Ok when I read the overview on this book i was thinking, Oh it's a book about a secret romance. A brother torn between his love for a girl and betraying his own brother, right? ummm no. This book is about family dyfunction and weirdness. There is a very brief section that involves the girl, but it's never a secret between the brothers, it's kind of icky. I don't think 2 brothers would knowingly share a girl, because it's creepy.
Also I totally get that some parents don't watch their kids, but I don't need a book about it. And what teenagers quote prose? It's weird. Sorry but I wish I could get my money back on this one.
PS- NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER, this one fooled the heck out of me.
( )

I hate this cover. That is the only conclusion I have been able to come to right now. It is entirely misleading. I also think it will turn people away from the novel, or give them the wrong idea. I never would have read this if it weren't for other people's reviews on it and that's mainly because of the cover.

But that is enough gripping on that.

I could relate a lot to this book. I have a semi big family, parents who sure as shit don't get along, an aunt who used to work at Perkins School for the Blind and Deaf (so as a kid I spent a lot of time with a select few of deaf and blind children) and almost every summer as a kid, we went to Cape Cod.

I liked Chase. I liked his voice, I liked him as a person, and he felt real to me. I'm just going to say this right now, all the Camus was a bit odd. I've read a lot of reviews and this seems to get the general thought. It wasn't completely unbelievable that these boy would become obsessed with an author and quote him constantly. As a teen, I did things like this all the time, I just thought with a few less long ass quotes, it would have been a little easier to take in as slightly more believable.

But anyway, back to Chase and the rest of the characters. Chase was the second child, but many times you would think he was the oldest. He was the glue that held this family together. He worshiped his older brother who was constantly leaving him. I think the fact that Noah was always leaving had a lot to to with why Chase put him on this pedestal. If he wasn't constantly leaving Chase, maybe he could have relaxed a bit. Noah was also a great character, surprisingly, I related to him a little more than Chase. I mentioned I have a large family (1 sister, 2 brothers) I'm the oldest. I resent this like crazy. My sister (who is number 2 in order) seems older than me. She's more responsible, people mistake her for the older one a lot and many times I feel like she is my older sister rather than the other way around. My parents don't get along, we're not even gonna go into that issue because I'll rant and you just don't need to hear that. The point is, instead of running like Noah, I retreated to my room. I get Noah. Boy do I get him. As for the younger siblings, I liked Claudia a lot, but I never believed her age. The novel encompasses 4 summers, she's 11 in the first and 14 by the end. She acts like she's 14 in the first one and goes on from there and no one says anything. Sure Chase and Noah once in a while tell her to chill and act her age but she and Chase's friend Shannon (who is a boy) have this weird dating relationship. Shannon is Chase's age, so by the time they actually date she is 14 and he is 17. He's talking about dating her every summer. What 15 year old wants to date an 11 year old? It was weird and it bothered me. I loved Gideon. And that is all I have to say about that.

Parts of this book annoyed me, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but I related it it so much, grew to care and love the characters that all in all, I loved it and was very glad I ignored the cover and read it. I would recommend you do so as well.

Edit 11/11/12 Re-read*

I was gonna delete all that and start over, because my feelings have changed a little, but I decided not too. I think I needed to read this one twice. I still haven't figured out why exactly. ( )

I hope that what I write here actually makes coherent sense. It is no lie when I tell you that this book had me so emotionally drained yesterday that I couldn't even form a complete thought. I have never read a book by Hannah Moskowitz before Invincible Summer, but I tell you now that I will never miss a book by her ever again.

I'm going to open my rambling review with a warning. Grab some tissues, and possibly some comfort food, before you read this book. There is so much emotion packed into these pages that it is impossible not to feel something while you read. My personal emotions ran the gambit from complete adoration for these characters, to empathy, right on down to loathing. Invincible Summer is an emotional roller coaster ride of the truest kind. Hannah Moskowitz knows just how to draw her reader in and keep them there, before completely ripping their heart out of their chest. The best part? You're just okay with it when it happens. Yes, this book is that good.

Chase, Noah, Claudia, all the characters in this book are gorgeously and vividly written. They feel like old friends you might have been missing, because you know them so well in and out by the end of the book. Each one of them is fighting their own inner demons, but at the same time they are trying to learn how to help one another and just coexist. This is a story about families, and how they sometimes fall apart. It is a story about not being sure that growing up is really all that great. It is also a story about being so completely invested in someone that the mere thought of loosing them tears you apart. There are so many bittersweet relationships to observe that after a while I felt as though I just couldn't take it all in. Emotional overload would be a good description.

From the prodigal son who can do no wrong in his mother's eyes, despite his constant running away, to the lone girl in the family who feels as though she might just be a little overwhelmed by it all, there is something for everyone to relate to. This isn't really a happy story by any means, and there are times when I did feel uncomfortable with what I was reading. Sometimes the interactions between these characters are awkward, or terse, or even downright odd. However it is that fact that really proves that Hannah Moskowitz sees into the heart of her characters, and thus the hearts of her readers. No life is perfect, why should our characters be?

Am I rambling yet? I'm sure I am. There is just no way for me to legitimately explain to you how much I not only loved Invincible Summer, but also how deeply it touched me. Hannah Moskowitz has written something that is definitely not "your typical beach read" and thank goodness for that. This book is raw at times, and completely introspective at others. It is beautiful in the most tear-your-heart-out way possible. I will definitely be buying a copy of my very own and wearing the pages thin with rereading it over and over. Hands down, this is my favorite book of the year so far. ( )

This is more of a 3.5 Stars for me. I would have given it 4 but there were some issues I had with the book. Like the age gap between relationships. I mean 13 years old and 19 kind of gap. But I loved the dynamic of the family especially how they deal with things in the end. The best way they know how. ( )

review coming soon!