The Summer Love Strategy is a lighthearted LGBTQ+ teen romance. I love how inclusive this read is; I wish there were more books like this back when I was a teen. It depicts teenage angst in a humorous manner, making for a fun read!

Thank you NetGalley, Amulet Books, and Ray Stoeve for a free e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

The Summer Love Strategy is an easy book to read, with diverse characters and various themes. It reflects teenage worries, identity issues as well as queer joy. I enjoyed reading this book, simply based on what it tries to convey and the topics that were thrown back and forth. Nevertheless it sometimes felt flat, with “unnecessary additions”.

While the main character had a strong development, the others lacked one. None of them were interesting enough on their own, and could’ve easily been reduced or merged together. I enjoyed the fact that the narration came off as very teenager like, however I often found the descriptive manner of it tiring.

What I loved about this book was the way parental figures were portrayed. Always a guiding voice, a helping hand, exactly what’s needed from a child’s perspective. Perfect for those who are about to come out or recently did, viewing it as an example of support and comfort.

I’d recommend The Summer Love Strategy to anyone looking for a fun quick read. If you’re looking for a contemporary queer romance, this is definitely the book for you.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC!

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, it is not working for me right now. It is nothing against the story or the author, but I couldn't get into the story/characters. If I were the target audience, I would be loving this. I also think this will be great for teens and YA audiences with the LGBTQIA+ representation. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!

There was a lot going on in this book - lots of LGBTQ representation, neurodiversity, racial diversity, etc. and at times it felt like the author tried to tackle too many things in one book. None of the characters felt developed enough to warrant caring about their problems, and there wasn't a lot of chemistry between the main character and her best friend/crush. The story was easy enough to get through, but it wasn't intriguing.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I love how inclusive this book is, it was wonderful to read a story with a variety of characters. Unfortunately, this book just was not for me: I personally didn’t enjoy the writing and the story just felt a little flat. Such a shame as the representation is there and I really wanted to love it, but the pace was too slow, and I wasn’t hooked.

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved Stoeve's first two books, but this one fell a little flat for me. I didn't think the chemistry between the main characters was developed enough to really be rooting for their relationship, and it felt like Stoeve wanted to write about mental health and neurodivergence more than they wanted to develop the romcom that this is framed as. I also think it could've used another edit to get rid of unnecessary details that slowed the story down.