I had read a couple books by Jacquelyn Mitchard a couple years ago- The Deep End of the Ocean and The Theory of Relativity. I thoroughly enjoyed both books, so I've always kind of been on the lookout for more of her books. I also own two of her others books that I hope to read soon as well. Recently, a friend in one of my reading groups mentioned that Jacquelyn had a new book out called "Still Summer". Of course, I rushed to the library as soon as I could and picked it up. I keep up with upcoming book releases, but I hadn't seen this one.
Still Summer is about 4 women-Olivia, and her friends Holly, Tracy (Holly's Cousin), and Camille(Tracy's 19 year old daughter). Olivia's husband recently passed away and she decided to move back to the United States which leads them to all get together for a cruise in the Caribbean. Their boat was called the Opus and it was a 53-foot Trimaran multi-Hull sailboat. I looked at these types of boats in this size online so I was able to get an idea of what one looked like.
Oh, this would be a good time to mention that back in highschool their group was called "The Godmothers". They also had a friend named Janice, who was supposed to also join them for the cruise but couldn't come in the end). Anyway, a few days after departing things start to go wrong, they end up LOST at sea, losing Lenny(the captain) and Michel, and the girls then have to try and get back to shore, and in the process, they get robbed. They also lose Holly to a nasty blood infection.
I will also say that they learned a lot about each other and got to see each others' true colors as the story unfolds. The book is a good example of how things aren't always as they appear to be.
Now....for my thoughts.....
After reading the plot, I kept waiting for something to happen....I was waiting for that horrible storm. The beginning was kind of slow and seemed to jump around somewhat. In the beginning, I didn't make the connection who Ernesto and Carlos were until later. Finally, on page 96, there were hints of trouble to come. The things that caught my attention were "Michael woke in the middle of the night remembering that Lenny would choke him to death for leaving the GPS and the radio in the tender". and on page 97- "A few miles off the coast of Africa, from the direction opposite that from which the tropical storms come, the wind did not know that what was forecast were partly cloudy skies and perhaps a thunderstorm later in the week. So a wave traveled across the North Atlantic and crossed the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. And then the admixture of water generated a vortex, a depression, which began to spin. Energy was created. The summer had been warm and the water was warm and the wave became a tropical storm that had no name and no one's eyes upon it. But Lenny felt it on the back of his neck".
Pretty much from that point on I was HOOKED....
One part that sent shivers up my spine was on page 175..."But it was still possible to hear, faintly, a voice that said, "This is Captain Sharon Gleeman, over. Lenny, you rascal. Where have you got yourself to now? Did you forget we were to rendezvous for the food exchange?....Lenny...".
Ernesto got up, staggering with the drunk and his heft, climbed out of the saloon, and, after pushing Cammie roughly against the steering wheel, smashed the SSB into shards."
(The SSB was the radio).
I stayed up really late last night/this morning reading and right before I went to bed, I had left off on page 251, the last paragraph I read being
"Finally, after covering Holly with the light quilt, even though the whole and every stitch of the cloth on it was damp, Tracy went back into the cockpit. She fell asleep with her head on her arms. No one heard the radio crackle to life and the determined woman's voice that called out "This is the sailing vessel Big Spender out of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Do you hear us, Opus? ....This is is Captain Sharon Gleeman. Please answer, Opus. Do you read us?....Does anyone have news of Lenny Amato's sailing vessel, Opus, missing since June fifteenth?Over...."
I finished the book after I woke up this morning and let me say, it was DEFINITELY not what I expected. It was very good, and definitely a page turner, but quite different than I expected.
What I thought of the people:
Camille- acted like a typical 19 year old. I can understand how upset she was when she found that she was adopted and that Olivia was her birthmother. (It had been mentioned earlier that she was adopted). It was touching how her thoughts of her brother Teddy changed as a result of everything she went through. And I was so glad to see she came around, regarding her feelings toward Tracy.
Holly- She seemed so full of life. She was the mother of twin boys. It was obvious she loved them and her husband, just from what other people said. I was so sad that she died. The book didn't focus too much on the reactions of Holly's boys or her husband. But I think that definitely brought them and Tracy's family closer together.
Tracy- she seemed very level-headed and calm. She seemed like a really good mother. I'm glad she lived. Now she'll be able to continue to work on her relationship with Cammie. and becomer closer with her husband and son.
Olivia...I HATED HER. She was nothing but a self-centered bitch. I wanted to shake her and throw her over the side of the boat on several occasions. Especially when they found out she had been hiding food. She had to have known Holly had a blood infection, yet, she STILL hid the food. She didn't seem to help much when they needed it the most, she didn't seem like she really cared. And at the very end of the book, when Cammie and Tracy were in the hospital, Cammie mentioned that Olivia had come by and said she was leaving and that she was fine....OF COURSE she was fine.....she didn't allow herself to be put in the line of danger, thats how self-centered she was.
I really wish Michel and Cammie could've gotten together. At the end of the book, Cammie mentions that he sent her a letter, and that he was, in fact, alive. I wish they could've been reunited and gotten married. In the letter he wrote to Cammie, Michel says "I am lucky it wasn't more damage, as it is my legs, but not more. The doctor says I will still be able to be a father one day, though I can't imagine a woman who would want this ghost". I think Cammie would take him no matter what. Right below this on Page 303 Cammie is thinking about the number he wrote on the letter and whether she should call him, but then she realizes that "He did not mean for her to call or come to him. He was ashamed. No one would have been more shamed by such helplessness."
I was also really sad that Lenny died. He was the father of a baby boy, and recently had found out that his wife was expecting again. He would miss his wife growing up. And Janis....says she wishes she had been there with them.
On page 267....after Janis mentions how badly she wanted to go on this trip. She is asked
"I suppose you're glad you didn't, given how things happened."
"Actually, I'm not. I wish I'd been there. I wish I could have done more. I wish I had been with Tracy, if Tracy is....hurt. I think she must need me," Janis Said.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. It wasn't what I expected, but still a page turner that kept me up until all hours of the night. (I stayed up until around 2 or 3am last night/this morning trying to finish.)
Started 9/7/07
Finished 9/11/07
Up next: Cage of Stars also by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Still Summer is about 4 women-Olivia, and her friends Holly, Tracy (Holly's Cousin), and Camille(Tracy's 19 year old daughter). Olivia's husband recently passed away and she decided to move back to the United States which leads them to all get together for a cruise in the Caribbean. Their boat was called the Opus and it was a 53-foot Trimaran multi-Hull sailboat. I looked at these types of boats in this size online so I was able to get an idea of what one looked like.
Oh, this would be a good time to mention that back in highschool their group was called "The Godmothers". They also had a friend named Janice, who was supposed to also join them for the cruise but couldn't come in the end). Anyway, a few days after departing things start to go wrong, they end up LOST at sea, losing Lenny(the captain) and Michel, and the girls then have to try and get back to shore, and in the process, they get robbed. They also lose Holly to a nasty blood infection.
I will also say that they learned a lot about each other and got to see each others' true colors as the story unfolds. The book is a good example of how things aren't always as they appear to be.
Now....for my thoughts.....
After reading the plot, I kept waiting for something to happen....I was waiting for that horrible storm. The beginning was kind of slow and seemed to jump around somewhat. In the beginning, I didn't make the connection who Ernesto and Carlos were until later. Finally, on page 96, there were hints of trouble to come. The things that caught my attention were "Michael woke in the middle of the night remembering that Lenny would choke him to death for leaving the GPS and the radio in the tender". and on page 97- "A few miles off the coast of Africa, from the direction opposite that from which the tropical storms come, the wind did not know that what was forecast were partly cloudy skies and perhaps a thunderstorm later in the week. So a wave traveled across the North Atlantic and crossed the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. And then the admixture of water generated a vortex, a depression, which began to spin. Energy was created. The summer had been warm and the water was warm and the wave became a tropical storm that had no name and no one's eyes upon it. But Lenny felt it on the back of his neck".
Pretty much from that point on I was HOOKED....
One part that sent shivers up my spine was on page 175..."But it was still possible to hear, faintly, a voice that said, "This is Captain Sharon Gleeman, over. Lenny, you rascal. Where have you got yourself to now? Did you forget we were to rendezvous for the food exchange?....Lenny...".
Ernesto got up, staggering with the drunk and his heft, climbed out of the saloon, and, after pushing Cammie roughly against the steering wheel, smashed the SSB into shards."
(The SSB was the radio).
I stayed up really late last night/this morning reading and right before I went to bed, I had left off on page 251, the last paragraph I read being
"Finally, after covering Holly with the light quilt, even though the whole and every stitch of the cloth on it was damp, Tracy went back into the cockpit. She fell asleep with her head on her arms. No one heard the radio crackle to life and the determined woman's voice that called out "This is the sailing vessel Big Spender out of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Do you hear us, Opus? ....This is is Captain Sharon Gleeman. Please answer, Opus. Do you read us?....Does anyone have news of Lenny Amato's sailing vessel, Opus, missing since June fifteenth?Over...."
I finished the book after I woke up this morning and let me say, it was DEFINITELY not what I expected. It was very good, and definitely a page turner, but quite different than I expected.
What I thought of the people:
Camille- acted like a typical 19 year old. I can understand how upset she was when she found that she was adopted and that Olivia was her birthmother. (It had been mentioned earlier that she was adopted). It was touching how her thoughts of her brother Teddy changed as a result of everything she went through. And I was so glad to see she came around, regarding her feelings toward Tracy.
Holly- She seemed so full of life. She was the mother of twin boys. It was obvious she loved them and her husband, just from what other people said. I was so sad that she died. The book didn't focus too much on the reactions of Holly's boys or her husband. But I think that definitely brought them and Tracy's family closer together.
Tracy- she seemed very level-headed and calm. She seemed like a really good mother. I'm glad she lived. Now she'll be able to continue to work on her relationship with Cammie. and becomer closer with her husband and son.
Olivia...I HATED HER. She was nothing but a self-centered bitch. I wanted to shake her and throw her over the side of the boat on several occasions. Especially when they found out she had been hiding food. She had to have known Holly had a blood infection, yet, she STILL hid the food. She didn't seem to help much when they needed it the most, she didn't seem like she really cared. And at the very end of the book, when Cammie and Tracy were in the hospital, Cammie mentioned that Olivia had come by and said she was leaving and that she was fine....OF COURSE she was fine.....she didn't allow herself to be put in the line of danger, thats how self-centered she was.
I really wish Michel and Cammie could've gotten together. At the end of the book, Cammie mentions that he sent her a letter, and that he was, in fact, alive. I wish they could've been reunited and gotten married. In the letter he wrote to Cammie, Michel says "I am lucky it wasn't more damage, as it is my legs, but not more. The doctor says I will still be able to be a father one day, though I can't imagine a woman who would want this ghost". I think Cammie would take him no matter what. Right below this on Page 303 Cammie is thinking about the number he wrote on the letter and whether she should call him, but then she realizes that "He did not mean for her to call or come to him. He was ashamed. No one would have been more shamed by such helplessness."
I was also really sad that Lenny died. He was the father of a baby boy, and recently had found out that his wife was expecting again. He would miss his wife growing up. And Janis....says she wishes she had been there with them.
On page 267....after Janis mentions how badly she wanted to go on this trip. She is asked
"I suppose you're glad you didn't, given how things happened."
"Actually, I'm not. I wish I'd been there. I wish I could have done more. I wish I had been with Tracy, if Tracy is....hurt. I think she must need me," Janis Said.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. It wasn't what I expected, but still a page turner that kept me up until all hours of the night. (I stayed up until around 2 or 3am last night/this morning trying to finish.)
Started 9/7/07
Finished 9/11/07
Up next: Cage of Stars also by Jacquelyn Mitchard
