2016/07/26

The Summer That Melted Everything

The Summer That Melted EverythingThe Summer That Melted Everything 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.

Sal seems to appear out of nowhere - a bruised and tattered thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be the devil himself answering an invitation. Fielding Bliss, the son of a local prosecutor, brings him home where he's welcomed into the Bliss family, assuming he's a runaway from a nearby farm town.

When word spreads that the devil has come to Breathed, not everyone is happy to welcome this self-proclaimed fallen angel. Murmurs follow him and tensions rise, along with the temperatures as an unbearable heat wave rolls into town right along with him. As strange accidents start to occur, riled by the feverish heat, some in the town start to believe that Sal is exactly who he claims to be. While the Bliss family wrestles with their own personal demons, a fanatic drives the town to the brink of a catastrophe that will change this sleepy Ohio backwater forever.

Below is the book trailer...



The Summer That Melted Everything Review:
Remind me to never again ignore or have bad views on a book with minimal writing. Yes, I know the book was just released today so it will have few reviews, but I usually stay away from books with few reviews because I'm not sure how good it will be. There sometimes is a lack of reviews so I can't properly gauge what the book is like. Yet this book shows that you have to give debut authors and not so popular books a chance. This book blew away all expectations and set up a new bar for books. This book tackles many socially popular topics and carefully weaves it in with the plot. The book is full of descriptive, emotion-evoking story telling and very well paced. I'm glad I read this book, as it's incredibly unique and a very enjoyable read!

This book took me a while to read. It was not because it wasn't good. As I said above, the story was unique, but it's because of the type of story this I had to take my time. The vivid descriptions and the characters brought me in. It reminded me of Jane Eyre in the way that brings in a lot of detail. Now don't go thinking this is like Jane Eyre. They are written complete different and are about two different things. Here is one of the descriptions that drew me in...

“The days … they’ve been blurring together.”
“Just hang a calendar on your wall.”
“The walls of hell are not like other walls. I tore a picture of the ocean out from a magazine and hung it on my wall once. An ocean is a good life place. Everyone always seems happy there. And for a moment, I was happy with my picture, but then the blue sky turned gray. The waves, once calm, took a turn to rage. Then came the screams. As I looked closer, I saw the screams came from men drowning in the water.”

The descriptions were very in-depth and could evoke power emotions and imagery. There were some times that this was too much. It would be Better if some descriptions could be kept shorter. For example,

"The raw strength of that very thing, revealing something of us. In the best hope, something like pretty honey drizzling from the crooks of our elbows while we apologize and say it was all play in the hills, and nothing has changed."

This quote drops provide a lot imagery. On top of that, the words flow very easily making it very easy to read. But, the description went on for too long. The previous sentence was quite enough of a description to convey the emotion and meaning.

Now back to the good stuff! I'm going to talk about the description again, but this time connecting it to the atmosphere. It helped to build a unique and weirdly beautiful world. The way the worlds made the chapters connected. It built the a dark and suspenseful world. Everything was constructed to create an excellent balance between the tension, prose, characters and plot.

“The days … they’ve been blurring together.”
“Just hang a calendar on your wall.”
“The walls of hell are not like other walls. I tore a picture of the ocean out from a magazine and hung it on my wall once. An ocean is a good life place. Everyone always seems happy there. And for a moment, I was happy with my picture, but then the blue sky turned gray. The waves, once calm, took a turn to rage. Then came the screams. As I looked closer, I saw the screams came from men drowning in the water.”


On top of that the plot was captivating from the moment the started. And how could it not, with an opening like this...

“Dear Mr. Devil, Sir Satan, Lord Lucifer, and all other crosses you bear,
I cordially invite you to Breathed, Ohio. Land of hills and hay bales, of sinners and forgivers.
May you come in peace.
With great faith,
Autopsy Bliss”


Yes, his name is Autopsy. Another unique name is Fielding, who is the main character. We know Autopsy who is the father, and then there is Grand, the brother, Stella, the mother and finally Sal, the demon. And what any entrance he makes!

“Are you sayin’ that you’re the devil?”
“It is not my first name, but it is one of them.” He reached down to scratch his thigh. It was then I noticed the denim was worn at the knees more than anywhere else. Over top the wear were layers of dirt, as if kneeling were all the time for him.
“You’re lyin’.” I searched his head for horns. “You’re just a boy.”
His fingers twitched. “I was once, if that counts.”


and

"You can imagine anything you want in the dark. You can imagine your father loves you, you can imagine your mother is not disappointed, you can imagine that you are...significant. That you mean somethin' to someone. That's all I ever wanted, Fielding. To matter. That is all I've ever wanted."

The characterization was perfect. It was just enough detail that we saw them as unique but left them mysterious as well. I like how there is still some things left unknown about these characters, especially Sal. It was also great to see the strong family relationships in Fielding’s family. There seems to be recurring theme in books where the main characters come from an abusive or dead family. It was nice to see that everyone was nice and taking care of each other. It felt like a real family and it was heart warming for someone to create such a beautiful and cohesive family.

A Summer That Melted Everything is great way to open up the floor for this amazing author and for important topics to get coverage! I would highly recommend this book to anyone because it is such a diverse and unique book. I will put out a warning though for trigger topics...













...abuse, domestic violence, homophobia, racism, suicide.



















Just be warned that they are there. And also be prepared to see a stance on topics that you may not appreciate. This was a problem that I also encountered. It there nagging in the back of my head, but others may find issues with this. There are some times where a stance is taken to try and redeem the "demons". Not in the literal sense as that is not what this book about, but those people who are rude or insulting or any of those people who partake in the horrible things above. I didn't always appreciate this stance because a lot of people, for me, don't deserve this "redemption" or forgiveness. Yet it brings the point to not just judge a person by their actions, they could be hiding a lot of reasons or history that might change your perspective on them.

As you can see, this book can be controversial. But don't let that stop you from reading it.

Overall, this was a 4.5 star read!!It had a unique premise that attracts all types of readers. A Summer That Melted Everything is captivating from the moment you open it and takes time to fully grasp what it talks about. I highly recommend this book and hope that you will enjoy it just as much as me!

Thank you to the author for providing this ARC. Remember to look at the next post to see a Q&A with Tiffany McDaniels!!

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