Katy and her mom planned a trip to Positano together, where Carol visited before she met her husband and had Katy. Before they can go on this trip, Carol succumbs to her cancer, and Katy decides to go on this trip alone.

I didn’t love Katy, her personality and whole identity were tied to her mother. With Carol gone, Katy didn’t know who she was at the beginning of the novel, and I’m not 100% sure she found herself. I think Serle wrote Positano well - I could picture everything she was describing, almost to the point of being able to smell the salty air and taste the food.

The grief was real in this, and I felt so moved by it. Serle did a fantastic job of describing the process of grieving that moved me to tears in some places.

I am such a fan of Rebecca Serle. She hooked me with The Dinner List, fell in love with In Five Years, and One Italian Summer did not disappoint.

Katy’s mother has died and with her death Katy lost her identity. In the time of being with her mother for her final time on earth, Katy became unhappy with her life and marriage. So when the time came to take the trip to Italy that was booked for her mother’s birthday, she took the opportunity to go and figure out what she wanted out of the remainder of her life.

The spirit of Katy’s mother was everywhere on the Amalfi Coast, and Katy began to see her mother in all the places they were going to go. It was almost like a timewarp as Katy learned about her mother’s past.

This was such a lovely story and beautifully written.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Noone writes a sweeping story about love without it actually being a romance like Rebecca Serle does. Instead, she writes about grief, connections self-love, and the love stories that we surround ourselves with that aren't about romance at all. And she does it quite well.

One Italian Summer will have you planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast and calling your mother all in one sitting.

Rebecca Serle takes readers to the beautiful Italian coast in this story about loss and learning to love again.

One Italian Summer was a book I needed to read a few chapters at a time because, as someone who has also lost her mother, it was difficult reading at times. I echoed Katy’s grief and I was also envious that she was able to meet her mother again while on her trip to Italy. There were a few twists that surprised me, and I overall loved seeing Katy get to know a different side to her mother and learn a little more about her. I loved seeing Katy rediscover herself a bit here as well. I think Rebecca nailed the feelings one goes through after losing a parent. Especially a woman losing her mother. We’re left feeling lost and wondering how do we live without the person who gave us life and taught us everything. Except how to live without them. Between this and In Five Years, Rebecca has solidified herself as a must read author for me

As a big fan of the “alternate versions of a life” trope, stories with a time-travel element, and other Rebecca Serle books, I wholly expected One Italian Summer to be right up my alley. I was quite surprised by the fact that this book really wasn’t my cup of tea. I found the importance that Kate puts on her relationship with her mother to go beyond what’s healthy. In regard to her feelings about Eric/her relationship with him, it felt like she flipped from hot to cold as it served her whims. Overall, Kate just wasn’t a character that I liked or could relate to.

Thanks go to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this one. In Five Years was a two-sitting read for me, so I was eager to read Serle's newest. Unfortunately the mother-daughter relationship felt unhealthy to me, not something that made me miss my mom. I was left feeling disconnected from something I thought would make me feel all the feelings. Plus, I really didn't like how the main character, Katy, treated her husband. My favorite parts were the Italy descriptions, which made me wish I could hop on a plane and go there RIGHT NOW. If you have a super close relationship with your mom, this might be for you.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.5/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle will make you dream of Positano and the Amalfi Coast. The writing was filled with descriptions of beautiful scenery, and will have you Googling flights and Airbnbs, wishing you were sipping on an Aperol Spritz.

Rebecca Serle always pulls off some magical realism element in her books, and I thought this one was executed really well. It was fun to see Katy and Carol interacting at the same age and experiencing their relationship as a friendship, since their mother/daughter relationship was described as if they were best friends.
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𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: While I loved the setting, this book just never really reached my heart. This had all the makings of a story that would leave me wanting to hug my mom, but missed the mark for me. Katy and Carol’s relationship was portrayed as being very codependent and I think that is where my disconnect lied. It never felt like a relationship to aspire to—it just felt overbearing and pushed me away emotionally.

The way Katy treats her husband was also really hard to stomach. I found the romantic subplot with Adam to be unnecessary, because it didn’t seem fully fleshed out, and often felt rushed.

This book is about a young woman named Katy who, after the loss of her mother, decides to go on the Italian vacation they were planning to take together on her own so she can grieve her mother's loss and also figure out if she wants to stay in her marriage. While she’s in Italy, she runs into someone very unexpected and a lot of things about her mother’s life become clearer as a result.

It was a relaxing, fun book and was surprisingly enjoyable to spend time with, given it deals with the heavy topic of grief.

What a beautiful book about love and loss, gorgeous backdrop of Italy, delicious descriptions of Italian food, and just enough twists to elevate the story. This would make a good book club choice.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4646545102?book_show_action=false

One Italian Summer is a book full of love, wanderlust, delicious food, endless wine, and a little bit of magic. It charmed me from the very beginning and I knew after reading the first chapter that it was going to break my heart and *hopefully* put it back together again. It did just that and so much more!

The power of a mother/daughter relationship is at the heart of this story, but it also blossomed into an electric and emotional story of coming into your own and learning to move forward after loss. Even though I really connected with Katy on some levels because of the all-consuming bond I have with my own mother, she did annoy me at times and I would have liked to have seen even more reflection from her in terms of her growth.

On the other hand, it has been a long while since I have read a book with magical realism and One Italian Summer reminded me of how much I love it. It worked perfectly for Katy’s story! One Italian Summer was my first book by Rebecca Serle, but it will not be my last!

Side note: The audiobook is narrated by Lauren Graham (Lorelai from Gilmore Girls) and, although I didn’t love her voice for the male characters, listening to her narrate this story was so familiar and comforting so that made up for some of the flaws!

Read if you like:
-Mother/daughter relationships
-Magical realism
-Italy
-Delicious food & wine

Thank you so much Atria Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy! All opinions are my own.

While reading One Italian Summer, I had so many questions and didn't quite get it. By the last chapter, I fully understood exactly what was going on, and it hit me over the hard!! This beautiful magical story is a love letter to Positano, Italy and the importance of family. The messages in this quick read of a novel are huge. I did get it, ALL!! happily ! No spoilers here, just know that reading this book can truly open one's eyes to gratitude, love and awareness. Thank you to Simon & Shuster, Inc. - Atria Books and to Netgalley for the epub.

A wonderful story about a grieving daughter and the magical way she finds to reconnect with her mother! A fantastic read!

I liked but didn’t love this book! Time travel stories are really difficult to execute, and I found myself with so many questions while reading. However I loved Serle’s explanation of the grieving process and the gorgeous descriptions of the Amalfi Coast.

Serle, outdid herself again, I loved this title so much. Often we find our parents infallible but being able to go back in time to see when our parents didn't have all the answers is remarkable. Reading this book was like a mini Italian vacation and left me craving good Italian food.

One Italian Summer was a classic Rebecca Serle novel - with some element of the story that doesn't take place in reality. For that, I love her twists. Although, now that I know that's what she's going to write, I'm waiting for the big twist. I was expecting a different twist, so she got me there! I had trouble relating to Katy's relationship with her mother, which I usually don't put down as being part of my review, but for this novel, I think having a very close relationship with your mother was important to relating to the novel.

Her descriptions of Italy were absolutely stunning. This book made me wish more than anything that I had an Italy trip on the books!

Most people are lucky if they get to experience true love. Katie’s true, soulmate worthy love was her mom who she’s recently lost to cancer. Without her guiding light, Katie is lost, going so far as to asking her husband for a divorce. Instead of giving in, her husband insists she take the trip she and her mom planned to Positano, Italy, a place Katie’s mom, Carol, held dear. Once there, Katie’s days are filled with magic that doesn’t just include the gorgeous scenery. Rather, she’s greeted by a very unexpected guest who will help her rediscover herself.

As a fan of In Five Years, I was really looking forward to this book. I didn’t realize that Serle’s style includes a little bit of suspending disbelief and a bend in the time-space continuum. That said, the story was captivating and the writing was strong. Katie’s grief was well written and her confusion about how to process her life without her mom’s guidance read realistic.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I was hoping that this book one blow me out of the water after absolutely loving IN FIVE YEARS but this has a very different vibe. This is a contemporary fiction story of a woman grieving the loss of her mother and trying to find herself in the small coastal town of Positano, Italy.

The descriptions of Positano made it seem as if I were truly there. The writing was immersive and no one can tell me they don’t want to go visit Positano after reading this book. But that’s kind of where the good things end. This book took a turn that I was not a fan of.

I wasn’t sure what our MC was thinking the entire time I was reading. I found her to be very selfish and she didn’t really bother looking at the bigger picture? The plot was convoluted and made it difficult to follow along.

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me!

Katy Silver has just lost her mother. (Cue instant tears.) On a whim, she decides to take the trip to Positano she and her mom had planned. Once there, she meets her mother, in the flesh, from 30 years ago. Thus begins a heart warming and, sometimes heart breaking, eye opening experience for Katy.

I liked this one. Albeit a little predictable at times, it drew me out of a reading slump and was a sweet story about a mother daughter love, the love between friends, marriage, and perhaps most importantly, self love. Rebecca Serle’s writing flows so well.

I didn’t know much going into this, other than I loved “In Five Years” also by the author, and was excited at the prospect of reading something else by her. This book did not disappoint, Rebecca Serle does such a great job writing characters and character development. This book was beautiful, emotional and I loved being apart of Katy’s journey!