After recovering from a life-changing injury, a teen girl must navigate a new summer job, an ex-best friend, and two surprisingly attractive coworkers in this romp of a rom-com for fans of Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Hannah used to be all about focus, back before she shattered her ankle and her Olympic dreams in one bad soccer play. These days, she’s all about distraction—anything to keep the painful memories of her recent past at bay, including the string of bad decisions that landed her at boarding school for a year.

Enter Bonanza, the local entertainment multiplex and site of Hanna’s summer employment. With its mini golf course, bowling alley, and arcade—not to mention her hot, flirty coworker Patrick—Bonanza seems like the perfect way to stay distracted. Until her boss announces the annual Bonanza tournament, a staff competition that brings her past Olympic nightmares crashing back into her present.

On top of that, the Bonanza staff includes Brie, the ex-best friend she cut off last year, and Ethan, her brother’s best friend who became unreasonably attractive in her year away and who accepts her, even knowing her worst secrets. Under the neon lights of Bonanza, Hannah must decide whether she can find a way to discover a new self in the midst of her old life.

Laura Silverman is one of my auto-buy authors and just like the other books of hers, this one did not disappoint. It is a great summer read and it left me wishing i was a teen again. I loved the flashbacks in the book and it really helped round out the whole story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reviews to posted: August 15, 2022
Storygraph
Goodreads

Okay, this was such a cute read! While there were defiantly highs and lows through the book, I couldn’t help but smile through most of it.

Our main character Hannah goes through some tough changes, from losing her grandmother to her Olympic dream being ripped away. I really related to her journey because shifting your view of the future isn’t easy to do, especially when you have had a one-track mind most of your life.

The romance was absolutely adorable in so many ways. First off, friends to lovers just creates butterflies in my stomach. I also like that nothing was rushed, and everything played out well around Hannahs's own growth within herself.

I also really enjoyed her interactions with the other characters and her family. All of them provided some lesson for her, and nothing felt forced. And her interactions with her ex-best friend were interesting because friendship at any age can be challenging and hard to navigate.

The only thing that really bothered me was the flashback portions. While some of them were very helpful to Hannah's development and my understanding of her, many felt out of place and were used more for filler.

This is a cute and fast read, though there are definitely darker elements in the flashback chapters. Hannah's Olympic dreams are shattered (like her ankle) and, after a year away at boarding school, she's back and trying to prove herself to her parents. My favorite part about the entire book was the haven that is Bonanza. This flashy adventure zone is reminiscent of the arcades and funplexes of our youths and just emanates good vibes. At times it got a bit dark, but it's contrasted nicely with the burgeoning summer romance between Hannah and Ethan.

*Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I didn’t know what to expect going in other than it being a YA book but gosh did I really enjoy it! There was so much nostalgia in it! From going to a family fun center place to young love!

I loved seeing Hannah’s evolution from young misguided teen to maturing reliable employee and friend who finds her place after her world falls apart. After losing her Bubbie to losing her one and only passion in life, soccer, Hannah was headed down a rough road until her family, boarding school, and a new job at the Bonanza play-nation gave her more to live for!

Also, I just love that there was a brother’s best friend love interest! It’s becoming a favorite trope of mine!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Childrens Publishing for the gifted e-arc for an honest review!

This story is one about loss, grief, searching, repentance, healing, romance, and community (to name a few!!). The entire novel is incredibly organic and feels truthful. Silverman wraps up this tumultuous storyline in a way that feels so real to me. Our main character, who has lost so much, is not miraculously healed/recovered/over it, but she finds peace in her situation, which is an exceptionally worthwhile story for YA readers.
I have also read Recommended for You, and despite only reading 2 of her books, I'm adding this author to my list of favorite YA authors. In comparing those two books, one of the things I really enjoyed about both is the sense of a workplace community for her teenaged characters. I don't know if I read a lot of YA books where their workplace is essentially a character in the book, and I feel like she does this well. I also love in both novels the many Jewish themes and references. This is also something not often seen in YA novels.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book is so good! With the cute cover and light hearted synopsis, I was just expecting a light summer rom com. And don’t get me wrong, this is that BUT so much more! Spoiler alert: I cried (& I never cry while reading)

I love a book with a main character trying to find themselves. Hannah was doing just that. Her life fell apart and shocking for a YA book we actually got glimpses into the partying and drug use from the MC that usually just gets glossed over. I liked that she was flawed and didn’t always know what the right thing to do was. That’s really relatable especially for teens.

The part that made me cry was a conversation between Hannah and the golden oldies where she’s wondering if her Bubbie would be proud of her, and come on who isn’t wondering that about a family member who’s passed. It made me so emotional.

I’m so happy I was able to read this early (&even snag a preorder) bc this book was so much more than a cute summer romance. Finding passion and life worth living after experiencing the most horrible sequence of events is one of the things we all go thru so I think teens and adults will really get a lot from this book and I can’t recommend it enough!!

Just a few pages into Those Summer Nights by Laura Silverman, I already actively dislike the protagonist, Hannah. She tells her own story, using flashbacks to explain how she got to this point in her life, and let me just say: Hannah is A LOT. How, I wonder, will the author turn this around and get me (well, any reader) to root for her?

The elevator summary for this novel is that a star high school athlete’s future is irredeemably changed by an on-field accident. The athlete, Hannah, grieves in really disastrous ways, which results in the kinds of consequences that make good trope-y YA novels.

Surprisingly, within a chapter or two, Silverman has won me over. She’s got me pulling for Hannah to grow, resist temptation, get better. The author has done an excellent job of reflecting Hannah’s changing perspective both in the way she talks about her life and in the way she interacts with everyone around her.

For example, in the flashbacks, Hannah initially shows us only that she is a gifted athlete but as she works through her grief, Hannah begins to see herself as more than an ex-athlete, noticing her toxic behaviors, including the way she was interacting with her own brother, and beginning to explore interests outside of her chosen sport.

Honestly, a few times I’ve put the book down because I’m too caught up in which choice Hannah will make. Silverman has me so engaged that I’m afraid to read further in case Hannah makes the wrong choice. I find myself taking a big breath and then picking up the book again, trusting the author not to destroy me (well, all of her readers).

Silverman’s integration of Jewish culture into the story is excellent. I’m a gentile who lives in a heavily Jewish community. Seeing that community in this novel has been amazing, delightful, moving. It’s so natural, just references to lived experiences, tradition and language included without translation or explanation. Normal.

The book is filled with well-crafted characters: Joey, Ethan, Patrick, Daisey, Brie, the Golden Oldies, to name a few. You’ve met these people. You are friends with some of them. Thanks to Laura Silverman, you’ll see them (and yourself) as full individuals with problems, goals, flaws, and gifts, just like the rest of us.

Hannah’s Bubbie, who we meet through the flashbacks, is particularly wonderful. She, too, is a star athlete, one I’d like to get to know better. Can we have her story? Because I’d read the heck out of Hannah’s Bubbie’s story.

Finally, while I can’t discuss her love interests without spoilers, I really appreciated the author’s exploration of age as a misogynistic construct in dating. You’ll have to read the book to know what in particular I’m referencing.

Pre-order this book from your favorite indie bookstore. Several of my favorites are linked below. As usual, I receive no benefit – financial or otherwise – from these bookstores.

I received a digital ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: mention of cancer, death, grief, alcohol use

It’s no secret that I love Laura Silverman books, and this one is no exception. It’s a beautiful, complex, and deep story about a girl who is going through a lot, while also maintaining a humorous rom-com status, which isn’t a simple feat.

Hannah went from being a focused and successful soccer player on the road to the Olympics, to a downward spiral after a life-changing injury on the field. And the death of her beloved bubbe, the grandmother she was closest to out of everyone in her family, just compounded her feelings of loss and grief. This story plays out in both present day and flashbacks exploring what happened and how she’s dealing with the consequences of her actions.

After spending a year at boarding school, Hannah has one more chance to make things work at home this summer, so that she can earn her parents’ trust and return home for good. She gets a job at Bonanza, which turns out to be a blessing in disguise. It keeps her busy, and helps her make a new circle of friends, replacing the ones that she cut off when her life fell apart. It also kind of made me wish there was a place like Bonanza when I was growing up!

But nothing can be too easy—her former best friend and fellow teammate, Brie, works at Bonanza as well, making for some very awkward encounters. She immediately falls right into some sexual tension, with Patrick, a hot coworker, but also quickly realizes that she’s developing a crush on her younger brother’s best friend. As if all that isn’t enough, she’s also dreading the upcoming unveiling of her bubbe’s headstone, a traditional Jewish milestone that takes place 11 months after a death, bringing the grief front and center all over again. Plus, she’s got a parent-mandated list of things that she needs to do to prove herself okay to come back home for good, and not all of those things are easy to do.

While Hannah is definitely a strong candidate for the hot mess of the year award, she’s also easy to empathize with. She’s funny, learning how to be more self-aware, and struggling with readjusting to a life where she can no longer engage in her passion, the one activity that gave her life meaning and that she excelled at. While I have the hand-eye coordination of a toddler, it’s not hard for me to understand the feeling of learning how to adjust to a new life after having the life you’re used to swept out from underneath you.

There’s comedy interspersed in the story, and it makes it easier to handle the more difficult themes in the story—grief, loss, family discord, and underage drinking. The humor felt natural, and I loved that Hannah was a little awkward a lot of the time, because it made her feel so much more relatable, especially as she was working so hard to find herself. This is such a wonderful book with LGBTQ, Jewish, and diverse representation, and I’m an even bigger fan than ever. This is definitely one not to miss!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book to read and review. I loved so much about this book I don't even know where to start. The Jewish rep and the relationship that Hannah had with her bubbie was so heartfelt. I also loved how grief was addressed and the Hannah's healing process for not just losing a person, but losing a passion. There were so many fun characters and I loved the multi-plex type setting. I couldn't stop reading. I laughed at several points but also got emotional and cried at others. it was layered with depth and understanding, but also had a certain light feel. I also enjoyed the flashback moments. They really gave context into Hannah's character and the reason for her feelings and actions. The romance was so sweet and I liked that little subplot aspect. Overall the healing and growth was magnificent and one of my favorite parts of the story. This one is definitely a new favorite of mine.

I will read anything by Laura Silverman. She is one of my favorite authors and she did not disappoint with Those Summer Nights! Hannah has suffered from a career ending injury and her dreams of going to the Olympics. This and the loss of her grandmother led to her down the path of partying. She has only just returned from a boarding school for troubled youths. Now at her new summer job she has to either repair the relationships she broke or fall back into her old ways.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how much Hannah developed throughout this book. In the beginning she wasn’t very keen on growing and becoming a better person. As you read this book Hannah will slowly start finding what is truly good for her. The side characters like Joey, her brother, and Ethan, Joey’s best friends bring so much joy into this book. Each character especially Hannah, Joey and Ethan are developed so nicely that they truly feel like real people. I am so glad to have gotten to read this book. If you like summer romances, coming it age books, or just ya you will love this book!