Summer Skin

 Summer Skin

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       February 5, 2016

 

Author  Kirsty Eagar

Distributor:      Allen & Unwin
ISBN:                 9781925266924
Publisher:         Allen & Unwin
Release Date:   February 2016  

Website:    http://www.allenandunwin.com 

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“It’s all girl meets boy, girl steals from boy, seduces boy, ties boy to a chair and burns boy’s stuff, just your typical love story”. Well I’m not sure that it is a typical love story, but rather a look at young people beginning a university life. They are more bemused by their freedom and power, and how to exert both.

 We meet Jess as she is suffering from a nasty hangover, which seems to be how most of the characters live. At last year’s ball, one of the girls in her campus was lured into bed by a boy from an adjoining campus and he shared photos of the act with his mates. In order to get even, Jess needs to steal a rugby top from one of the boys to be used at the next ball, where the girls are plotting an equally demeaning ploy.

 There is plenty of heart to heart discussions in the girl’s rooms and plenty of nightly drinking at the bar. I suppose lectures were attended and tutorials were presented, but this is certainly not the focus of the book. There is plenty of sexual titivation and many plans to “get even” but most of the discussion would be more suited to a Primary School bike shed.

 Perhaps younger readers would be more suited to this style of story, but it presents characters with little depth of personality and reasoning powers. It is set in Brisbane which may be an attraction. The code of dress for the formal ball is diverting, with Jess wearing a corset, tutu, and Doc Martins. Apart from this there is little to smile about and hold the attention for the reader.

Non Fiction