Ah! Summer Days and Summer Nights! I've been waiting for this anthology ever since it was announced as the companion of My True Love Gave To Me. (See my review of the first anthology HERE) Now, having read Summer Days and Summer Nights, I can't say it lived up to all of my expectations. It's like the authors didn't get the memo that the cover would be bright yellow and happy. Many of the entries were quite dark, and while this wasn't always a bad thing, it did make for a puzzling collection, one that was starkly contrasted with the subtitle, Twelve Love Stories.
Frankly, I'm disappointed. Short stories are often chances for authors to get more craft-y than usual, but Bardugo was incoherent in this piece. I do think there was enormous potential here regarding the subject matter of water deities who love human girls, but the lack of clarity and mismatched elements kept the writing from being great or even likable.
LaCour's story about a gay geometry pro with divorcing parents had a glum tone, which makes sense because the main character is depressed. As for the writing, it was decent, although strangely non-compelling. There was nothing there that made me sit up and take notice, nothing that made me laugh, and there's nothing that will stick with me.
This piece uses the horror movie genre as a doorway to discuss what we fear the most in our lives. I think that Libba Bray must be afraid of short story structure. She had a decent beginning, a horribly drawn-out muddle, and a brief end. There were too many characters, themes, subplots, and lines of wack-a-doo dialogue going on in this story and it all got tangled up in a big, boring mess. It reminded me quite a bit of Bray's weirdly award-winning novel, Going Bovine, a book that could have benefitted from having 400+ pages removed.
This story was the second I read. (I read the stories randomly.) I loved how the prose evoked a different, smokier era, yet still managed to seem timeless. Sure enough, I googled a reference to a band that the main character sees live and it turned out to be The Go-Go's singing We've Got the Beat. So this story takes place in or around 1980.
The piece follows "I" and her brief romance with the mysterious "A." The story doesn't have the happiest of endings, but I suppose it was very true to life, in a way.
To my great surprise, Perkins revisited her characters from her first anthology, My True Love Gave To Me — Marigold and North. Remember how cute that first story was? Well, in this installment, Perkins gets a bit darker. Marigold and North have broken up. The story begins when Marigold tracks down North at his new job as a mountain train conductor and tour guide.
A darker, moodier North was present in this piece, and Marigold is more circumspect as well, calculating how she'll keep herself from starving on her tight artist's budget. It sounds bleak, but this is Perkins we're talking about. She always pulls out a happy ending.
Yay! It's the M/M romance of the anthology! This story is about Matty, whose summer workplace romance is scheduled to end in a few hours. Yes, scheduled. Throughout the piece, Matty thinks about Kieth, his boyfriend, and stream-of-consciousness reflects on what their brief relationship meant. There is an amazing pizza metaphor that I loved.
So good! This short story reminded me strongly of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my favorite movies of all time. It has a bit of a sci-fi twist, but is really about human connection and poignancy of memory. It was quite beautiful and had me tearing up. I'll definitely be reading this one over again. I call this story the strongest in the Summer Days and Summer Nights collection.
I don't get it. I think this piece was supposed to be arty? At my most generous I can say that it was reminiscent of a Wes Anderson creation. From what I could make out, the story was about a resort owned by a rich man and run by a teenage staff, populated with rich patrons. They all spoke in a stiff, artificial style and did absolutely nothing. I think that Skovron was so caught up in being literary and different here that he choked himself. This was a dull story and I did not care for it. It is the weakest installment in Summer Days and Summer Nights.
The story is about a young woman whose closest friend in the world, her cousin, is moving away with her girlfriend. This was an okay work, but with an unfortunately insta-lovey romance. There were some lines that made me cringe with how underdeveloped the feelings being announced were. However, the piece features racially and sexually diverse characters, which was a big bonus.
This story by Clare really embraced the spirit of the anthology, keeping with the theme, yet still staying true to the author's signature style. Clare chose to write about a carnival owner's daughter, and, of course, demons. The details in this piece were highly imaginative and there were some really laugh-out-loud moments that I enjoyed.
My criticism has to do with the ending. I felt like matters were wrapped up way too quickly and conveniently. Overall though, this was a strong effort on Clare's part.
Now this is what I'm talking about! A summer story that's as cute as it is deep! This piece is about a girl who has a crush on a very different kind of boy and works up the courage to ask him out. Their first date doesn't go as expected. I seriously loved this story. The characters were distinct and unique and the writing had great flow.
What a great closing story! It was a highly unique premise and had great little moments scattered throughout. The ending was hilarious AND moving. The piece is about a boy who gets stuck in time and relives August 4 over and over again. The voice of the author reminded me quite strongly of John Green, who's style I do enjoy.
Well, I've read all of the stories. I've identified all the little characters on the front cover. I cried a little and I laughed a little. Overall, I give the anthology 3.5 stars. There was a moment there when I read several bad pieces in a row and thought the worst, but standouts from Roth, Grossman, and Smith saved the day.
What about you, readers? Does reading anthologies make you feel smarter?
I love that you broke the reviews and ratings down by stories! It doesn't look like this was a bad set but not a terribly great one either. Nice reviews for these!
Thank you! I picked up that style of reviewing anthologies from goodreads people. It really helps a reader get a sense for the collection and have an idea of what they want to read, what they want to skip, and what they want to read out of curiosity.
Ah dang, it's too bad that this one didn't really work for you! I do agree that 'My True Love Gave To Me' was the better book of the set, though.
'Love is the last resort' was definitely the odd one out, being a kind of Regency spoof in the costume of contemp YA (or the other way around) -- I have a soft spot for that sort of silliness, but it was definitely unexpected and weird!
I'd say I enjoyed the collection overall, and I definitely loved a few of them. But that "Last Resort" piece... I'm glad you explained it to me a little because I felt like I was missing something there.
I don't read anthologies that often, but it looks like it has good authors behind it - too bad it was disappointing.
A lot of people are reading this anthology, and I'm still undecided about it. I mean for the most part it seems like the stories are just okay. I'm not sure I want to bother with just okay. Thanks for reviewing all the stories though!
It's so interesting, because I read a few reviews that also did the breakdown of each story, and we all had such different responses to all of them! That alone makes me think the compilation is worth reading! So don't take my word for it!
Ooh, you went above and beyond, covering all the stories!
Your favorites were incidentally my favorites, too. I agree, Roth's story was definitely the highlight of the entire anthology. I got the sense that it was about so much more than just a summery love story. Like you said, it was much more about human connection and, I feel, the need for us all to have some sort of closure, whether it concerns death or any relationship. I would absolutely love for technology like this to become something real in the future. This was one of the few stories in the book that I thought would've been an awesome stand-alone if fleshed out.
I really loved the last two, as well - Smith's story in particular. I have a brother who is on the spectrum and I grew up with all the preconceived notions that came with having a "mentally retarded" family member. Sometimes, it was almost heartbreaking some of the thing he had to go through. I loved that Smith took a risk and not only had an MC that had Asperger's but also one that was more non-verbal than most. Very cute!
As for those you weren't a fan of, I completely agree with you on the Skovron story. I just couldn't understand the tone he was going for and as for Bray's, it just felt like she jumped the shark. Like, things went from normal to apes**t super quick, lol. I can't fault her imagination, I suppose.
And, of course, I have to comment on Bardugo's - I thought it was pretty cute, overall. I might just still be salty from her short story in SG+MB, but I thought to myself, "At least this one HAS and ending." Lol!
That's awesome that we liked the same ones! I'm so glad you liked Roth's, and Smith's (I love hers more and more in hindsight, especially since it passed muster with you, a family member of a person one the spectrum) and Grossman's. I may have to reread Bardugo's and see if I like it more a second time around... You're words about Bray's — "Jump the shark" — spot on! There was most certainly a sudden and furious decline in quality there. I can't wait to read your own review!