ShayKay's Review of Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Goodreads: Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Synopsis from Book

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century. It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket. But like so much else in America, this year nothing is the same: Blaid, the eldest sister, is stranded in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha's Vineyard. Beloved son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, each of them hiding a troubling secret.

As summer heats up, Ted Kennedy sinks a car off Chappaquiddick, man lands on the moon, and Jessie and her family experience their own dramatic upheavals along with the rest of the country.

Elin Hilderbrand tells a page-turning story, rich with the details of an era that shaped both a nation and an island thirty miles out to sea.

Thoughts Before Reading

This is another Book of the Month books that I have sitting in my backlog of books, and it is another one that has been intimidating me over the past few months. This one was a pick from June, which was a month that I think I got multiple books. Unlike Dunmore's book, I haven't really heard that much talk about this read. I love Hilderbrand's books which I only figured out because of this subscription. However, the books I've read from Hilderbrand so far have been a series and it is insane but I don't know how this is a  standalone or just the beginning. I think that is another reason why I haven't picked this one up yet. I have a couple series that I'm waiting for sequels and I think I've hit my quota on these. But this book sounds so good and I'm so ready to jump into it.

Thoughts After Reading

I just finished this book last night, early this morning, and I was conflicted about how I wanted to rate it. I love Hilderbrand's writing and she is quickly becoming one of the authors on my instant buy list. just like Nora Roberts. That being said I did enjoy the book, at least the first 2/3 of it. I was hooked into and I loved it, but as I got closer to the end the book started feeling very rushed and started losing the aspects of the book that really drew me into it. I think there were just so many different perspectives in the book and so many different things going on that the author rushed to a conclusion and tying up all of the ends too fast. That being said it isn't a short book! It was over 400 pages long! I ended up rating the book 4 out of 5 stars but I still feel conflicted about it but since the first 2/3 was a 5 out of 5 for me and the last third was only 3 out of 5 for me. So I guess 4 is meeting in the middle of the two. I was just left wanting more from the book but at the same time, the book was huge! I think there was just too much going on throughout the pages causing the book to hurry and wrap up at the end of the book.