Mini Review | The Summer Of Us by Cecelia Vinesse

The Summer Of Us by Cecelia Vinesse
Published On: June 14, 2018
Published By: Hachette
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★

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Aubrey and Rae have been planning their European tour since the moment they met. It was meant to be the perfect way to spend their last summer together before university, but now it's not just the two of them . . . 
There's Jonah, Aubrey's seemingly perfect boyfriend, and Gabe, who Aubrey may have accidentally kissed. Then there's Clara, the friend Rae is crushing on, hard, even though there's no hope because Clara is into guys, not girls. And on top of all that Aubrey and Rae's friendship appears to be falling apart. Things are more complicated at eighteen than they were at ten. 

*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

A fun summer read.

If you're looking for a nice fun, summery adventure, this is the book for you. It takes you on a trip around mainland Europe, visiting some of the most iconic landmarks in the most popular European cities and you do feel as though you are there witnessing these sights with the characters. I went on an adventure reading this book.

I enjoyed the characters.

All five of the characters in the friends group were decent characters. They were all well-developed and I enjoyed reading about them. The story is told in alternative points of view from both Aubrey and Rae, both of which I enjoyed equally. Though there was nothing particularly special about any of the characters, and none I felt especially drawn to, they were not bad characters by any means.

The drama was just too much.

I was under to illusion that this would simply be a fun trip around Europe with no drama or arguments. However, for me, there was just a bit too much drama. There was drama between almost every character all at the same time and it wasn't necessary. In fact, it made things kind of confusing, I couldn't keep up with what each of them were fighting about. It was as though the author felt the book needed more drama to keep it interesting, when actually the trip itself was interesting enough for me.

Fun adventure to drama backdrop.

Towards the second half of the book, this fun trip around Europe became more of a backdrop than the plot of the book. The drama and developing relationships completely overshadowed the trip. It got to the point where we, as readers, only really got to see the train journey to other places, rather than the places themselves. Important landmarks in great cities become nothing more than the place where relationships moved forward or characters argued. While this was still showing these great places and it still felt like I was on an adventure around Europe, it didn't seem as important to the story, which was disappointing.

I ended up getting bored.

The unnecessary drama combined with the lack of exploring amazing cities lead to me losing interest in the story completely for much of the second half of the book. I stopped liking some of the characters at times and just wanted it to be over. I was so disappointed as it had started off so well and I had been really enjoying it. However, I suppose it just wasn't for me in the end.

Overall, this book started out promising but went downhill. While I enjoyed the travelling aspect, this became overshadowed by the friendship and relationship drama. I appreciate the need for some drama to keep the book entertaining, it was too much for me and really took away from the fun of the book. I guess this book just wasn't what I was hoping for and was not the book for me; however, I did enjoy parts of it.