Laura Lee Anderson

This summer, my best friend was talking to me about a book she’d read which took place around where we’d grown up, and was written by a local. I was still unemployed at the time, so she very kindly bought the book for me–and then I promptly failed to read it for months. (Because I’m really good at doing that.) So at the beginning of the year, I made a promise to myself that I was going to start reading through the books sitting on my Kindle and Nook that had been there for ages.

I don’t know why I waited for so long on this book. I was denying myself such joy.

One of my biggest pet peeves in books is putting yourself in an established place–a real setting, a real city–and then making references that don’t make any sense. The last book I reviewed, THE PASSENGER, had a character head to Erie, PA at one point, and described them as leaving the bus/train station, strolling down the street, and searching for a motel. I know for a fact that where the station sits is not an area of Erie that one would “stroll” around in, and there are no motels anywhere even remotely close to that area. (And I have absolutely no memory of a motel with the name she gave, but I’m more lenient about invented place names–but to be fair, this is meant to be taking place in our world, as it is right now, so…)

Anderson suffered from none of this. She knows the area around Chautauqua Institution like the back of her hand, and it shines through with every word. She knows how the locals think, she nails the mentality of the tourists, she puts in places and I can see them in my mind’s eye perfectly. It was genuinely like I could be walking around southwestern New York along with the characters. Events described really happen, places only locals know about are named… It’s hard for me to put into words how amazing it truly felt being able to recognize absolutely every landmark.

In addition to this, our lead male–Carter–is Deaf, and I have an absolute fascination with ASL and deaf culture. In addition to this, despite the fact that a core piece of the plot revolves around Carter being Deaf, the story is not truly about Carter’s Deafness. Too often, when a character introduced has any kind of disability or Otherness, it becomes to core of who they are. Carter is not a Deaf guy who does stuff and falls in love. He’s a young man who falls in love with a musician…and he happens to be Deaf.

(And yes, that’s the core conflict, along with the fact that it’s a summer romance story: Robin, our lead female, lives for music…and Carter is Deaf. This may cause problems.)

At its core, the romance is simple and predictable. The ending left me flailing and wishing for more because HOW CAN IT END THAT WAY, but it didn’t end the way most romance stories like this end, and I appreciate that. Not everything gets tied up in happy neat bows at the end of all stories. It’s a sweet YA romance with believable characters and perfect setting, and sometimes that’s all you need out of a story.

Rating: ***** – Highest Recommendation… (más)

I wanted to read Song of Summer because I am drawn to teens with illnesses or disabilities, and ASL has always interested me. I tried to learn it at one point, but only remember a bit. I also liked the tension that comes about with her passion for music and that she is falling for a boy who can't hear it.

The romance is sweet, and I loved their instant connection. I thought it was hilarious that she thought he was gay at first because he came into the diner with a guy friend, and he just texted his order, and said friend did all the ordering and talking. Without knowing he's deaf, I probably would have assumed the same thing. But they flirt and he comes back again to the diner, and they have conversations written on her ordering pad.

I liked Robin and her best friend, but I didn't like that her ex Trent who broke up with her because he didn't want to be tied down senior year. He is everywhere, and they play music together at the same church, and he is still flirty with her and acts like he didn't hurt her. Which obviously is fine because I liked her connection and how she tried with Carter where some people discovered he was deaf and act all weird or condescending.

I like the unique family situation with Carter. He is adopted by his deaf father and his mom knows sign language because one of her parents were deaf. They have adopted him and two other deaf children, and I love their culture, and the fact that his parents were open to adoption and could bring the kids up in a household that understood and could communicate with them.

There was some drama that I felt was unnecessary, but I suppose that it did serve some purposes to let us know some of the history and decisions that were made.

The ending managed to leave a hint of possibility but it was pretty realistic and also felt pretty open in some ways. I wanted a more wrapped up HEA, but there were so many things that were on the way to fixing, and there was some maturity needed as well as perspective on how the other was dealing with. And there was also the fact of the distance between them, it felt like a nice summer romance, but it hinted throughout that they were dreaming up ways to make it work past then.

Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC (advanced review copy). I am not paid for this review, and my opinions in this review are mine, and are not effected by the book being free.

Bottom Line: Sweet romance between two very different people.… (más)