Title:  Hurricane Summer
Author:  Asha Bromfield
Genre:  YA
Rating:  DNF

Tilla has spent her entire life trying to make her father love her. But every six months, he leaves their family and returns to his true home: the island of Jamaica.

When Tilla’s mother tells her she’ll be spending the summer on the island, Tilla dreads the idea of seeing him again, but longs to discover what life in Jamaica has always held for him.

In an unexpected turn of events, Tilla is forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life as she learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise—all in the midst of an impending hurricane.

Hurricane Summer is a powerful coming of age story that deals with colorism, classism, young love, the father-daughter dynamic—and what it means to discover your own voice in the center of complete destruction.

I normally don’t review books I DNF, but in this case I will, because I want to explain:  I was really looking forward to reading this, and I made it to 30% before giving up. Excellent writing and characterization, but the patois that made up the majority of the dialogue slowed me down too much and I lost interest in the story. I’ve read other books that handled this differently without a problem, but, if you need to put a dictionary at the front of your novel, this could be an issue for some readers. And, frankly, Tilla telling me how much she like Jamaica and how great everything was meant nothing when the novel itself was showing me the opposite.

Asha Bromfield is an actress, singer, and writer. Hurricane Summer is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

• book review
• books
• reading