July 20, 2016

[Review] The Summer That Melted Everything - Tiffany McDaniel

Summary: Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil.



Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for this opportunity!

I already suspected this would be out of my field of expectations—I mean, how can you envision a story about the devil coming to town? Still, this isn't a book I figured even after many pages. In fact, this is more like a book I'll spend a long time trying to figure out.

How hard it is picking where to start and what exactly to say without revealing too much!

Because he had wanted to see for himself, Autopsy Bliss sent out an invitation for the devil to come to Breathed, Ohio. When his son Fielding meets Sal and brings him home, a black boy who looks his age but says to be the devil, the town isn't as hospitable. As summer of 1984 brings intense heat to town, all things melt.

The main win of this book is its exquisite voice, I could hardly believe this was a debut novel. Narrated by the septuagenarian Fieldings, he looks back on the scalding summer of 1984, when he was still a thirteen-year-old in the small town of Breathed, and how those events came to define his life hereafter. The plot is all different and so is the technique but from beginning to end the voice reminded a little of My Sunshine Away, an omen I was in for a real ride.

This book starts as a little harder read—the prose is borderline poetic at times as well as filled with allegories and underlying meaning. Even the names a little too much, too cheesy when you're starting. However, it either got easier or I just stopped judging after the beginning. If you are a fan of underlining quotes, buy some markers as you'll have a feast.

I wasn't expecting to love characters here, and I fell hard. Unfortunately, my love for Sal was something unfinished. Perhaps I was too focused on the mother's grief and especially on Grand's, my favorite of all. During my next reading I want to pay more attention to our boy-devil but for now I'd say the author could have worked better on presenting him. I know his life story is beautiful so I'm sure there is a potential there but I couldn't relate as much.

And wow... I cried too many times. For a story about the devil coming to town, this sure almost melted down my lacrimal glands. The plot was well planned and you can simply feel things moving and taking place like the orchestra of an imminent tragedy. Although it broke my heart, I do like the feeling of a well-composed book.

The author may have lost it a little toward the ending—perhaps the final 10–15%. The climax scene is the book's biggest flaw for me. I do understand and even appreciate the point I feel she tried to make but the execution was a little too much, the opposite from the beautiful narration and scenes she had brought together along the way. On account of that, the final turnover for Autopsy felt out of place, and Sal's ending lost a little of its shine.

Because this story deals with perceptions and prejudice and deceit, picking up spoiler-free opinions is mission: impossible. You will have to take my word on this, the story brings up very good themes for discussion, even if, as above mentioned, the author wasn't so good concluding them. Or maybe right because she couldn't do it, I'd say this is ideal for reading along with someone, be it a buddy reading or a book-club reading. So what do you think about the devil?

I don't recommend this for those sensitive about racial discrimination and homosexual contents. Especially the former could have received a better approach, in my opinion. I do remember seeing a couple of reviews from people uncomfortable and concluding the author condoned it; while I don't agree, I wasn't a fan of how she treated this. Also, even though this is mostly centered on a thirteen-year-old Fielding and has no explicit content, I would also warn a younger audience against this. It is a coming-of-age story of sorts but with too sensitive a topic, requiting some maturity on the reader's part.

The book is not a quick read but it really grabs you after just a few pages. You won't take an eternity to finish—you'll be unable to put it down before it's over.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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