Bringing The Summer by Julia Green

 Summary

It's the lazy end of summer and Freya is about to start her A levels. Her brother Joe died a year ago, but she is slowly coming to terms with his death. She is beginning to feel ready for something new - a change. And then a railway accident brings her by chance into contact with the gorgeous Gabes. Freya is drawn not just to Gabes himself and his blond good looks, but everything about him, including his large, shambolic, warm and loving family, which seems to Freya so different to her own family of three. And then Gabes' clearly troubled older brother makes it clear he is interested in Freya - and Freya has some decisions to make about what she really wants.

Paperback: 272 pages 
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; Original edition (10 May 2012)

My Review

Bringing the Summer is the first Julia Green book I have read and if it is anything to go by I have been seriously missing out. The storyline is kept fairly light while still tackling darker issues brilliantly. Julia Green writes beautifully and I was fully engaged in the story from the first chapter. I really didn't expect to love Bring the Summer quite as much as I did, so I am extremely happy with how everything turned out.

Frey's brother died in a boating accident about two years ago, so that just leaves Freya and her parents, who work allot and aren't around much. Freya hates the stillness and quietness that surrounds family life now, with her brother gone. But when Freya meets super cute Gabes things start looking up.

Freya is sucked into Gabes' family life, he has a super big family and his big old house is homely and never still or quiet, the way Frey thinks family life should be. Freya and Gabes become very close but there seems to be no romantic spark.

Gabes' older brother Theo is dark, mysterious and he really intrigues Freya, who he shows a keen interest in. But Theo has some serious issues to work through and sometimes he frightens Freya. Frey need to think about what or who she wants or she could end up hurting the people she cares about.

The ending is great, Freya really grew as a person and I think she made the right decision for herself. I was really pleased for her.

Overall I think this book was brilliant. You would think by reading about this book that Freya wouldn't be a very nice person, with the whole brother thing. But that is not the case, I think Freya was a truly nice person, she was just making some typical mistakes 'growing up' and I think that's the angle Julia Green was coming from, Freya maturing and growing as a person, she needed to make her own mistakes in order to do just that.

I would highly recommend Bringing The Summer and I am now going to seek out more of Julia Green's works. Add Bringing The Summer to your Goodreads shelf today.

My favourite characters:

Freya: I loved Freya, she is quite mature for her age, she is intelligent, fun, works hard in school and is a really good friend to have.

Theo: This is one dangerous guy, he is little disturbed to tell the truth, but I think he is a really intriguing character that I was instantly drawn to. He is extremely intelligent but he is also quite introverted and comes across a little rude to people at times. But his softer side, when he opens himself up, are the best times to see who he could be without the dark cloud he has hanging over him.

*Special thanks to Bloomsbury for the review copy*

4/5 Stars

Carly :)