28 Summers: Great & Bittersweet End-of-Summer Read

Summer is quickly coming to an end and so are all of the wonderful summer romances. With that being said, 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand was the best way I could end my summer reading list. It’s been one of the bestselling books of the summer and on Feyble’s favorite best sellers list. A beautiful and heart-wrenching tale, I’d highly recommend this read.

The Gist

In the summer of 1993, two things happen: first, Mallory’s beloved aunt passes away and leaves her with a beautiful Nantucket cottage; and second, Mallory falls in love. Sometimes, though, the people we fall in love with aren’t completely available. Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year, Mallory and Jake carry on a secret love affair that lasts for decades while only meeting one weekend every year. 

Great & Bittersweet End-of-Summer Read 

Oh this book was so bittersweet and I think I spent the last chapter sobbing into some ice cream so don’t go into this book thinking it’s going to be light-hearted and fun. It really, really isn’t. It’s more likely to drag your heart through the mud than anything else. But it’s incredibly well written, the characters are well developed, and the story was great! 

There were a few things I really loved about this book. First, the relationships were wonderful. I’m not even talking about the main romantic relationship. Sometimes that one took a back seat in the book and I think I loved when that happened even more than when we focused on just Jake and Mallory. The parent-child relationships, spousal relationships, platonic relationships, sibling relationships – all of these were so well developed and each relationship was its own individual story that created one great book.

Secondly, I really enjoyed the character development. Each character in this book is given their own time and their own story. You can tell the author loves each character because she wants you to understand why they’re acting the way they do. She wants you to empathize, to relate, and she makes it very easy to do.

Now, let’s get to the few things I didn’t love.

1. The extramarital affair. I really don’t love getting behind extramarital affairs. They really suck and they hurt a lot of people in the process. Somehow this book didn’t make me irate with Mallory and Jake. Instead, I felt for them. Hilderbrand wrote the characters so well that I truly felt their agony and anxiety about their situation. I don’t totally understand why they couldn’t be together. Especially early on in the relationship. I know sometimes we just get on a path and can’t find a way off of it, but I really wanted Jake and Mallory to find the way.
2. The beginning. Hilderbrand lets the cat out of the bag WAY too early. You know those books where the prologue is the end of the book and the rest of the book is explaining how we got there? That’s what happened here. I think the ending could have had more of an impact if it wasn’t given away at the start.
   
   

If you’re looking for a quick read that will bring your summer to a close, look no further than 28 Summers. It has just the right amount of joy, love, sadness and loss, that you can’t help but be charmed with this bittersweet end to the season. If you’re interested but want to see a few more reviews, click here.