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raenyreads 's review for:

Summer by Ali Smith
3.5
challenging reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm going to start with saying, definitely read this book last in the quartet. I've seen people say you can read them in any order, and for the most part I'd agree, but this one has to be last.

Now into the book itself. I enjoyed Summer, we met some of my new favourite characters from the quartet and I was excited to see characters I've loved in previous books return. I enjoyed Sacha and Robert's relationship a lot and enjoyed their conversations. I also enjoyed the further insights we got into the lives of characters from previous books and learning how they all interlinked. I was curious as to whether this book would include anything about the pandemic due to it being published in August 2020. It was included and I think it was blended well with the overall story. 

However, this is where I find my negative points. Where previous installments have had some sort of story to follow the characters along, though they were still very character focused, this one seemed to go nowhere and so by the end I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed. There was quite a bit of jumping back and forth in space and time, which didn't help with the feeling of a continual story either.

Overall, a good installment in the quartet but not my favourite. I look forward to reading Companion Piece once it's out in paperback!