Summer Island by Kristin Hannah

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Paperback, Print
Pages: 392
Start Date: January 24th, 2023
End Date: January 30th, 2023
My Ratings
Overall: ★★★
Character Development: ★★★
Ending: ★★★
Spice Level: 🌶
Tear Jerk-ability: 💧
Readability: Slow Read

Summary In My Words

Nora Bridges' world crumbles around her, but it isn't the first time. As devastating as the situation is, there is a silver lining - she is getting a second chance with her daughters Ruby & Caroline. This book isn't just about Nora's second chances, the theme is throughout & you'll see each character's experience with their second chance. 

My Thoughts - Contains Spoilers, Continue at Your Own Risk

I am so sad, I was excited to read this book because I LOVE the others I've read of hers & before I go beating up the book, I have do want to be clear that I really did want to like it - but it just want "it" for me. It was going pretty okay, albeit slowly - I think the moment where I was really like "nope" is when Nora asked Caroline if her Husband had been cheating on her. Now there wasn't a clear answer, so I assumed that no answer . . . was in fact her answer & she was embarrassed or something. NORA ASKED HER IF SHE LOVED HIM & BASICALLY SAID MAKE IT WORK!?!? If it were my daughter & her partner cheated or was cheating her, like hell would I suggest that love wins & she should make it work. Obviously I'd support her if she did, but it wouldn't be my suggestion - not my first one at least, jeeze.

I also had a hard time with the storyline of Nora just leaving without explanation. We find out later that she was experiencing mental health issues due to the circumstances of her relationship with the girls father, her ex-husband Rand. If she had been so close to the girls before, why all of the sudden was she unable to tell them this? How is it that she had a closer connection to the neighbor boy Eric, than her own girls? WHY hadn't Eric reached out to Ruby or Caroline & say "quit being bi****s, your mom needs you"? 

Now, Ruby . . . . She annoyed me. How does one float through life being angry at the world? Was she truly so self-centered she hadn't heard the rumors about her father, she never thought to ask "hey mom, you've been gone - are you okay?" & instead of making poor decisions with the guy she was dating - she picked a random to hook up with? I'm glad she got her poop in a group at the end, but I immediately thought she should cool her jets on the thought of having children of her own, so only JUST figured out how to effectively communicate with other humans.

I'm Curious

1. Would you have written a scathing article about a family member or do you think there are some unspoken rules about family & family business?

2. Why do you think Caroline never told Ruby about her Father's affairs if she knew about them, do you think she just assumed Ruby was up-to-date on the town gossip?

Next Book: All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham