Summer Days & Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins

Summer Days and Summer Nights ed. by Stephanie Perkins | 2016 | St. Martin’s Griffin | Hardcover $19.99

Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Disclosure statement: I received a digital ARC of this title from the publisher.

First, let’s all just acknowledge that we suddenly have ‘Summer Nights’ from Grease stuck in our heads now, OK? OK.

Next, I also have to acknowledge that I am not normally one for romance – in books, at least. If I hadn’t read Perkins’ last multi-author “romance” short story collection, My True Love Gave to Me, I don’t think I’d have given this one a second glance. As it is, I was a bit surprised that none of the authors were repeats from that previous winter-themed collection, and I was a little unsure about the whole thing. I needn’t have been.

If you’re wondering who all contributed to this book besides Stephanie Perkins, here’ ya go’s the list: Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, Jennifer E. Smith.

I don’t think there’s a bad story in this collection, though some of the stories are more satisfying or interesting than the others. Some of them have elements of fantasy or sci-fi, some of them are more realistic. Some of them are cute, some just kinda weird.

I think my favorites were ‘Head, Scales, Tongue, Tale’ by Bardugo (about a mostly-sensible teen and her budding friendship + romance with a mysterious summer visitor) and ‘In Ninety Minutes, Turn North’ by Perkins (actually a continuation of her story from My True Love Gave to Me).

I think I’d recommend this to someone who wants a little light beach reading, or perhaps something to distract you on a plane while you’re thinking about how a 970,000 lb hunk of metal with seats in shouldn’t really be able to fly without pixie dust.

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Publication information: Perkins, Stephanie, Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, Jennifer E. Smith. Summer Days and Summer Nights. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016. EPUB.
Source: ARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.

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