Summer of Salt kind of snuck up on me.

Part I is a tad slow. This book is magical realism, so that part was fun, but it mostly read like your average YA high school contemporary. But I will impress upon you that this book is extremely short and a very fast read, so it didn’t take me long to get past Part I. I didn’t love it, but I certainly didn’t dislike it enough to stop. Probably 2.5 stars to part I.

But oh, boy, this book picked up. Our mystery begins, our mc and her love interest get closer, the drama grows, and the atmosphere darkens. Summer of Salt reminded me a lot of Anna-Marie McLemore’s books, and we all know I’m a McLemore stan. It dealt with some very difficult themes with grace and healing, and parts II and III were a joy.

I know some people won’t make it past the first several chapters, and while that’s perfectly valid I would encourage everyone, if they can, to withhold judgement and finish this quick little book. It’s worth it.