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Coming of Age at Thirty
- Riana Fuentes
- Apr 30, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: May 20, 2022
"The present is relentless. It forces us over and over again to pay attention. It requires all of us. As well it should."
One Italian Summer
Rebecca Serle
Amazon Kindle, Audible
1st of March 2022
272 of Pages
Synopsis:
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.
And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.
cw // mild sexual content
Table of Contents:
Prelude
Jhanya: I’ve read In Five Years and was only okay about it so I didn’t wanna do this book injustice and set high expectations for it. I did expect it, however, to be touching and punch me with emotions as I am a sucker for emotional relationships between the characters and their parents, but to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I went into this book pretty blind and haggard (I legit had to cram this yesterday coz of my uni sched) and it still disappointed me.
Ria: Going into One Italian Summer, the only thing I knew was that Rebecca Serle wrote In Five Years and it got really good reviews. And I saw lots of pretty good reviews on it from bookstagrammers so I was actually looking forward to reading the book. I was let down.
Story + Pacing
Ria: The thing with One Italian Summer is that I had no opinion and didn’t really feel much when I finished reading. And that’s honestly the worst thing. I mean even readers hating or disliking the book is better because at least they felt something. But indifference is just pain. And that’s exactly what I felt. For me to have this review, I had to force myself to come up with my opinion without reading others’ reviews. And it was really hard.
Jhanya: The concept was fresh and it’s what really made me interested in the first place. The story overall was okay, it was a nice short read and I liked the adventures of Katy and Carol as they were fun and made me feel like I was in Italy myself. And even though I’m personally not a fan of how Katy dealt with things in the story and Adam annoyed me, this is one of the better quality contemporary romance novels. The pretty mid-speed pacing also didn’t really bother me.
Ria: I’m honestly stuck between the story being slow and fast. Fast because I was really interested in the plot because it’s super unique. I haven’t read many books that involve people seeing people who are dead so it was a nice change from my usual books. And at times I did look forward to reading what Katy and Carol do next. I also liked the theme because it explores grief and loss. Slow because I feel that there were so many unnecessary paragraphs and descriptives (I’ll delve more into this later) in the narrative. I think that Katy rambles on and on and on too much. And I didn’t get sucked into the book as well which made me bored and ‘meh’ about it. The good thing with this was I read this in a span of days before I slept so I actually had a set of chapters I only read and then I stopped which helped me remove my boredom.
Jhanya: The one thing I didn’t like though are the emotions it gave me. I often cry when I encounter familial relationships in any form of media, but this book just didn’t do it for me and I feel sad. As much as Katy is very close with her mom and considers Carol her greatest love, it didn’t sit well for me to see how she was too attached to a point that she was very selfish.
Writing Style
Jhanya: I’ve read In Five Years so I pretty much knew what to expect from Rebecca Serle. But I didn’t think that I would grow tired of Katy’s thoughts in the book. The way Serle narrated and described the different locations in Positano was magical and definitely makes me want to go there in real life despite already feeling like I’ve been there because of this book. The locations and the sceneries are the only things that fully immersed me in the book. Serle really transported me to Italy and swept me away. However, I was so tired of Katy’s thoughts by the end of this book. I mean, I know that the author wanted to write about her emotions and all, but I just couldn’t feel and relate to it.
Ria: Definitely a different writing style. It’s around 80% narration and being in Katy’s head and a lot less dialogue. And the number of descriptive sentences was unending. Legit. I mean, I don’t mind descriptions and descriptives because that’s what makes books really good (like Chloe Gong) but the thing is, the writing didn’t suck me in enough that the descriptions seemed to just go on and on and on. It felt like it was just there for the sake of being there but it doesn't make me visualize or imagine what it's describing anymore. At the end of the book, I just wanted to go to Italy to erase all descriptions I read from the book. I mean. Yes. We get it. Italy is beautiful and scenic, but please shut up or at least describe it better.
What I did like about the writing was in the first third of the book, it did showcase the grief and loss of Katy. It showed the emotion that was right (minus the extra quotes). Speaking of quotes, the writing is kinda (?) insightful. It had a few good, bad, memorable, and quotable lines but it was more because of the way it was structured and less because of the impact it had on me. Probably it's more impactful for the main character.
Characters
Ria: You know that feeling of being attached to the book’s characters and even crying when the book ends because you just want more of their story? Yea this book didn’t have that. Quite the opposite actually.
Jhanya: Indeed.
Katy
Ria: I didn’t know what to feel about her for the majority of the book. And this is really problematic because the whole book is her point of view and we’re in her head for most of the book. I guess I understood her grief and loss, I mean her mom died. I understood the confusion she had and with regards to her marriage, well I think (and I hope) that she did that because she was too scared to lose another person she deeply loves and opted to just cut ties immediately. HOWEVER. I was definitely, 100% disappointed in her after that thing with Adam. My respect just went down but I still can’t get myself to hate her. The final redeeming moment (?) I think that Katy had was her character development that was very very very briefly passed through at the end of the book. You’ll see it when you squint. Anyways, on a scale from 1-10 with 10, being I love her, I’m at 3.
Jhanya: Katy Silver has to be one of my least favorite main characters to date. The moment I read the line “If your mother is the love of your life, what does that make your husband?” in the first chapter, I knew I wasn’t gonna be a fan of her character already. I understand that she was grieving and in shock with her mother’s death, but the people around her, especially Eric, didn’t deserve to be treated the way she did. I’m sorry, and I know it isn’t impossible in real life, but the level of attachment Katy had with Carol was unhealthy. Rather than their relationship being the caring, touching, and generous type of love we often see in stories, Katy’s love for her mother was very selfish and self-centered. Throughout the book, what Katy said and did, everyone followed. At first, I understood her because of her situation, but then it kept going and I found her even more annoying than I did at the beginning.
Carol
Ria: I also don’t know if I like or dislike Carol. The only thing was some realizations of her character. Near the end, I just realized she’s a person who’s chasing her own dreams but realizing that what she left behind (Katy + her husband) was more important for her and I respect that decision. I also really realized how young she ‘left’ Katy. it would've been better if she didn't leave Katy and had this trip before she had Katy but let’s face it, we don’t live in a perfect, ideal world.
Adam
Ria: I ABSOLUTELY AND UTTERLY ABHOR, HATE, LOATHE (OR ANY OTHER SYNONYM THERE IS) ADAM. ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER PERSON CAN CHANGE MY MIND ON THIS. It’s funny because the characters that I actually reacted to quite violently were the two male characters. Adam is on the negative and hate spectrum. He’s quite literally a walking red flag. I hate that even after knowing that Katy is married, he still advanced on her and even encouraged her to have an affair. I mean it would’ve been better if she was already in the process of getting a divorce, but the truth is, Katy explicitly said she doesn’t know what’s going on in her marriage which means she’s still thinking about it and there is still a possibility for them to continue their marriage. and the fact that Adam still kept on pursuing Katy really lowered my view of him. Basically, I don't have any respect for him.
Jhanya: I think we’ve had enough of Adam, for one day LMAO. Ria pretty much summed up his character perfectly that I don’t need to add any more info as it will just be the same. But it is kind of fitting though that his last name is the same as a certain athlete I know who also has a lot of not-so-pleasant issues.
Eric
Ria: I feel bad for him. like seriously but I’m happy to see that he went to Katy and chased her. It shows that he does really love and care for Katy and that maybe at that moment he wanted Katy to have that space first to grieve her passed mom. And I really respect him for that. But comparing Eric to Adam, it’s clear that I definitely love Eric HAHA
Jhanya: This man deserved so much better. But I can’t be mad at him because he really seems to love Katy through and through. I really felt bad for him though, especially at the beginning when Katy kept whining about how she wants to experience the “hallmarks of young love" when she already has Eric who’s been with her through thick and thin, and fully understands and supports her no matter what.
Not gonna lie though, it was kind of hypocritical of Katy to say that she didn’t want Eric to join her in Italy because she wanted peace and solitude during the trip, but then she immediately attaches to Adam, a total downgrade from Eric btw, and proceeds to have an affair with him.
Final Thoughts
Jhanya: I rated this book a solid 3 stars mainly because of the writing and the different concept. But that’s all I really liked about the book. I couldn’t connect with the characters at all, which was unfortunate. Overall, I’m meh about the book, I don’t hate it, but I also don’t like it and will probably never reread it again. I definitely liked In Five Years better, but I don’t think I’ll be reading any Rebecca Serle novels in the near future.
Ria: The only reason my review is that high is that I didn’t know how to review One Italian Summer. Like I said earlier, I had an opinion and honestly, I think I sorta still don’t? All I’ve said so far are true and are what I think of the book but it’s so weird to not have a singular emotion that really pops out. I probably won't read this again and I’m starting to contemplate whether or not I’ll read In Five Years. Oh well.
Rating
Criteria | Jhanya | Ria |
|---|---|---|
Story / Plot (2) | 1.25 | 1.5 |
Characters (2) | 1 | 1.5 |
Writing (2) | 1.5 | 1.25 |
Morale (1) | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Originality (1) | 0.75 | 1 |
Relevance (1) | 0.75 | 1 |
Reread Value (1) | 0 | 0.5 |
TOTAL | 5.75 | 7.25 |
Final Score | 6.5 | |
FINAL RATING:
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