It's been a year since Milly, Elyse and Leonie's dad died, and a year since their last trip to Rome. Summer's here again, and once again they are heading with their mum to Italy - but what's it going to be like going without Dad? Rome still holds its familiar charms - the sun is still as warm, the gelato as delicious, the people as welcoming. But nothing is quite as it once was ...
With grief still raw for all of them, Milly is facing the additional awfulness of having to see Luke again - gorgeous, gorgeous Luke, who she had a fling with last year, and who she made a total fool of herself with - or so she thinks. What's going to happen this time? What's more, things between Milly, her sisters and their mum are rocky - Leonie is being tempestuous and unpredictable, Elyse is caught up with her new boyfriend, and Milly feels like she just doesn't know how she fits in any more.
Over one Italian summer, can Milly find a way back to the life she once had?
My thoughts
This book is a really hard one for me to read and review.
This book is a perfect example of why Keris is an awesome YA author. It had that lovely storyline and wonderful characters that I could get behind and I really enjoyed their story and got a sense of the setting complete with that summer holiday fine.
But boy this this one make my heart ache. The story spends a significant amount of time looking at how the sisters in the story deal with life after the death of their father and it's really raw and hard-hitting emotionally. You real feel for them as they try to work how to function as a family with such a vital part of the family gone and there were times I found it really hard to read because it made me think of how I might feel in a similar situation.
A truly brilliant book but a really hard one to read. You'll come out of it feeling like you've been through the wringer emotionally.
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