Review: Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Publication Date: April 19th, 2011

Published By: Simon Pulse

Paperback, 336 Pages

Source: Simon&Schuster Galley Grab for Honest Review

Summary:

"Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?

Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....

Not your typical beach read"

Review: **** 1/2 = 4.5 Stars

I read Hannah's first book, Break, last year, and I loved it. I am very glad that Invincible Summer was great as well, and has lived up to its hype, IMHO. Hannah writes with a certain roughness. I don't mean the writing itself, but the characters and relationships. Break was very gritty and powerful and Invincible Summer is very much the same in that way. I appreciate the way she writes. It comes off as honest and real and when I read the words she puts together, it feels as if she holds nothing back. You can tell when you read her work that she puts all of herself into and holds nothing back, and there is something quite amazing about that.

There were many aspects of this book that I enjoyed immensely. For one, the characters. While I wish there was more of them, more revelation of who they are, were and especially what will become of them, books can only last so long. There were many characters that played huge roles throughout the novel and with that many characters I imagine it is hard to delve to far into any one character. I enjoyed the Camus quotes that are scattered throughout the text, and I think it was one of the main things that tied some of the characters together. I really enjoyed the format of the book. I think splitting the novel off into four different summers was brilliant. Maybe its the fact that for each section, Hannah was able to pick up a year later and could show growth as well as similar aspects from the summer before. I read in an interview that Hannah did over on A Good Addiction, that for this type of story the author really needs to know the characters and what goes on in between each summer, even if we don't see that stuff, because its important that we see the same character but we also need to see the effect and change and growth. And it is apparent that she knows her characters, otherwise the transition from summer to summer in this book would not have been so smooth.

I feel that the cover doesn't do this book justice. When I look at the cover I imagine this book would be Chick Lit, but after reading it, Invincible Summer is so much more. It is very much a family-oriented piece. It deals with family problems, a hearing disability, first loves, sex, sibling bonding, friendships, loyalty, loss and so much more.

I would definitely recommend this to any Contemp fans(Readers- there is sex involved in this novel, so it might not be appropriate for younger readers).

Opinions? Have you read or do you plan on reading Invincible Summer? I would love to know what your thoughts are!

Sherry<3