‘The Summer Switch-Off’ Review

There is an unspoken rule among Welsh people that we always support fellow Welsh people. So when I discovered that a fellow Welsh person had found success as an author with her Kissing Booth franchise, I was of course going to buy her books. I’ve loosely followed Beth Reekles’ success since I watched the Netflix adaptation of her book, and when she got to quit her day job and pursue writing full time I was happy that she had found success again. So I immediately pre-ordered copies of her new books so that she could continue to live her dream.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from The Summer Switch-Off. I did like the premise, and I liked the celebration of female friendship. There’s something about these turning points in a young person’s life that I find so fascinating, and they make for great stories, so I was eager to find out how each of our three protagonists were going to deal with their issues.

I do have to admit that this wasn’t a novel that I fell head over heels in love with. If you’re looking for an easy beach read to just while away the hours, then this is definitely your kind of thing. It’s not badly written, or badly plotted – I just didn’t love it as much as I was expecting to. It felt awfully long for not a lot to really happen, and there didn’t seem to be one cohesive plot line that was tying all of this together. I loved the female friendship at the heart of this novel, and the decisions that they made along the way to grow into themselves.

The characters were interesting! Although I did find it to be a bit depressing at some points when one or two of the characters were feeling sorry for themselves. I didn’t like how  Luna’s characterisation progressed – particularly with the scenes in the night club towards the end of the novel – as this felt really out of character with the gentle soul that we’d been introduced to. But I do think that the novel had a lovely ending, with each of our three protagonists finding friends for life on the holiday from hell.

The setting sounded ideal when we were first introduced to it, but I found the entire holiday to be incredibly stressful. The whole removal of electronic devices – against the will of some guests – made me feel very uncomfortable. Which only got worse when one of the characters was blamed for plumbing issues that were the hotel’s fault, not hers. And then being made to share a dilapidated villa with two people you didn’t really know! It sounded like a horrific experience.

Overall I think I’d give The Summer Switch-Off a 3/5. I’m a little sad that I didn’t love it more than I did, but it was a very easy to read novel that would be ideal for passing away the time on a beach. If you’re looking for a sweet coming-of-age story to switch-off with then this would definitely be your thing.