Summer Skin

Another book about college life -- pertinent to my current WIP. It was interesting to read a contemporary novel in this setting -- it seems somethings haven't changed much, despite all the lip service paid to issues of consent and respect. Kirsty Eagar's Summer Skin is primarily a love story, and a very sexy one. Our protagonists are nineteen, and each has some experience under their belts (so to speak), so it's not a first-love, discovery novel; but Jess and Mitch are still very young and relatively inexperienced, and they are each carrying a bit of personal baggage.

Summer Skin is smart and feminist, but I have to admit that I didn't initially find the troubled Mitch a particularly appealing personality. He kept on acting like a dick well past the point where I suspect in real life, Jess would have given him the flick. But of course he proves to be worth the hard work in the end. I enjoyed the Brisbane setting, which makes a change from the streets of Melbourne and Sydney, and the steamy Queensland summer is almost a character in its own right.

My library copy of Summer Skin has obviously been well-read, and there are many rave reviews on Goodreads, so it's good to know that this mature, explicit book has found its audience.