Title: The Summer That Melted Everything
Author: Tiffany McDaniel
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 26, 2016
Source: Publisher/Netgalley
...
See those three dots right there? That is how I felt through the majority of the book. I just didn't know what to say or think about what was going on throughout the story.
And now that I am finished, I still don't. I am going to try my best to put to words some of my feelings and thoughts for you, but I know already that no matter what I put down here it will never be able to truly express my feelings for The Summer That Melted Everything.
The main premise of The Summer That Melted Everything is that Autopsy Bliss took it upon himself to invite the Devil to his town of Breathed. And to the surprise of everyone, the Devil decided to accept his invitation and show up in the form of a 13 year old African American boy who decides to go by the name of Sal. Also, at the same time that Sal shows up, the town is hit by one of the worst heat waves it has ever suffered from.
The Summer That Melted Everything is told from the perspective of Fielding Bliss, the younger of Autopsy Bliss' two sons. Sometimes it can be a little difficult to follow along with Fielding's narrative, especially until you get used to it. He alternates between when he is reflecting back to that summer and to the old man he now is. And occasionally he sprinkles in things that happened in his life between the two.
There is the story that The Summer That Melted Everything puts forth with its words. And that story is intense and heartbreaking in and of itself. However, this is the type of story where everything is a symbol for something else. And when you realized even just a little bit of what each thing is truly representing, you then see how deep this story goes. And it hurts. It breaks you a little bit more every few pages.
This is not a lighthearted read by any means.
The Summer That Melted Everything probably touches upon every single hard topic there is out there - race, religion, sexuality, abuse....etc. And each bit you read about hurts so much.
Also, I feel I should warn you - there is language in this book. However, it is more than just the F bomb. The "N" word is used a few times.
The Summer That Melted Everything is a book that will either make you very angry or you will love it. There is no middle ground with it. You will feel things. A lot of things. And most of what you feel will not be happy. You will hurt, you will cry, you will find yourself needing to take a lot of breaks while reading.
This is one that to truly grasp everything that it is trying to tell you, that you will need to read it more than once.
My Rating
5 Stars
This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment