The Summer of Christmas by Juliet Giglio - Book Review

The Summer of Christmas by Juliet Giglio, Keith Giglio

Publication Date: 05th July 2022

Genre: Romcom, Chicklit 

2.5 Stars 

One Liner: This is what happens when you fall for the cover and the words summer & Christmas!

*Contains Spoilers* 

Ivy Green’s autobiographical script is ready to be filmed. After five years of struggling to make a mark as a screenwriter, Ivy finally gets her chance. Imagine her shock when the producer announces that the movie will be filmed in her hometown. 

The last thing Ivy wants is to come across Nick, her childhood bestie and long-term lover, the man who broke up with her just before Christmas five years ago. With no other choice, Ivy goes back home, determined to prove that she moved on. After all, she’s in a relationship with Drew, the producer of the film. 

However, just about everything goes wrong as the heroine playing Ivy gets too close to Nick, and Ivy is still very much confused about her feelings for him. Ivy needs to get her life back on track and decide what she wants if she hopes for a happy ever after. 

What I Like: 

• Oh, this is easy. The cover is cute, and I’ve always liked to read about Christmas when it’s super hot outside. Summer in Christmas felt like it was my kind of book (except it wasn’t). 

• The best part of the book was Ivy rewriting her love story into a script where she kills off Nick’s character in an accident. Way to go! 

• The book reads fast (or maybe I'm very good at speed reading), thus saving me a day I marked for this one. 

• The side characters are endearing despite the limited character development. Griffin, Ivy’s parents and sister, and Nick’s mom had great potential but shined within the limitations. 

• The Christmas theme was good to read. That’s what kept me going. 

What Didn’t Work for Me: 

*cracks knuckles*

• The narration was choppy and seemed a bit disjointed. I’m not sure if it’s some sort of contemporary writing, but some of the sentences were too weird to read. The Nick, Rick, and dick thingy was cringe-level. 

• The POV seemed too scattered. It is a limited third-person one minute, omnipresent the next, and judgmental third person in another. Quite confusing at times. 

• Some attempts at humor felt OTT. The drama was a bit too much and continued to go in circles. Why couldn’t they just talk like adults? Ivy and Nick have known each other forever and are now in their 30s. You’d expect more maturity from them. 

• Ivy and Nick spend a lot of time in their past instead of deciding what they want for the future. We see that they are meant to be together. But if they can’t decide it, why bother! 

• Despite the flaws, Ivy was a good person and deserved better. Nick was an idiot, and Drew was worse. I was half-hoping she’d find someone who would really love her. 

• Griffin’s arc was going well until there’s a sudden realization <spoiler> that he likes guys. Make it believable, at least! Representation, for the sake of it, doesn’t work. <spoiler>

• I was still hopeful about the ending, but two scenes ruined it for me. I cannot make myself rate the book higher.

<spoiler> First, Nick thinks he dreams about his dead father and wakes up realizing that he needs to get Ivy back in his life. Then, Ivy has a dream with a Young Ivy showing her their past and the future. Boom! Ivy now knows she needs to sort it with Nick because he’s the love of her life. 

Then we get to know that Nick actually met a guy (from the film crew) who looked like his dad. What even! Why do two grown-up people need dreams and ghosts to help them decide about their lives? Just about everyone in the town and the shooting crew knows Ivy and Nick are a couple, but they need some guidance from the other world. Sigh! <spoiler>

• The ending is a high drama that would look good on the screen but fell OTT in the book.  

I enjoy romcoms, but this just got too much after a while. After reading the author’s note and bio, I kind of understood why the book felt so patchy. 

Bear with me as I get into the gyaan-sharing mode.

*clears voice*

The authors are screenplay writers, and this is their first novel. Their expertise clearly shows in the scenes related to the film and film industry. However, screenplay writing is different from novel writing. 

A film is an audiovisual medium. The audience doesn’t have to imagine or guess the characters, their emotions, and their expressions. It’s all there for us to see. A book requires the reader to imagine and visualize the content. They have the freedom to choose the actors but also have the disadvantage of not knowing whether or not their visualization is aligned with the authors'. 

What feels aligned in a film doesn’t necessarily feel the same in a book. After all, we cannot ‘see’ certain things but can only imagine them. This mismatch made the book feel choppy and patchy. The weird sentences and dialogues would sound natural and funny on the screen. The same doesn’t have to happen in the book format (it didn’t for some of us). And thus, we have a great premise with a mixed-up execution. This should have been a movie. 

*speech ends* 

To sum up, The Summer of Christmas is a very light read if you aren’t particular about certain things. The Christmas elements are fun, so all is not lost. 

Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley