The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
Published by Roaring Brook Press on May 3, 2016
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 295
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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This is what it means to love someone. This is what it means to grieve someone. It's a little bit like a black hole. It's a little bit like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time. Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she's hurtled through wormholes to her past:
To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died. To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn't even hold her hand at the funeral. To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with a scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie's past, present, and future are about to collide—and someone's heart is about to be broken.

With time travel, quantum physics, and sweeping romance, The Square Root of Summer is an exponentially enthralling story about love, loss, and trying to figure it all out, from stunning debut YA voice, Harriet Reuter Hapgood.

The Square Root of Summer, Harriet Reuter Hapgood’s debut novel, had a lot of potential.  Some aspects met that potential while others fell flat.  I wanted a lot more from it than I got but I still found myself enjoying it.

Pros:

Concept: The concept behind The Square Root of Summer was so unique and interesting.  Time travel has always been something I love reading about and having it tied in with such a contemporary story was something I’d never thought of and was looking forward to reading.  I think the concept was wonderfully executed and I would definitely love to see more contemporary stories with these magical elements thrown in.

Characters: This is weird because I’m pretty sure I liked all the characters except for Gottie, the one that I felt like I really should like.  Gottie’s family was crazy and messed up but so much fun.  I especially loved Grey even though you only ever hear about him in flashbacks since he passed away the year before the book is set.  Every character brought something to the story and they were all so quirky and unique.  They each had these amazing personalities and they weren’t afraid to be themselves.  They all had issues, that’s for sure, but they embraced them and tried to work past them.

Cons:

Super confusing: All the mathematical and scientific lingo was really hard to understand.  I’m not stupid or anything like that (at least I don’t think so!) but this book sure made me feel like I was.  Gottie was clearly extremely smart but the things she thought and said sometimes needed to be dumbed down so I could understand them.  The whole time travel aspect just made no sense to me no matter how many times I read things over and tried to understand them.

Gottie: Gottie was so hard to relate to.  She was so distant and closed off from everyone and everything.  It was almost like she thought she was the only one affected by Grey’s death and it didn’t matter how everyone else felt about it.  She was selfish and immature.

Overall, The Square Root of Summer could have been better but I don’t regret the time I spent reading it.  I could see myself reading more from Harriet Reuter Hapgood in the future.

what others are saying about The Square Root of Summer:

Queen of Contemporary’s review: ” Every single word of it was brilliant and I’m so glad that I read it.”

Drizzle & Hurricane Books’ review: “Despite the confusion of it all, I could enjoy this story because the characters were overwhelmingly adorable.”

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What are some of your favorite time travel books?  Is time travel a subject you enjoy or are you confused by it, like me?

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