Those Summer Nights

Those Summer Nights
Age Range
14+
Release Date
August 23, 2022
ISBN
978-1534488397
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After recovering from a life-changing injury, a teen girl must navigate a new job, an ex-best friend, and two surprisingly attractive coworkers in this “sweet, romantic summer tale” (Kirkus Reviews) for fans of Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Hannah used to be all about focus, back before she shattered her ankle and her Olympic dreams in one bad soccer play. These days, she’s all about distraction—anything to keep the painful memories of her recent past at bay, including the string of bad decisions that landed her at boarding school for a year.

Enter Bonanza, the local entertainment multiplex and site of Hanna’s summer employment. With its mini golf course, bowling alley, and arcade—not to mention her hot, flirty coworker Patrick—Bonanza seems like the perfect way to stay distracted. Until her boss announces the annual Bonanza tournament, a staff competition that brings her past Olympic nightmares crashing back into her present.

On top of that, the Bonanza staff includes Brie, the ex-best friend she cut off last year, and Ethan, her brother’s best friend who became unreasonably attractive in her year away and who accepts her, even knowing her worst secrets. Under the neon lights of Bonanza, Hannah must decide whether she can find a way to discover a new self in the midst of her old life.

Editor review

1 review
More Than A Summer Romance
Overall rating
 
4.0
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Imagine two life-changing events occurring within days of each other. If you were in that situation, how would you handle it? In Hannah Klein's case, she handles it poorly. Losing her Bubbie and having her ankle shattered in a soccer game making Hannah lose her dream of playing in the Olympics started her on a downward spiral. As a result, she spent most of her time partying, so her parents send her away to boarding school.

The story begins a year later when Hannah returns home and has to begin rebuilding her life. She has to find out who she is without soccer and the team as her friends. Hannah gets a job at the entertainment multiplex where her brother, her brother's best friend Ethan, and Brie, her ex-best friend, also work. And though Hannah is kind of floundering in life when the story starts it is heartwarming to see how much progress she makes emotionally healing.

Hannah was one of those characters that were easy to love. She was flawed, made mistakes, and was far from perfect. However, watching her journey of dealing with the loss of her grandmother and her dreams made me want to root for her to succeed. Ethan was another character I instantly fell in love with. I shipped him and Hannah together and loved their friendship and how it blossomed.

There's more to Those Summer Nights than just a summer romance. There is a depth to this book that I wasn't expecting. It touches on heavy topics like grief and figuring out who you are. Balancing out those heavy topics is romance and a lot of goofy fun teenage moments at Bonanza making it a wonderful read.
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