⭐️3/5 stars
📖 Length: 144 pages
📱 Format: Kindle
⏳ Read Time: 1 day
Synopsis
Celia discovers her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother Argent leaves home. Furious at being left behind, she lashes out, not realising her childish, angry words will suddenly become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.
While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse. Yet she cannot find the solution – until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her people and the summerlings, the immortal beings holding a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbours.
With the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to undo her eldest brother’s curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War. But what price will she have to pay?
What I thought
This was my first introduction to Naomi Novik’s work, and I went into The Summer War really wanting to love it. Unfortunately, it ended up sitting firmly in the OK category for me. The biggest issue I had was with the opening chapters. There were a lot of elements introduced very quickly; characters, concepts, and plot threads, and with many of them either not going anywhere or feeling unnecessary to the overall storyline. For such a short book it made the beginning feel cluttered rather than intriguing.
That said, as the story progressed, things did start to come together. Once I had a clearer grasp of what actually mattered, the narrative became much easier to follow and more enjoyable. Novik’s writing itself is solid, and there were moments where the atmosphere and underlying ideas really worked for me, which makes me open to trying more from this author in the future.
At just 144 pages, this is a very quick read. Finished in one sitting. BUT I couldn’t shake the feeling that the limited page count wasn’t always used as effectively as it could have been. Some early elements could have been trimmed entirely, while other parts of the story would have benefited from a bit more space to breathe and develop.
Overall
The Summer War isn’t a bad read by any means, and while it wasn’t what I expected, it hasn’t put me off the author. I can see why it might appeal to readers who enjoy dense fantasy concepts packed into a short format. For me, though, the cluttered beginning and uneven pacing held it back. An interesting introduction to Naomi Novik, but ultimately a 3-star read.
Interested in picking this up? You can get copies below.
On Amazon – here
Bookshop.Org – here
Until next time… 🖤
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