The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Review:

I loved this one. It read a bit like a YA version of the The Time Traveler’s Wife. It was smart, funny, heartfelt, and true. I took it with me to the beach, hoping for a light YA romance. This wasn’t exactly the light book I was thinking it would be. It was however, above and beyond my expectations.

So many YA novels involve girls and families grieving the loss of a mother. This was the first one I’ve read that deals with the aftermath of losing a close grandparent. And my heart just kept breaking for Gottie, over and over. Her grandfather sounded amazing. And her grief felt so honest and gut wrenching.

I also found the romance elements to ring so true also. I love that her first love was not her last love. I love what Gottie learns and takes away from Jason. And I love watching her come out of her grief-shocked shell here to accept what she needs to about Thomas, about her family, and about herself.

I love the play with physics and time. This is a book about a smart STEM driven main character. And I loved that her logic/her way of thinking is so clinical and science-based. Science wasn’t just a hobby the author threw in there to make her sound more interesting. Science was kind of everything –it was the way Gottie handled her grief  and learned about what was happening to her.

I loved the side characters (especially the somewhat estranged best friend) and big brother. I loved the house, the bookstore, and the way of life the grandfather left behind. Gottie’s unique family sometimes stole the show away from her, and that’s okay. I was fascinated by all of them.

I really can’t come up with anything negative about this book. I was surprised by how much I loved it right away. And I look forward to this author’s next book that comes out this spring. This gets a 10/10.