The Square Root of Summer

The Summer Root of Summer is by debut author Harriet Reuter Hapgood.

This is what it means to love someone.  This is what it means to grieve someone. It's a little bit like a black hole.  It's a little like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time.  Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she's hurtled through wormholes to her past:

To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died.  To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn't ever hold her hand at the funeral.  To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie's past, present, and future are about to collide- and someone's heart is about to be broken.

The Breakdown:
1. Hapgood's debut novel has got fair amount of buzz about it, but sadly for me, it did not live up to the hype. I had hard time getting into the story. There was a lot of technical physics and math in it that I did not really understand, so it made it harder for me to get into the story. Plus the wormholes and jumps in timelines left me a little confused and the story feeling choppy at times.

2. I did not really connect with the character of Gottie.  I spent pretty much the entire book trying to decided if she was crazy or not.  She was so consumed by her grief that she really has become quite self-absorbed.

3.  Honestly the only character I felt any connection was Thomas.  He was funny, and I loved that he was a baker.

To Read or Not to Read:
Skip it