Hiya everyone, time for another book review here on the blog!! Recently, I finally finished Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods and it was definitely one of my most anticipated releases of last month. I've got a lot to discuss so let's begin.
Chapter length: ✭✭
Characters: ✭✭✭✭✭
Cover: ✭✭✭
Pacing: ✭✭
Cliche count:✭✭✭
Overall rating:✭✭✭
Synopsis: As the daughter of an expert astrologer, Wilamena Carlisle knowns that the truth lies within the stars. So when she discovers a rare planetary alignment, she is forced to tackle her worst astrological fear - the Fifth House of Relationships and Love. But Wil must decide whether a cosmically doomed love is worth rejecting her mother's legacy when she falls for a sensitive guitar player hailing from the wrong side of the astrology chart.
Favorite quotes: "I understand loss...I understand the way it can hollow you if you let it. How something so simple can be so devastating." pg 294
"You can't shortcut living. I know your mama wanted to protect you when she asked you to make that promise about following your star chart. But people make mistakes..." pg 317
Chapter length: I was very meh on the chapter length of this book. I felt as if sometimes the details were too extensive while adding really nothing to the plot. I stopped a few times in a middle of a chapter while reading this book because it got a little too descriptive.
Characters: obviously to stick to the whole theme of astrology, the characters had to be very diverse and loyal to their astrological sign. This book probably would've been a two star if this aspect fell through.
Cover: The cover is great, it's just not completely outstanding. I like it a lot because of the image of Wil and Grant because at least I had what they looked like in mind while reading.
Pacing: for once I'm not complaining about the book progressing too fast. For once I'm complaining that the book seemed drawn out to me. This is where that warning up above comes in, because the love triangle + honoring her mother's wishes keeps Wil from making a decision based off of what she knows is right and what she wants to believe is right. More on this below.
ENTERING SPOILER FILLED SECTION OF REVIEW. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE BOOK
Cliche count: Brothers. As soon as I figured it out I was like:
This cannot end well.
So now onto my messy, spoiler containing thoughts on this book.
What I liked:
So as I said earlier, I really enjoyed the character diversity. I truly feel like all of our characters stayed true to their general zodiac description. Without the diversity, the book would have disappointed me even more.
I also had a love/hate relationship with the diction in this book. Don't get me wrong, I love learning new fancy words to use, but in dialogue it did get a bit annoying. Nevertheless, I count it as something I more enjoyed than hated due to the fact it made the book a learning experience.
The astronomy puns. Oh lord. Some of them were cringeworthy, but others seriously killed me. Like the part where Wil and Grant are in the kitchen baking and he doesn't get what her shirt means. I loved that.
The life lessons. When I completed this book and began jotting down my thoughts, I found myself in pensive thought about the lessons this book taught. Most memorably, the lesson Wil taught Gram about keeping things from children for their "best interest." It really hit home because I've experienced something related to this situation, and I was about as happy as Wil was when I was finally told the truth. (AKA not happy AT ALL.) Please, do not hide things from children.
What I disliked:
Although Wil was definitely an interesting MC, her penchant of assumption and impulsive actions annoyed the life out of me. I'm not sure if that's a typical "trait" of an Aquarius? But either way, her assuming that Grant was a Pisces because of his demeanor when he's actually a Capricorn was super frustrating. I get the whole concept of putting faith in the stars and trusting her instinct on who is what sign, but I think she put a little too much faith there. Especially because she nearly passed out??
seriously?
I loved the astrology theme of this book, but the way it was used was a huge let down. This is one of my thoughts that is somewhat incomplete because I cannot articulately explain why it disappointed me? I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what I got wasn't it :/ The most I can begin to explain are situations when a character did something, and then Wil would think: "that's so (their zodiac sign) of them." Or "typical (zodiac sign) demeanor."
Another thing that irked me about the novel is the love triangle. A love triangle between two brothers and one girl made my heart sad, because I grew fond of both Seth and Grant and the thought of them hating each other over Wil tore me up. (Another life lesson: don't let a S/O come between you and your siblings!!)
And lastly, I'm unsatisfied with the ending regarding Seth. So that's it? You lied to Wil about being a sagittarius and when she didn't exactly forgive you, you packed up and left state? Even though this angered me, it made me sad too.I wanted more of Seth! At least a better ending for the brothers.
So all in all, Summer of Supernovas was an interesting book, but I'm not sure if I liked the way the idea was executed. Nevertheless, I'm considering adding it to the list of books I would like to re-read to maybe get a different perspective on.
If you've read this book, how did you feel about it? Let me know in the comments!