Summer Skin » Book Review

‘It’s not your fault,’ Farren assured her. ‘You’re going up against years of conditioning—this idea that for every woman there’s a singular male who will haunt her, fascinate her, for the rest of her life. Look, from the moment they start reading fairy stories to us, we’re encouraged to isolate ourselves, put ourselves in a tower, or in a deep sleep, hang out in our room at college, and wait for this mythical being to turn up.’

This quote is awesome.  Despite its feminist verve, however, I admit... When I read it, I was worried about how this book would balance romance and feminism. Can a book be starkly romantic and still maintain its girl-power message?

Fuck if I know.  Really.  I don't know that Summer Skin upholds the idea in the above quote, because clearly Eagar's Jess and "Blondie" have too much chemistry to quit.  The plot of the book was a romantic one, and the conflict was definitely about whether or not our characters would end up together. At times, it seems like the heart of the book was in conflict with its brain. But ultimately, I don't care if the feminist message was pure, or not. I loved reading this edgy romance.

Jess was a great character, with a fantastic voice.  I was hooked on her narration from the beginning. Even better was Jess with "Blondie," because Jess is a feminist and Blondie is, as Rihanna would say, a 'rude boy.' In a competition of who's ruder, Blondie or Jonah Griggs, Blondie would win, hands down.  However, in a showdown against, like, Jeffrey Dahmer, Blondie would lose.  There's a middle ground, I think, between rude and psycho-killer, and Kirsty Eagar found it and made it charming.

‘That’s funny.’ [he] started the motor. ‘Because I went blind thinking about you.’

Oh yeah, and this book is seriously sexy.  To borrow a line from Joy from Joyous Reads, reading this book was 'like rubbing ghost pepper juice all over my face.'  I can't put it better than that.  Thank you, Joy, for the words.

Over, if you feel like diving head-first into a swimming pool of flames, give Summer Skin a hot six hours of your time.