a tattoo with the words “the end of love,” which kind of hit me in so many different ways because it goes with this realist perspective Flora now had of love since her parents were getting divorced. She thought love ended just like that and how love wasn’t this infinite thing in movies—-the happily ever after. But there was the suggestion to have the words “the beginning of love,” on her other arm for where love continued, but Flora didn’t believe in that anymore given everything with her family. So at the end when Flora and Maggie literally kissed in a tree—I mean K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a tree—it made Flora realize that a lot of things were ending, but just because things were ending, doesn’t mean they just stopped there—the end of love. It also meant that a new beginning would come. So even if one love ends, one lifestyle ends, or something stops, there’s always a new beginning and more to look forward to. And it might be hard to see it in the moment based on how good or how bad everything was, but there’s never truly an end of love, but just a beginning.

I really liked the sentiment of that ❣️.

Last Stand at the Cinegore by Libba Bray

” . . .Quick! What’s the opposite of fear?”

“Taylor Swift?” Dave said. Dani and I glared. “What Taylor Swift makes me happy.”

(pg 90)

Dave is FREAKING hilarious! He gives me Jacob Battalon vibes, you know the best friend of Spider-man.

The Last Stand at the Cinegore was just a fun, gory, epic time, kind of reminiscent of an actual horror movie with the teens and the running and the screaming—was there screaming? There were jokes for sure. I really liked the idea of a movie theater dedicated to scary movies, I mean how cool is that?! I’m not a scary movie fanatic and nor do I ever think I will watch a scary movie, but I can appreciate the concept for those who like scary movies. I think the ambiance would be cool! 😄 They should have movie theaters just for romance movies, action movies, comedies, and other genres because I think it would be more fun to vibe off of people who go to a romance movie theater and to bond with other hopeless romantics or action junkies. That should be a million dollar idea people should know about.

But anyway Kevin is your typical socially awkward teenage boy who pins for the girl from afar. It’s cute how nervous he gets when thinking of talking to Dani. You know what they say, a onerous guy is a good guy 😅. I really liked the moment in the projector box and they talked about life and everything. And it goes along with what I said earlier with how all the authors in this anthology crafted such deep storylines in a short amount of time. It made my heart hurt knowing that Dani lost her mom and brother to a plane accident and how that might have affected Dani as a person. It really made me want to know more about her. I also enjoyed the moment where they go down to the basement and find that bow and arrow.

Then when they got back upstairs, they found out that the movie made people “zombies’ and turned them into flesh-eating people. And that’s beyond CRAZY. I would have high-tailed my butt out of there. And the whole Scratsche person (who owned the Cinegore) gave me the heebie jeebies. I mean, no one has ever seen him and then he has a photo on the wall taken from AGES ago and the eyes follow you. That screams beyond creepy. He seemed like a creepy person, not to be judgmental, but then he pops out of nowhere because he apparently traded everyone in the movie to be stuck there. That was an interesting concept. I thought it was kind of cool, kind of creepy that the movie was interacting with them—-like straight up talking and looking at Kevin, Dani, and Dave. If a movie did that to me, I would faint. This is why I can’t watch scary movies 😂. To save everyone in the theater and stop what was going on, they needed to stop being scared. And that was the moment where Kevin finally hiked up his big boy undies and told Dani he liked her. This whole time she liked him too and was scared to tell him. That’s something I feel a lot of people do. We like someone and we’re too scared to say it and in reality that person might also like us, but they’re also afraid to say it so nothing happens and both go on thinking the other doesn’t like each other. It’s this big miscommunication thing—-something I’ve been on the other end of multiple times. But like with Kevin, we have to not give into our fears no matter how much it makes us want to run, scream, or pee our pants, because people have the same fears too. Fear is something that holds us back a lot of the time—-it’s a natural instinct—-fight or flight. But I think we all have to fight ourselves sometimes when we know that fear is holding us back from something as beautiful as love. I’m glad they confessed their feelings to each other and that they made it out of the Cinegore alive before it burst into flames.

I hope Dave finds love with the firefighters, gosh knows Dave is a catch 😂.

Sick Pleasure by Francesca Lia Block

“Love can be so strange and sad. It can be hard to understand why we run toward certain people and away from others at different times in our lives. Why do we search so hard for that thing we are looking for, and then run so fast when we find it.”

(pg 113-14)

This was such a simple, yet deeply rooted romance that I just enjoyed a lot. I thought it was so interesting that the names were just letters like S, M, J, L and I. And the main character was I and I don’t know if that’s some metaphor or something, but it was cool. Whenever I read the letter I, I kept thinking how it was fitting whenever the character would say A and I and how it literally meant A and the character as in I. It was interesting. I wasn’t too big a fan of the whole going to the bar to dance part. The part I enjoyed the most was the ending because that to me was where the heart of the novella lied.

I didn’t maintain her relationship with A because of the one time she danced with, who I imagined looked like some surfer dude, Tan. A never called her back after they had a nice heart-to-heart moment and when they danced together, so I think in spite, I danced with Tan because he was conveniently right there and he was cute, so I thought why not? She wasn’t interested in Tan and later that night she saw A and I could tell A was jealous and angry that he wasn’t the one to dance with I. And that made him mad so he took it out by talking to another girl and dancing with her to make I jealous. In the end they both ended up hurt because they didn’t talk it out and both probably did things they didn’t want to do in the first place.

I went to Tan’s party and slept with him just to get it over with because all her friends were sleeping with guys. And it just makes my heart hurt that we live in a culture where people feel like they have to give up their virginity at a certain age or they’re not good enough, not mature, or that there’s something wrong with them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting or doing it if one is ready. What I don’t think is right is feeling pressure to do so. I (the character) felt that pressure. So she just did it even if she was thinking about A.

The saddest part was the end because I didn’t end up with the person she actually loved. She settled. She married someone, had kids, and got a divorce. She lost some friends who drifted away and she lost some family members. But ultimately I wasn’t happy with where she was. And it started the night she chose to give into Tan and dance with him and do all these things with Tan because it was more comfortable than confronting her fears and communicating with A about how she felt. And it’s something I think many people go through in life—they love someone else, but they end up with the person they’re not supposed to be with because they let the other person go in fear of what it could have been. Again, fear holds us back sometimes. Because when we find something so good, so real, we get scared that it’s true. And we run, we hide, we settle because we don’t think we deserve something good. We do.

And I (me) hopes that I and A will meet again one day, maybe at the bar and that they will share another dance and make things right. Because I (me) do believe that if two people were meant to be, they will find each other again.

In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins

“Between the evergreens, the first fireflies of the night materialized. They blinked in the dusk of the meeting sun, a reminder that light was a recurring state.”

(pg 150)

I thought it was cute how Marigold went all that way to save North because she loved him. I loved the whole train ride aspect and how upbeat and funny North was when giving those tours. And the short-pants khakis? 😂 I found it offensive how you had to earn your pants to work there and get paid 😂. If I was North, I would have bought my own darn khakis.

The ending was really sweet when Marigold rode his train again and then they were having a conversation over the loudspeaker about how much she liked the mountain and North was telling her that there will be other mountains. We all knew that mountains were code for their relationship. I loved the people on the train who knew that too and egged them on and told North to kiss her, but he was like, “that’s above my non-existent pay grade” or something like that 😂. I also liked how he was going to go home with her at the end because that’s what she set out to do. I still don’t entirely get why she went there again if she went there not knowing she like liked him, but they sound cute together. And I’m also not too sure about how he just gave up his life to pay half her rent and follow her to college, that seems very one-sided so I hope he gets another job and finds a passion while he’s with her 😅.

Souvenirs by Tim Federle

“See a memory doesn’t remember the way the congealed tomato sauce comes back to life when you bite into it The way the greasy crust tastes like sleepovers and inside jokes and curfews. The way cheese holds it altogether.

It’s going to make my stomach hurt, but it’s worth it. It’s pizza. What is life without the occasional risk of pizza?”

(pg 176)

This was my favorite novella from the book. There was something just really sweet and endearing about this novella and I loved it. I think it’s because as a person I relate a lot to Matt—-tries to be studious, kind of shy, doesn’t like to be the center of attention. It was also a unique concept that Matt and Kieth had an end date to their relationship because Kieth was a year older and was going to go far away for college and Matt was going to stay back. They both worked at the carnival where Kieth was an actor/dancer for the show and Matt worked at a souvenir booth where he mostly gave people directions to the bathroom. Gosh, don’t I believe that 😂. They couldn’t be more opposite, but they loved each other because of that and you know what they say: opposites attract.

Matt’s also sentimental like me and we are very in tune with our emotions. So even if Matt knew the date they were going to end whatever was happening between them, it still made it hard for him. I mean, breakups, even planned ones, aren’t easy. Matt liked Kieth so much. The list of all the things Matt wasn’t going to miss about Kieth was created to give Matt reasons to dislike Kieth to make the breakup easier. Because people say that if you find all the things you don’t like about a person or remember all the bad memories, it makes you fall out of love with them—gives you a reason. That’s what Matt was looking for. And sure Kieth wasn’t the best listener and other things, but everyone has their imperfections and that’s what makes them them. I bet deep down Matt loved Kieth for who he was, non-listener and all.

There was that one moment when Matt called his mom after Kieth pulled a big move and brought Matt up on stage with him to dance and Matt ran off because he thought Kieth was trying to embarrass him. The mom knew how hard this day was for Matt. And then there was the part where a dad bought a kid this three scoop ice cream cone and one of the scoops fell on the ground. The kid didn’t cry like he would, but he said “Can I get another one?” and to me that was such a beautiful moment. Because here Matt was crying to his mom about Kieth, someone he loved—-the ice cream cone, per say–and they were going to break up—-the scoop on the ground—-and instead of crying the kid realized it was going to be okay. He could always get another ice cream cone. Such maturity for a kid 😅. But the sentiment was sweet because it meant that Matt could always find someone else too and that he might love Kieth right now and today might be messy and hard, but there’s always hope.

I really loved the parking lot moment when they said goodbye to each other and Matt gave Kieth his copy of A Tale of Two Cities with the sentence circle: “There is prodigious strength in sorrow and despair.” I’ve never read A Tale of Two Cities but that’s such a beautiful and true line. Because with such sorrow and despair in life, it teaches us to be stronger and it takes great strength to go through those moments in the first place. My heart swelled when Kieth gave Matt the award for best boyfriend 💕. THAT’S SO CUTE!!!! Because Kieth’s a natural flirt and he’s larger than life, so to know he only had eyes for Matt and liked him enough to say he was the best, was cute. I really do believe this was as hard for Kieth as it was on Matt.

When they walked away from each other, Kieth slipped his jacket back into Matt’s car for him to keep, which I’m still curious how he did that. But as Matt sits in his car, he blasts music and he takes a bite of the pizza his dietician said he shouldn’t. And it’s such a pivotal, epiphany-like moment and I loved it. Because when you haven’t eaten a food in so long, all the sensations and feelings come back—-the taste. And Matt was remembering it all and even if it was going to cause him stomach aches later, it was worth it. And even if falling in love can cause you stomach aches and pains, it’s worth it—love is with the risk. There will always be all those good memories, but sometimes it’s okay to let things go like pizza and sometimes it’s okay to bite in and risk it anyway when you feel like it.

I really liked how the ending gave a sense of closure, possibility, and an opening for more. Matt I could tell was going to be okay. He was going to buy another ice cream cone when the time was right, he would take a bite out of a pizza, all the while wearing the souvenir of the jean jacket he was given long ago by someone who meant a lot to him.

Inertia by Veronica Roth

“Sightless eyes staring into the dark. Heartbeat slowing. A living corpse is better than a dying heart.”

(pg 202)

Inertia also had such a unique story line, but such an on-brand storyline for Veronica Roth 😄. And I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just that author’s personal touch I have been talking about. But it’s so cool that a person can go into this simulation where they can talk to someone in their last moments before they pass. It also has to be such a heavy thing to know and to do because you would literally be one of the last people to see a person and it might be harder to say goodbye. But it would also provide such a needed sense of closure and sense of intimacy with that person—-to have just that person and you in that one moment.

It reminded me of the simulations Tris and Tobias would go on and that’s what I meant by the Veronica Roth personal touch. But in their story it was Claire and Matt. Claire and Matt didn’t talk much or they were close, but not that close, so it was kind of a surprise and weird for her that one of the last people Matt wanted to see was her. Matt was in an accident and things weren’t looking too good. They shared each other’s favorite moments with each other. Matt’s memory was three days after his dad passed away and Claire was just there for him. She didn’t say all these platitudes like he’d be okay or that she was sorry. She just sat and listened and didn’t ask anything of him and sometimes that’s all anyone needs when they lose someone. It doesn’t feel okay and you don’t know why they’re sorry, but they say it out of courtesy and kindness. In those moments you just want someone to be there and Claire offered her presence and that was comfort enough. I’ve always heard that people like to just be in the moment in those times, but to me it is wrong not to say something because it seems rude. But I don’t know, I think it’s a cultural courtesy I’ve learned from society.

The thing about Claire was she lived with depression and suicidal thoughts. Being in her head and mindset was a heavy place, but I will admit, it made sense. I could relate and understand her because I’ve had those dark and deep thoughts before where you question whether or not you feel anymore and if the darkness is more heavy than the light. It was more difficult in Claire’s situation because she was going through a lot with her parents divorcing and adjusting to this new life. They ultimately ended their friendship because Matt was concerned that she got off her medicine to help with her depression. It made Claire mad because she didn’t want him to take care of her/worry about her in that way. It’s also a very touchy/personal thing to bring up to a person, but it came out of a good place.

There was this vulnerable moment she had with Matt that made me tear up because I could feel her fear like a tangible thing. I could just feel her. I understood her. She didn’t want to take her medication because she was scared that it would make a duller person and would tamp down her creativity, which is such a natural and honest concern. And I get it. She didn’t want to be her medication and be someone who lived off of it like a zombie because if she didn’t take it, it still allowed her to feel whatever she felt because she chose it and to be who she was because it was natural not because a medicine controlled her life. And when Matt was like, “It’s okay to want to feel better.” That really tore up my heart and spit it out 😪. Because I know for me, sometimes when I feel sad, I just feel like I need to be sad. Like I deserve it. There was a point in my life where I felt absolutely low and I would cry myself to sleep every night and when I stopped crying myself to sleep, I would just make myself do it anyway because I felt like that’s what I deserved or wanted because that’s all I’ve ever known. I felt Claire felt the same thing with her sadness, like she deserved or wanted it because it was all she ever knew and felt safe with. But like Matt said, it’s okay to want to feel better. To want to be okay. Because after a while when I realized I was making myself cry myself to sleep I realized how unhealthy that was. And how unhealthy it was to cry myself to sleep in the first place when life got so heavy and I had actual reasons to cry. So I stopped crying myself to sleep, and it emphasized how that’s what I deserved. To be okay. To want it.

I also liked the memory where Claire had the performing arts project of the brain. I mean, how cool is that? She must be a genius to have that sort of technological power to create that. The last moments between Matt and Claire made my heart heavy for them when Claire was like, “Don’t go.” It’s never easy to lose anyone. And then she saw him on the beach again and he told her he loved her and that made my heart swell like a wave. I don’t know if he meant it in a romantic way, but it could have been the type of love two best friends had that could potentially turn into more later on.

Claire went back on her medication afterwards because she wanted to be better for herself and to do better for Matt who she was losing. I was happy for her. And I was happy that Matt was a miracle and he made it through and when she saw Matt again, they listened to the song Inertia and how inertia brought her to him. It kind of gives me Taylor Swift “Invisible String” vibes with the song. But I liked how they both were vulnerable and brave with each other and that brought them closer.

Love is the Last Resort by Jon Skovron

“And as I am in love, I have penned this tale in the hope that you should join me in this folly by falling in love with someone yourself. Because if we are all fools, then perhaps there is some wisdom in falling in love.”

(pg 249)

I have never read a book written by Jon Skovron, but I must say he has such a cool writing style. It genuinely felt like he was talking to me and I liked that. Not a lot of books just point to the reader, grab them by the collar, and say, “Hey, I know you’re there and I’m going to tell you a story, so listen up.” It was a nice kind of different.

The story was a classic, two people liking each other and not knowing it and not owning up to it or being set up with someone else.

I liked Isabella and Franklin as a couple because they both seemed like two shy souls who really loved each other and were afraid to admit it like Dani and Kevin. I liked how Lena and Arlo were able to set them up together in the maze. It was all very cute. And I really liked Franklin because he would get all nervous, thinking a girl like Isabella would never like a nerd like him. We love a nerd! 💙

I also liked Brice and Vito and their budding relationship. Vito’s mom was a real piece of work and a gold digger if there ever was one. She was too busy with dollar signs as irises to notice that her son was completely and utterly gay and in love with Brice. She kept telling him to lift weights, which is such a toxic ideal to instill in a man—-that they need to have a certain physique to get a girl or to be considered manly. Franklin was every bit of a man as Vito even if Franklin didn’t have muscles and we need to normalize men in body types because as much as we harp on how body positivity is for girls, we should also do it for men too. It’s something never talked about and I bet it’s beyond difficult to be a male and to feel insecure and to feel like you can’t talk about it to anyone because no one does. Let’s normalize male body positivity people! 👏🏼 And shameless plug, but if you listen to podcasts or if you don’t, really check out Unsolicited Advice where they give advice from stories sent in from viewers. I’ll link my blog post where I talk about my favorite podcasts where you can get more information about the podcast as well as where to follow them and send in a story. Anyway, I highly recommend listening to the episode called Body Positivity From Your 10%. It’s a joke because Unsolicited Advice tends to generate a more female audience, and a 10% male audience. But I really enjoyed this episode because it talked about how men feel when dealing with body insecurity, body dysmorphia, and the standards they face/feel. Check it out!! You won’t regret it!

Back to the story, but I liked how Vito came out to his mom and was like “I’m gay and like Brice.” And it was the right time because the mom kept trying to set him up with Isabella because she was rich, but now that she was with Franklin there was no way that was happening. It was cute.

I didn’t really care for Lena and Arlo because I just didn’t feel enough personality from them to care. Arlo still seemed a bit mysterious and cocky for my taste. I liked Lena. I think they needed more time.

But I really liked Zeke’s character. I didn’t find it strange he didn’t talk, I mean, I hardly talk a lot either so I can’t judge. Zeke and I are the type of people who listen. And he’s a good friend for listening to everyone’s issues and helping them. Oh, I retract my earlier statement, I liked how Arlo would interact with Zeke and make him feel like he was there instead of asking about him. The ending when the narrator revealed he was Zeke, made a lot of sense. I had my hunch that Zeke was telling the story (and I’m not just saying that) because I thought that maybe Zeke didn’t talk and he was a person who liked to write. And he did. So I really liked that little twist at the end.

Good Luck and Farewell by Brandy Colbert

“As my lips meet his for a second kiss, I think maybe saying goodbye isn’t all bad.

Maybe it means I’m making room for someone new.”

(pg 282)

This was a cute story too. I liked the bond Rashida and Audrey had because when Rashida was going through a lot with her parents divorce and her mom turning to alcohol, she needed someone there for her. Her cousin was. And that speaks volumes to what kind of person Audrey was. But now Audrey was moving to California with her girlfriend Gillian and to Rashida, I could understand how heartbreaking that might feel—to have the one person you feel actually loves you and understand you move that far away. That’s beyond tough.

It was natural for Rashida to be mad. And she took her anger out on Gillian because that was the only person she could blame and I highly respect Pierre calling her out on that. Because Rashida didn’t need to be so mean. Gillian was also already feeling guilty for thinking the very same thing—-like people would be mad at her for taking Audrey with her. Rashida was only thinking about her perspective and how Audrey’s move would affect her that she didn’t see that it might have also been hard for Gillian and Audrey to move away from their family and all they know as well.

I think it was cute the way Pierre and Rashida bonded over their hardships in life. And my gosh what Pierre went through as a kid is nothing any kid has to go through 😢. It breaks my heart that we live in a world where people like Pierre and Braden actually get treated that way because they are black and racism and violence exists. Reading this now, it made much more sense the black lives matter movement. If I’m being honest, I really didn’t fully feel their romance and I would like to see them go on a date and get to know each other better because it seemed like they kissed or got together in a very fast turn around, which is fine, because that does happen. But again, for me I wanted more to feel more from them. But I thought it was cute because they both were losing the people who helped them in pretty dark times and now they had each other. It goes back to that lesson talked about with The End of Love in how when one door closes or one love ends, it makes room for another door to open or a new love to begin. For them it meant one good-bye for one hello.

Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare

“So”— he kissed along my ear—“it’s like . . . Hallmark love in there. Not real love.”

(pg 299)

It would not be without some demons in there and some magical realism, am I right? 😆 And reading this, I saw the name Ariadne and know with the Last Hours out, I think that’s where Cassandra Clare got Ariadne’s name from 😅. Interesting. I liked the carnival storyline and how there was the whole mystery around Lulu’s father going missing and Lucas’s mom running away and how both of them left the same note. I was thinking at that point that maybe Lulu’s dad and Lucas’s mom ran away together because they liked each other and poor Uncle. But the Uncle was the person who trapped them in mirrors so he could take over the carnival and be rich. What a selfish, greedy Uncle. He’s definitely not the cool uncle 😂. I thought it was cool how they used the power to run the carnival and give it that scare factor, but when the uncle took the carnival over with the scarier power source, it just felt wrong. A carnival can have a level of scare and fear factor in it, but if people are walking out dazed and traumatized, I think that’s taking it WAY TOO far.

I liked the moment Lulu reunited with her dad and Lucas with his mom 💗. I also liked when the dad and Lulu talked about her going to college one day to take business classes so she could know how to one day take over the business. I thought that was cute. We love education! Like with the previous romance, I didn’t fully feel it as much and I need to see some trial dates around here because I don’t know if Lucas really likes Lulu, but we’ll see 😂. I have a good feeling about them.

A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E. Smith

“There are still about a thousand ways this could all go wrong. But there are a thousand different ways it could go right, too.”

(pg 346)

I GENUINELY ENJOYED this novella. It was soooo good and that’s why it’s up there on my ranking. When I initially read this novella back in who knows when, I think past me wouldn’t have ranked it as high as I did now. The me now has taken about three, going on four, special education classes in college now. Before that I was probably in high school and had no knowledge about different mental and physical health things people live with because, I don’t know, I just never heard of them before. And when I took my first special education class, I realized how wrong it felt to not know about all the things I was learning and how it took me 14 years of my education to even know what autism was. That’s so sad.

I do think things have become better where people are becoming more aware of these types of topics and spreading awareness of them. There have been shows like The Good Doctor, Atypical, a Nancy Drew special, a Sesame Street character, and other films and places where autism has been talked about. But there’s not only autism people don’t talk about, it’s cerebral palsy, it’s spina bifida, it’s learning disabilities, or down syndrome. It’s all these things that no one talks about because they think it’s uncomfortable or it’s not their place or they don’t want to say anything, but people need to be aware that people live with autism or cerebral palsy, etc. and that it’s okay. It’s normal and these people aren’t any different because they are just people who may live with more challenges than someone who lives with different abilities, but they are people on the inside. And there’s still a long way to go on the inclusion when it comes to those who live with a disability or disabilities and including them in the media and education because they are real people and I hope we can normalize that amongst everything else too. It needs to.

Because past me, had absolutely NO CLUE what autism was. Now, I do. I’m not an expert, but I’m aware and I’m learning. Autism runs on a spectrum, hence the longer name of Autism Spectrum Disorder and just because a person lives with autism doesn’t mean that person can’t do everyday things or is incapable of it either. It depends where on the spectrum a person is. There are some who need more occupational therapy (OT) to help with a person’s behaviors and there are some who don’t need a lot of OT and can do things by themselves. This is why in the Good Doctor (I don’t watch the Good Doctor, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it) how the character is brilliant and is a doctor. Disability does NOT mean inability or a lack thereof. Everything runs on a spectrum, not just autism. Typically, people who live with autism are sensitive to the senses. They don’t like bright lights, loud noises, and sometimes even a simple touch can be irritating or itchy. If there is an overload of sense, sometimes a person with autism might flap his/her arms, make moaning sounds, cover his/her ear, cradle in a corner, or hide from the light—things to reduce the overload and relieve his/her senses. So it helps to have sensory toys to help and to also be aware of a person’s preferences and to be very gentle and patient. But also know the person well enough to know what they like and don’t like.

People with autism also might not be the best with social interaction and might not give direct eye contact, know how to respond to a conversation, they might not respond, or they might not understand or use body language the best. They also might fixate on things that they know or have a passion for. This can be numbers because numbers are reassuring and people who live with autism sometimes like to have a schedule and to know what’s going on because if there’s a change, it throws everything out of order for them, so keeping a routine is helpful. Numbers are also a known thing, so to know numbers, is reassuring. But sometimes, those who live with autism can be focused on a fixed passion like train or dinosaurs, and this can come across as the person being brilliant in that subject area. Sometimes they repeat information they hear multiple times. And a lot of times it comes from a place of knowledge in reading, watching, or learning these things and picking them up quickly because a part of their brain works differently and helps them remember more. That’s enough with my spiel for now, and sorry for it, but I really love talking about these things because it’s not talked about. Again, I’m no expert and I fully apologize if I said anything incorrect and if I did, please let me know in a kind way because I would love to better my understanding and have and give honest information. But sorry again!

So to me, this story meant a lot now that I had a new mindset to the story. And when Annie got paired with Noah in her camp group, and he directly told her Noah lived with Autism, there were so many ways this situation could have been better. Truly. 1) The director could have been more inclusive and kind with his language instead of being like, “He’s, uh, oh, on the spectrum. You know. He has autism.” Like that just rubbed me the wrong way in so many ways! 😕 He was uncomfortable to talk about it, because I bet his grandma’s cookies he didn’t know what autism was and he probably had all these preconceived ideas that Noah was “special ed.” ***Shakes head** 2) Why wasn’t this camp inclusive anyway? The camp said they were trying something different with being inclusive, which I mean, really? ☹️ I get it, maybe the camp didn’t have the knowledge or resources to support those who live with a disability/disabilities, but still every place should be inclusive. Heck, I think that’s a law somewhere that I can’t remember right now. There goes all my textbook readings 😂. But yea, I think you can’t turn people away based on ability. 3) I don’t know what day and age this was, but Annie should have researched autism to know how to help and interact with Noah. Because my gosh, this book came out in what, 2016, the internet existed, that sis could have Googled autism to know not to clap her hands in front of Noah, to not touch him so hard, and to not yell in front of his face.

Whenever she did all these things Noah winced at, I WINCED. I was CRINGING! Honey, pull up that GOOGLE! 😆

I just really emphasized the point that the education and knowledge about mental and physical disability lacks. **Shakes head**

So when Griffin came into the picture and Noah took an interest in him, I was like, Griffin lives with autism too. He knew not to be too loud or to overwhelm Noah and that’s why Noah trusted him. Noah probably also sensed Griffin was like him and liked him. And Noah was a kid just like any other kid. He liked basketball, he laughed like nobody’s business, and he had fun. He had fun because he was understood and I think Annie needed to realize that Noah was a kid and he just needed the proper care if she took the time to know how and give it to him.

Later, Griffin opened up to Annie about how he lived with Asperger’s which is on the spectrum of ASD. Asperger’s is when a person has less severe symptoms of autism and they can communicate pretty well and they have good cognitive abilities. It explained why Griffin was more aware when it came to communicating with Annie and how he was aware enough that he knew that he could be better and he was trying. But when they were in the car, Annie was like, “You’re different.” I CRINGED. That’s such a wrong thing to say! 😰 She didn’t mean it as in he was different because he lived with Aspergers but she meant he was a different sort of guy—-nicer, if not a bit reserved. She didn’t know, so it’s kind of okay. But still, like when she clapped right in front of Noah and Noah flinched, it rubbed me the wrong way! And it kind of connects to this idea where people think those who are different are “wrong” or “not normal,” and it’s such a sad world we live in where being different is connected to that.

Griffin kind of shuts her out after that, which is understandable because he’s scared of how Annie will judge him going forward and that she won’t like him. But I liked how she realized that him already shutting her out was him judging her too. Or as she put it: “He’d already made up his mind about how it would go. He’d already decided how I’d feel about it, before I even had a chance.” And she was right. It wasn’t fair of him to think that of her.

I really liked how the next day, Annie was working and all the kids were shouting which game they wanted to play and then Noah spoke up for the first time. My heart just swelled at that! 💕 And then they played Cabello like Noah wanted and it was cute. Then Griffin showed up and I thought that was even cuter. It was sweet how he went back to the arcade and won Noah the ball that Annie and him were trying to win him. I also liked how he told Annie that he was working on himself and the whole story with the grandma in the department store and how he forgot her. At the end, when Griffin was going to go play with the kids on the court, he was going, but then remembered Annie there, and went back for her. It was sweet given how it really did show he was trying for her. And that’s all you can ever do, just love someone and accept them for who they are and be patient with them. Everyone lives with different things: anxiety, depression, autism, learning disorder, etc. and not one thing makes a person any less than. We can try to understand where that person is coming from, be there for them while they sort through what they are going through, and be there for them in any way you can.

I really, really enjoyed this novella because I feel like it portrayed autism in an accurate light and I liked how it shed light on it too. We need more stories like this one 💜.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman

“I realized it had been a while since I saw a new perfect thing. Somewhere along the way I”d stopped looking for them. I wasn’t super-alive anymore. I’d stopped living in the now. I’d dropped back into the then.”

(pg 379)

Given the quarantine season, this also novella also hit a lot differently too 😆. It truly does feel like Groundhog Day a lot of days.

“What can I say, it was summer. It was hot. Anyway, here’s what was going on: Time had stopped.

Or it hadn’t stopped, exactly, but it got stuck in a loop.”

(pg 347)

I have never related so hard or laughed so much 😂. Because, isn’t it?

Anyway, the concept was interesting and kind of comical too, but I liked how it was Mark and Margaret stuck in this loop and how they were finding all these tiny perfect things or moments in the same day. Because each day would play out the same, inanimate objects and animate objects, every conversation the same, and if they tried to leave or stay up past midnight they would be tucked into bed back where they were supposed to be. So there was no escaping this August 4th loop. So they made the best of it.

If you relived a day over and over again, what would you do with it?

It was very noble of Mark to say he would cure cancer. Because like Margaret, it kind of doesn’t cross the mind to do something like that, but do things like rob a bank, buy a plane, or all these things you would do if you had all the time or all the money. So I admired Mark for his intentions.

Even if each day was the same, there were moments where miracles happened. I loved that. Because it kind of goes with how each day, no matter how repetitive it can be, has it’s beautiful and unique moments—-it’s happy moments. There was the eagle, the guy making his landing on his skateboard, sighting that person from Game of Thrones, singing women, and all these other things. I thought it was beautiful. Life tends to pass us by when we’re always on the go—hustle and bustle—-so for time to literally be a at a pause (kind of like how it feels right now) it made them slow down to notice all these miracles going on around them. A lot like with our culture now, we were always on the go. The pandemic has slowed everything down and we’re all at home for the most part trying to make the most of each day. And I truly will say, I have run outside every other day in my neighborhood since I lived there and I have seen more people walking, running, or riding their bikes outside this year than I have ALL the years I’ve lived in my neighborhood. TRULY. In January, no one was outside except the same runner I always saw and a few people who walked their dogs. But now? Everyone. Because people are slowing down and getting back to the basic roots of just being outside, noticing, observing, and finding those miracles in each day. Going outside nowadays is the only way I feel connected to the social world and I love seeing everyone to feel like I’m not alone. And it’s such a beautiful thing to see all that life and those miracles even if it can be boring and dull to stay home the whole day. So the miracles they found each day truly represented a lot.

“But what was even the point? Suddenly it all seems kind of silly. Perfect moments, what did they even mean? They were blind luck, that was all. Coincidences. Statistical anomalies. I did some Googling and it turned out somebody had actually bothered to do the math on this, a real actual Cambridge University mathematician named John Littlewood (1885-1977; thank you, Wikipedia). He proposed that if you define a miracle as something with a probability of one in a million, and if you’re paying close attention to the world around you eight hours a day, every day, and little things happen around you at a rate of one per second, then you’d observe about thirty thousand things every day, which means about a million things a month. So on average, you should witness one miracle every month (or every thirty-three-and-one-third days, if we’re being strictly accurate). It’s called Littlewood’s law.”

(pg 379)

I’m not a big fan of math 😅, but this I could appreciate. Because when slowing down—when we go outside—and really notice everything around us, there are so many things to see. And if we take the time each month to be present and see it, we will find a miracle happens each month and we just need to find it 💛. The earlier quote I put about how when you aren’t finding those perfect things anymore, it’s because you’ve stopped living in the now and started thinking about the then. And that couldn’t be more true with everything.

I miss what life was like then . . . I miss being in school then . . . I miss going out then . . .

It’s kind of like when people say comparison is the thief of joy. If we’re always thinking about one thing and comparing it to the other, we idolize and romanticize one thing to the other thing and it makes us feel sad or hopeless about our situation now because of a situation then. Like with right now. In the beginning of quarantine, I would have days where I would cry, thinking of how sad I felt because I missed when the normalcy we had “then.” I wasn’t living in the now. I was comparing.

It’s not fair to compare when those realities are different and the only reality you can accept and can control is how you feel and what you do in the present. I could mope all day about the past or accept the present and find the beauty and hope in it. Sure, I can cry some days and feel that because we all have to feel our emotions, but then to ground myself in the miracles. To go out and find them.

There is one every month. There are miracles everyday too if you really think about it. If you got out of bed this morning? A miracle. If you could eat or have food on the table? Miracles. If you have clean access to water? A miracle. If you could walk today? A miracle. If you could see today? A miracle.

So many miracles.

We just have to see them.

And I loved how they mapped all the miracles out and that when Mark connected the dots it made the fourth dimension cube thing they were talking about. That’s the sort of math that confuses me 😅. Not as much in this book because it was explained kind of well, but still a tad bit confusing. I liked the drawing. Blew my mind 😂.

I enjoyed the end part where Margaret and Mark are sitting on a hill, talking. Margaret’s mom was sick this whole time and was fighting for her life in the hospital. It was why Margaret was always on guard and had somewhere to be even if she could do whatever she wanted on this loop day. It was why she didn’t go to Tokyo to “find her parents” because she was scared that if she left on the plane the day wouldn’t loop anymore and she would lose her mom. Because when she was told her mom wasn’t going to make it another day, Margaret said “Tomorrow cannot come.” So it didn’t and I liked how Lev Grossman described how it was like time was afraid of standing up to Margaret. Beautifully written 👌🏼. It broke my heart though because she was going through a lot and I understood why she didn’t want to let go—-for tomorrow to come. No one wants to hear the words she did. My gosh.

If she fell in love with Mark, she knew it would stop and time would move on. And she was ready to move on because she had to. But it goes back to the End of Love message with how there is never truly an end of love. The love Margaret and her mom have for each other will live on and Margaret will find—has found—a new love (a beginning of love). And it’s such a beautiful thing.

I thought it was perfectly fitting how the last perfect moment was their kiss on the mouton where the last dot on the map should be for the fourth dimension cube. It was soooooo cute! I also loved how when they kissed, she had a hair in her mouth and they redid it and that time it was perfect 💕.

The ending really makes you wonder if it becomes August 5th the next day and what will happen. Or if it doesn’t and they’re forever in a loop.

Whatever happens, it was a perfect moment indeed. All these stories were so fun to read and it was nice to read them again from a fresh perspective. Here is how I ranked the novellas:

Ranking of Favorite Novella

1) Souvenirs

2) A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong

3) The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

4) The End of Love

5) Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail

6) Inertia

7) Sick Pleasure

8) Love Is The Last Resort

9) Last Stand At The Cinegore

10) In Ninety Minutes, Turn North

11) Good Luck and Farewell

12) Brand New Attraction

How would you rank the novellas? What was your favorite and least favorite novella? Anything I mentioned that you want to discuss more about? What year was your best summer? 😊 Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this.

And as always, with love,

Rating

3.68 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: There’s a whole cast of characters that are so vastly different that you’ll never be confused who is who. And you’ll definitely find someone you can relate to.

Plot/Romance: Never Each romance was uniquely different and brings something fresh and new 💛

Writing: All these authors are highly respected in my eyes for such artistry in their words 😊