Review: Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?

Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....

Not your typical beach read.

My Review:

I really liked reading Invincible Summer.  I did not read it quite as fast as I usually do, but that was because I was on vacation and busy.  The characters and family dynamics were very well done.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Chase is a great main character to follow for four summers.  The reader does not get to see any of his school years, but sometimes they are referenced in his narration.  He cares about his family and his siblings.  The siblings he seems closest to are his older brother Noah, and his younger sister Claudia.  He also feels close to the family next door.  He is involved in relationships with both girls at some points, and he is friends with their brother.  Throughout the years, you can see him growing and maturing as he experiences different events in his life. 

The family dynamics are especially well-developed in this book.  It is interesting to read how Chase thinks of them as the blondes (Chase, Claudia, Dad) versus the brunettes (Mom, Noah, Gideon, Lucy).  Noah is the family member who is always off doing his own thing.  It's hard to keep track of where Noah is.  Claudia is Chase's younger sister who seems mature for her age.  Gideon is Chase's deaf younger brother.  He can sign some signs, but this signing is stilted, and he doesn't sign in full sentences.  As the story continues, the family decides to send him away to a deaf school so he can learn more signs.  Lucy is the youngest, and she isn't born until the end of the first summer.  Through a couple summers, the parents' relationships begins to worsen, and they decide to get a divorce.  By doing that, they split up the children (blondes and brunettes).  Tragedy strikes later, tearing the family apart once more.

The relationships with the family next door are interesting, though sometimes strange.  Noah is kind of dating Melinda, but he doesn't care that Chase is seeing her too.  The relationship between Chase and Melinda is strange because he is fifteen, and she is nineteen.  Another relationship with an age difference is the one between Shannon (Melinda's brother) and Claudia.

If you like male POV contemporary YA, read this book.

Katie