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There are currently 18 member reviews
for Summer of Love
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Rebecca G. (Havertown, PA)
Summer of Love
The term summer of love has been used to describe the 1960s. A time of free love, free drugs, and free booze. This book has some of that, yes, but it's really a story about women; mothers, sister, daughters, and friends. There are men but they exist on the periphery as absent fathers and doomed relationships. Joan is the matriarch, the head of Hartley vineyards. Her daughter, Miranda follows in her footsteps and takes over the running of the vineyard. Her sister, Winnie, is the opposite, the true daughter of the summer of love. She's a classic hippie and immerses herself in drugs and alcohol and sex just to feel alive. Dawn is Miranda's daughter, an artist who struggles with her own addictions. When Dawn and her friend, Amelia, discover a popular young adult book series, the comparisons to Hartley vineyard cannot be ignored. They set out on a quest to find the author and in doing so find themselves. This in turn helps all the female relationships to heal. I figured out the twist fairly early on but it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book. I think any woman fighting an addiction, whether it's drugs, alcohol or a toxic relationship will find Dawn and Winnie's journey to free themselves to be interesting and inspirational. An added bonus to this book is discovering things I didn't know about wines!
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Marilyn B. (Rockville, MD)
Disappointed
I was somewhat disappointed in the book "The Summer of Love". The timeframe of the late 1960's to 1970's covered in the book was the same timeframe that of when I was a teenager to young adult. I was hoping the book would talk about the music scene and the attitude of peace and love toward our fellow human beings tht I personally experienced. I did not think that drug addiction and alcoholism would figure so prominently in the story. I did like the mystery surrounding the writing of a book series that the main characters realized had to do with themselves and their upbringing and which helped to explain the relationships and dynamics that they experienced in their family.
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Amber H. (Asheville, NC)
Average Book for Me
Summer of Love fell somewhat flat to me, struggling to find its footing. The execution of the dual timeline was a miss for me. Rather than weaving together to create a cohesive narrative, the shifts between eras felt clunky and disjointed. The transitions often interrupted the flow of the story, making it difficult to settle into either period fully. The dual timeline felt like two different stories competing for attention.
The storyline itself offered very few surprises. Unfortunately, the plot followed a predictable trajectory that has been explored more dynamically in other works. There was a lack of fresh perspective or a "hook" that distinguished this particular narrative from the many others set during the counterculture movement.
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Betsy C. (Santa Rosa, CA)
Sponsored By...
Thank you to NetGalley and BookBrowse for this advanced reader copy. Summer of Love is a fast, easy read. There are many enjoyable references to my home (wine country) and state as well as historical references that help ground the story in time. There was a little too much addiction/recovery focus for my taste. The book could almost have a subtitle: sponsored by Alcoholics Anonymous. I am not sure I would have picked it up if I had known that was such a focus, but it was an important theme that tied together and explained this multi-generational family drama. The characters are a bit trite: the good sister, the 'bad' sister, the child who inherits the family demons. We don't hear enough of the good part of Dawn's growing up to develop her character. I didn't understand the troubled relationship between Joan and Winnie. Finally I would have liked more info on what the Vineland books and chapter lead-in quotes had to do with the story. Overall an enjoyable read.
