Summer Days, Summer Nights, edited by Stephanie Perkins

Pages: 384

Publisher: St Martin’s Griffin

Release Date: 17^th June 2016

Edition: US e-proof, NetGalley review copy

Other Titles by this Author: Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, Isla and the Happily Ever After, My True Love Gave to Me

Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom.

Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

My True Love Gave to Me was one of my favourite books on 2014 so I was beyond excited when I found out that Stephanie Perkins would be curating another short story collection, this time about summer love. Sadly, I was a bit disappointed.

I loved pretty much every story in My True Love Gave to Me, but in this collection I loved 4, liked a few more and felt ambivalent or even didn’t finish the rest. There was definitely a bit of everything in here: love in all its stages; families and people from all walks of life; fantasy, magical realism, straight-up contemporary – and I think that’s what made it a bit hit and miss for me. With the exception of one story, it was three contemporary stories that I fell in love with. Here’s a bit more about them:

‘The End of Love’ by Nina LaCour

Oh my goodness, this story. Only the second story in the collection, but my favourite. Nina’s writing is utter perfection. It’s poetic, lyrical and so beautiful and I find it ridiculous that none of her solo novels have been published in the UK yet. I mean, come on?!

‘Sick Pleasure’ by Francesca Lia Block

This is a hazy, dusty, lust-filled summer of music and rebellion and I was completely captivated. I'd never read Francesca Lia Block’s writing before, but I definitely fell under her spell. I wanted to be in this story and the atmosphere was so entrancing – the warm, tingling summers that all YA readers hope they’ll have one day.

‘In Ninety Minutes, Turn North’ by Stephanie Perkins

This story is a sequel to the one she wrote in My True Love Gave to Me and it was so nice to be back with those characters. As I've come to expect and love from Stephanie Perkins, this story was sweet and swoony and utterly charming. I loved it! It made me want to re-read all of her novels over again.

‘Brand New Attraction’ by Cassandra Clare

This is the only paranormal/fantasy story in the collection that I enjoyed in the collection. I never don’t love Cassandra Clare’s story, worlds and characters so I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed this story of a demon-run, dark circus so much. I loved the family politics, the deception and the magic -  I would happily read a whole novel set in this super cool circus.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the review copy.

Sophie