I haven’t given up on finding the perfect summer book, especially as summer closes out. (In some effort to avoid the inevitable, I’m not letting anyone else admit that that’s happening.)
My September scaries have for sure arrived, and in harshly full force. All of a sudden, the summer’s behind us and I’m more disappointed about it than I remember being in quite some time. Maybe it’s that I only got to spend a month at my gorgeous new rooftop pool, or that no longer being enrolled at/working for a university means I’m missing out on that start-of-school-year excitement, or that I’m not ready for everyone- myself included- to start hibernating, but it all feels a little bigger than that. It’s harder for summer to be over than any other season, and though it’s technically still summer for a few weeks, we all seem to be in agreement that it’s now decidedly fall. (Sidebar: there is no need for Halloween costumes and pumpkin flavored things in July. Looking at you, Target.)
Now, there’s plenty to look forward to in the next few months- perhaps most notably the opportunity to break out my fall wardrobe, but also a trip to Israel and hockey season and it finally being seasonally appropriate to eat ramen (not that I ever stop)- but there’s a lot of finality that comes with the end of August. I know some people are energized by September, but I’m clearly not one of those people- if you are, get in touch and share your secrets for September excitement!
In any case, Beautiful Ruins looks like a true summer read based on the cover alone. I mean- how do you turn that down?! It’s been on my list for quite a while. I’ll admit I added it based on the cover and the fact that it’s been on recommended and bestseller lists for some time, but I didn’t really read any description beyond that it involved Hollywood to some degree. Seems like fit enough for me- it held the promise of being light without being vapid.
Turns out that not-vapid was 100% accurate, but this is not a light read by any stretch. There’s a lot happening here. Like We Are Called To Rise did effectively and Luckiest Girl Alive did fairly poorly, a wide range of characters and stories come together in different time periods and scenarios. Some of the characters are under-formed and don’t have a really strong arc (though there’s a little wrap-up chapter at the end), but it’s nice to follow them throughout their lives. I’m also not sure it was necessary to bring in some real life individuals in with the fictional characters, but it wasn’t a super distracting addition either…so no harm, no foul I guess?
All told, it’s a pretty good book. It’s not a summer read much beyond the cover, but I’m not upset to close out August with this lovely work of fiction.
You’ll like this if: you liked We Are Called To Rise and are looking for a better companion to it than Luckiest Girl Alive.
Happy reading!
carlyreads 