Just for the Summer: Q about Justin & Mini-Rant
I finished Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez last night and have been ruminating on it. Some lines made it for sure not 5-stars for me, but it’s a solid 4.25/4.5.
One of my qualms is about Justin’s age. He’s 29 at the start of the book. He says his dad died a few years ago, and when Emma later inquires more, he says it was a few months after his baby sister was born, and she is ~4 in the book. So that means Justin was ~25 when his dad died. About 3/4s of the way through chapter 1, Justin says his dad was 45. So Justin’s dad was 16 (edit: should have said 20) when he was born. How old was his mom? I would’ve thought they would’ve discussed this a bit more, particularly with the big twist at the end where Emma finds about her mom, Amber, gave birth to her older half-brother Daniel when she was ~15. That seems like either an oversight with the ages or a lost opportunity to juxtapose the parallels and differences of Emma and Justin’s childhoods.
Another thing that bothered me was near the end of chapter 8, when Emma said that Justin should think his would be happy or grateful to be dead because in an alternate reality, Justin/his family might’ve died and his dad might’ve bargained to take their place. I appreciate the value of the reframing aspect she was giving Justin, but wow, what an example. I do keep thinking about it and I get it, but I just don’t know if I jive with it.
Also, personally, some of the lines were too corny for me. Example: shortly into chapter 27, “Soulmate and love of your life aren’t the same.” Example: 2/3s into chapter 47, when Emma is confessing her love, she says, “I love you at first sight, Justin. It just took me a really long time to be able to tell you what I saw.” I didn’t hate these lines but I did eye roll a bit.
I enjoyed this slow burn romance with lots of contemporary fiction woven in, but some of the writing wasn’t my favorite. I loved the first of this trilogy, Part of Your World, and didn’t like the characters or twist/trope in Yours Truly. I went in with high expectations for YT after PoYW, and I was disappointed. That made me pause on this book, but I would read Abby Jimenez’s new books.