Book Review :: The Summer of Us, by Cecilia Vinesse

The Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse
ISBN: 9781510200791
Published by Hachette NZ
on 5th June 2018
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 311
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

Aubrey and Rae have been planning their trip around Europe practically from the moment they became BFFs in primary school. And, now, it ought to be the perfect way to spend their last summer together before university.

But things are more complicated at eighteen than they were at ten. There's Jonah, Aubrey's seemingly perfect boyfriend, and his best friend Gabe, the boy Aubrey may have accidentally kissed. And there's Clara, the friend Rae is crushing on, hard, even though there's no hope because Clara is definitely into guys, not girls.

Five friends. Ten days. Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Florence, Barcelona. And a messy, complicated, can-this-really-be happening love story, or two ... because how could there not be?

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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What is The Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse about?

Aubrey has been planning the trip for weeks; the last hurrah before she and her best friend Rae, and their other friends Jonah, Gabe and Clara part ways for college all around the world. This would be their last chance to relax, to enjoy being free before they started studying. But, like many trips with friends around Europe go, not everything goes to plan.

Aubrey fights with her boyfriend Jonah, feels guilty because she and Gabe kissed the week prior even though Gabe is Jonah’s best friend; Rae has feelings for Clara; and then there’s the people they encounter along the way who only throw spanners in the works. It’s a whirlwind trip that none of them will forget in any hurry.

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My thoughts on The Summer of Us

What I enjoyed about this book was the concept: living here in New Zealand means that those summers between educational endeavours such as high school and university were never ever filled with adventures to other countries.

Firstly, there would be no way that my parents would have let me gallivant off to a multitude of non-English speaking counties when I was 17 and finishing high school. Secondly, the closest country we’ve got is Australia, and who has the money at that age to just up and leave for weeks on end? I enjoyed that these characters had a) the money/parents with money and the ‘yeah go on’ attitude to accommodate such adventures, and b) countries they could get to via train.

While this was a fun adventure through five cities in Europe, which definitely made me yearn for the ease of ‘let’s pop across the border and check out this country’, it was a little lacking for me. It was so predictable nothing surprised me, and nothing had me wondering what would happen. I appreciated how different each character was to each other, however, and I think Rae and Gabe were my favourites. Aubrey annoyed the flip out of me, Jonas was a you-know-what the entire time, and Clara was a bit a of cry baby.

The story is told through the eyes of Aubery and Rae, alternating chapters. This was great because it meant the group split up on the odd occasion, you could follow Aubrey one direction and Rae in the other. I did struggle, however, to keep track of the different voices in each, as they were quite similar. Other than that, Vinesse writes well, in a very easy-to-read sort of way that flows nicely and is never jarring or hard to keep up with.

So unfortunately, overall, it didn’t quite live up to what I was hoping or expecting, but if you’re after a lighthearted tale about 5 teens finding themselves and their way in the world, then it is a fun story. Also you get a bit of Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Florence, and Barcelona in there too.

Have you read The Summer of Us? What did you think?

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Thank you to Hachette Publishing NZ for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.