Book Review: Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler

It’s been a while since my last book review, and I could not be any happier returning with this stellar novel! Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler is everything I could hope for and more. I wish I could give this book to my younger self, who desperately needed it. Instead, I had a unique reading experience that made my heart burst with joy. It made me realize I was never alone, even when I thought I was. I’m so excited to talk about Cool for the Summer and share my thoughts (while gushing over the novel).

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Please note that the (non-spoiler) quotes in this review are from the digital ARC and not part of the final print.

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler: Fast Facts

Release Date: May 11, 2021
Format: Digital ARC, courtesy of Wednesday Books
Pages: 272
Genre: contemporary, romance, young adult
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Content Warning: alcohol, biphobia (mild), expletives, sexual content

Summary

Lara's had eyes for exactly one person throughout her three years of high school: Chase Harding. He's tall, strong, sweet, a football star, and frankly, stupid hot. Oh, and he's talking to her now. On purpose and everything. Maybe... flirting, even? No, wait, he's definitely flirting, which is pretty much the sum of everything Lara's wanted out of life.

Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers.

Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she's finally got the guy, why can't she stop thinking about the girl?

bookshop | indiebound | indigo

— i.

Jasmine was supposed to be my secret, and in one morning, she’s become the world’s top news story.

There is so much to say about this novel, but I will start with the characters like I usually do. Larissa Bogdan is the main character, a first-generation-born Russian Ashkenazi Jew. She has had a crush on Chase Harding for several years, and he finally notices her during their senior year.

Of course, this would be a little unrealistic if Larissa wasn’t popular, but she is. However, Larissa is not a superficial character at all. At its core, Cool for the Summer is about Larissa growing into and discovering herself. The novel is a YA contemporary romance, but Cool for the Summer is also a coming of age story; figuring out who you are amidst all the chaos and drama of high school. Larissa was authentic and relatable, even if you were not popular in grade school—I certainly wasn’t. Still, I connected to Larissa because of her honest portrayal as a teenager. Dahlia Adler reminded me why I love to read and write YA: teenagers are complex and often misunderstood. They experience puberty and growth while trying to navigate the world independently, and they grapple with many new emotions they have not felt before. Larissa truly encompasses these aspects while still being unique in her own way.

The other characters are primarily secondary since Larissa narrates the novel and is at the center of it. However, they are still compelling and unique. It is rare to find Mizrahi Jewish LGBTQ+ characters in literature, so I was extra grateful for Jasmine. The cultural aspect and her exploration of sexuality deepened her personality significantly. Chase may be a typical high school football star, but he is surprisingly sweet and down-to-earth, not at all what you would expect. And Larissa’s group of friends are diverse and provide room to complicate the narrative without overdoing it.

— ii.

He’ll be at the party; the football players always go, regardless of their opener results. Whether I’m there or not, he and Jasmine will be in the same room, like worlds colliding. I wonder if he’ll think she’s pretty. (How can he not?) I wonder if she’ll think he’s hot. (How can she not?) Did I mention him to her? I can’t seem to recall any conversations about him, but there’s no way I went the entire summer without any. Then again, he was oddly unimportant when I was around her. But he’s definitely not unimportant now.
The problem is, neither is she.
Ugh, what a mess.

There were not many relationships in this novel since it focused on Larissa and her two love interests—Chase and Jasmine. Chase is Larissa’s longtime crush. Their dynamic is pretty cliché, but they were still sweet together considering the simplicity of their relationship. I hope they become friends in the future because I think they could both benefit from having each other as a friend.

But when Larissa starts dating Chase, she faces the ultimate surprise of her life—Jasmine, the girl she spent the past summer with, suddenly transferred to Larissa’s high school. Although Larissa and Jasmine did not end things on bad terms, they left a lot unsaid. The stakes completely changed when Jasmine arrived, and now, Larissa’s situation is much more complicated.

And Dahlia Adler beautifully captures the fundamental differences between Larissa’s relationships with Chase and Jasmine. Larissa was conflicted not because she genuinely loved both of them but because she was finally with the boy of her dreams when Jasmine, the girl she has unresolved feelings for, shows up. It is not a matter of who Larissa loves more. Instead, it is about Larissa coming to terms with herself and her emotions. Who she is as a person and where she is in her life right now. I love how instead of turning this situation into a typical love triangle, Dahlia Adler focused on these differences—Chase has always been a dream, and Jasmine is reality, where Larissa wants to be. Of course, I described the simplified version since there is a lot more to these relationships, which is one of many reasons why I encourage you to read the book!

— iii.

“Sometimes it’s so fucking exhausting to feel good that it doesn’t even feel good when it should. We act like beer and boys are so necessary for a good time, for a real night, and honestly, fuck that. If all we cared about was making out with someone—” I’ve barely swallowed my s’more and suddenly there are lips on mine, sweet with a trace of chocolate. Only a moment, and then the cool night air rushes in off the water again, as if it never happened. “Just . . . do it. You don’t have to throw a whole massive party so three hours later you can get someone back to your room to make out. Just make out. The whole pretense is so tired. I wish people would just admit what they want when they want it.”

I am not going to lie—I was terrified this book would fail my expectations because the first chapter was so blunt. But I think I was just caught off guard by how quickly we dived into the story because the rest of the narrative unraveled beautifully. Now that I’m looking back, the first chapter’s setup makes perfect sense, so it no longer bothers me. The rest of the novel was well-paced—it was fast when it had to be and slow when we had more information to soak in. There were also plenty of moments that were neither fast nor slow.

I loved how Dahlia Adler constructed the book, jumping between the present day and the past summer. It helped round out the story, and we were able to make sense of Larissa’s current feelings after having just read about a particular event that happened in the summer. This style also helps clarify timelines, events, and other narrative aspects. The narrative is coherent—facts check out, and nothing feels misplaced. The book flowed naturally without narrative errors or character decisions that make no sense.

I would also like to quickly add that I don’t consider world-building a critical factor in non-SFF novels, but Dahlia Adler still did a great job describing the setting. Outer Banks, where Larissa had spent her summer, was captured vividly; I had no trouble visualizing the backdrop. As a result, the narrative truly brings you into the story. I felt like I was Larissa the entire time because of how well she narrated her story and surroundings.

— iv.

It’s growing unbearably hot under the blanket, but one rule neither of us says aloud is that it can’t come off. As long as there’s a blanket, as long as there isn’t anything out in the open, it’s easy to imagine there’s nothing at all. And we need to imagine there’s nothing at all, because if this is something—if the fact that I desperately want to slide my hand down her shorts is real—then what are we?
What am I?
It’s one summer.
You can’t change into a different person over a summer.

The storyline in Cool for the Summer very much relies on the relationships since it is a dynamic-driven story. In these types of books, I rarely consider the plot’s uniqueness. Instead, I consider how the story unfolds and how the dynamics and characters shape the narrative. And Dahlia Adler worked hard to go in-depth with the relationships in Cool for the Summer, and her work paid off. We see how Larissa and Jasmine develop feelings for each other because Dahlia used a healthy mix of show and tell. When Jasmine shows up as a new student at Larissa’s high school, we feel the gravitational pull between these two and the words left unsaid all at the same time. I practically raced through this book because Dahlia portrayed the relationships in a way that kept me engaged the whole time. I wanted to learn more about Larissa’s summer as she navigates the new school year.

Contemporary romances (whether YA or not) need strong characters and relationships because they rely on that the most. They write the storyline themselves, so if they are not compelling, then the plot will not be, either. And the book would not be engaging. However, Dahlia Adler seems to be a master at crafting characters and relationships, and she pulls off the storyline Cool for the Summer successfully.

— v.

“I didn’t sing that to you because I wanted you to forget the summer,” she says softly, confirming. “I sang it to you because I wanted you to remember how good it was. And I know it was a stupid night to do it, but it felt like my last chance before I lost you for good. When I finally got the nerve to look at you, it was clear I’d already lost you before I even got here.” Her gaze meets mine, and it looks like it takes all the effort in the world on her part. The least I can do is hold it.
“I moved in with my dad because I could not get you out of my fucking head. I thought about going back to school and pretending our summer was just a summer, and I couldn’t do it. I thought that maybe if I came here, we’d have a chance to be something real, but I didn’t know how to tell you I was coming. And before I could even see you, you had a boyfriend, and I was stuck here. Watching you live this perfect life that was already full without me. I’ve been trying to carve something out and save what’s left of my dignity and my senior year, but I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you and I need to go crawling back to my mom. My heart can’t take you breaking it anymore.”

Cool for the Summer is the first book I have read by Dahlia Adler, and it certainly won’t be the last one. Her writing is so good, and most importantly, it feels authentic. Part of what made the characters so genuine was the writing—they spoke and acted the way I imagine teenagers would. The text is concise and tight, which worked perfectly for the book and made it much more powerful.

— vi.

“But just because you’re telling a good story doesn’t mean it’s the right story. And I think it’s really important to tell the right story.” She looks right at me and answers so brightly that it’s clear she can’t tell my world happens to be turning upside down at that moment. “It sounds to me like the roommate is a relationship worth exploring.”
“Yeah,” I say slowly, picking out Jasmine in the crowd. “I’m pretty sure the roommate is my story.”

I would like to briefly expand on how much Cool for the Summer means to me personally. This part of the review has spoilers, so I suggest skipping it if you want to be surprised while reading.

When I was in high school, I had a similar crush on the popular guy (this was before I realized I was a lesbian). I would daydream about all the things we would do as a couple, similar to how Larissa had a checklist for the things she wanted to do with Chase. It meant the world to me when Larissa realized she might have had feelings for Chase originally, but she changed over the summer—she grew up and outgrew the crush she had for so long.

My story did not unfold the way Larissa’s did. I did not admit that I was attracted to girls until years later, and I didn’t realize I was a lesbian until fall 2019. Even so, my crush and I did not date because when I confessed how I felt, he completely ignored me, pretending I fell off the face of the earth. That was truly the last thing I expected of him (moral of the story: never confess your feelings for someone over the internet). I put myself out there, and he broke my heart badly. Things would have never worked out anyway, but I still remember the pain I felt.

I had arrived at a similar realization that Larissa had, but it wasn’t until years later that I realized it would have never worked out in the first place. One reason is my sexuality, but another reason is that I had built up a vision of what our relationship would have been like. There was no spontaneity, no emotion, nothing. I dreamed about doing certain things, but I never envisioned what would happen after checking them off. Part of how I arrived at this conclusion was through my sexuality—it is how I pictured any relationship with a guy. To me, relationships with boys were just items to check off regardless of my feelings. When Larissa realized that her feelings for Chase have evolved into a checklist, I remembered feeling the same thing when I realized I did not want to be with boys at all. And revisiting those feelings I had —through another character, in another setting, written on paper—made my heart swell. This moment was so pivotal in Larissa’s character development, but it was also a groundbreaking scene for me.

As I write this review, I’m thinking of my teenage self—a girl who suppressed her sexuality so deeply that she did not believe Jewish LGBTQ+ people existed. Well, I would love to step into a time machine to show my younger self Larissa Bogdan and Jasmine Killary. Two Jewish teenagers who never considered the possibility of developing feelings for a girl. Cool for the Summer turned my world upside down in the best way possible, and words cannot express how grateful I am for this beautiful novel.

— vii.

I didn’t think love was in the equation. I didn’t think feelings were even an option. I don’t know what being in love means to her, and I definitely don’t know what it means to me. I thought I was in love with Chase all those years, but that wasn’t this. That made me feel feverish and ridiculous and like I wanted to follow him everywhere, to have done all these things with him.
But now I’ve done so many of those things, and it feels like what I did was check off a list.
With Jasmine, I don’t have a list. And I don’t want to follow her anywhere; I want to go everywhere together. I want to do things with her. I want us to make that list.
My feelings for her are so different from what I thought love was, but does that mean it’s not love? Does that mean it is love?

Overall, I was nervous going into Cool for the Summer, but the book exceeded my very high expectations. It is everything I could have hoped for in a Jewish LGBTQ+ book, especially one centered on finding yourself and growing up. Although this story is very personal to me, I would without a doubt recommend it regardless of how I related to it or not. The characters and dynamics were vital in making this novel work, and Dahlia Adler crafted them beautifully. The narrative was concise, making the story way more powerful. Cool for the Summer is an authentic tale about navigating complex relationships and messy situations, growing stronger from them. I highly recommend reading this book—it is fun, exciting, and a fantastic read, especially as we head into the summer.

Final Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

— viii.

“Now take me to that graphic novel section you so carefully crafted and tell me more about this hot roommate character.”
“You sure you want me to spoil the ending?” I ask as I lead her to a more private spot to, uh, definitely look at books and nothing else.
Her palm is exquisitely warm as it squeezes mine. “I think we’ve both waited long enough to turn the page in this story, don’t you?”

I want to hear from you guys! Is Cool for the Summer on your list of books to read? Did you manage to snag an ARC? If so, what did you think of the book? And is there an LGBTQ+ book that changed your life? If so, what is it?

If you missed my March Wrap-Up, you can find that here, as well as my latest Royal Teatime on the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, here. If you are interested in attending a free YA Fest on Zoom, check out Montreal’s YA Fest on May 23! I’ll be hosting two panels that day, and the list of authors is excellent!

Before I go, I’d like to remind you that Israel is massacring Palestinians as we speak. The IDF just admitted that they are actively perpetuating genocide against Gaza. Please, do not turn away. Please spread awareness and donate if you can. Here is another link for donations. This is a horrifying reality that Palestinians have been suffering for decades. The occupation must end.

Here you can find out exactly what’s going on and Palestinian voices to amplify as well.