“Because there was nothing in a girl’s history that might negate her right to choose what happens to her body.” And for anyone who needs it, especially right now: I believe you. Rape culture is so real, so apparent, and so very much thriving in 2018. It doesn’t matter any circumstances if it’s not consensual then it is rape. It doesn’t matter what you’ve said before.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve had sex before. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a relationship with the person. Yet, this book also has a darker message about rape and rape culture and the topic is laced throughout the entire story, so please use caution. Georgina also is trying to figure out if she will never manifest any magical abilities like most of the women in her family, and she is also realizing that maybe she has real feelings for someone visiting the island this summer.

Georgina makes it her mission to not only find out what happened to Annabella, but also what happened to her sister, Mary, because she is acting really depressed and secretive. The entire island, and all of these character’s lives change when Annabella doesn’t make her annual arrival to the island. “I think a person can be a home, sometimes, just as much as a place or a house can.” ➽ Annabella – The magical, one of a kind, bird, who also might be somehow related to Georgina and Mary. ➽ Harrison – Prue’s brother, who has come to the island to see a bird that appears every summer. ➽ Prue – Visiting the island, bisexual, and has feelings for Georgina. ➽ Vira – Georgina’s best friend, who works at the local ice cream parlor, who is aroace, and my freakin’ favorite. ➽ Mary – Georgina’s twin sister, who has already discovered that her power allows her to float in midair. ➽ Georgina – Our main character, a lesbian, and a witch who has not discovered her power(s). Yet, no one really stays until the summer solstice, when a magical bird comes to the island and attracts so many tourists. Their mother runs the inn that has been in their family for many generations. This summer is not only Georgina and Mary’s eighteenth birthday, but it is also the last summer before they leave the island for the first time to go away to college.

This book is set on a very small island, where Georgina and Mary’s graduating class only consisted of 30ish kids. This reads like a mix between Girl Made of Stars and The Wicked Deep, and if you love either (bonus points for both) then you will completely love this story, too! This was moving, and powerful, and magical, and sweet, yet also heartbreaking. This was nothing short of a beautiful delight to read. And the other is the story of the summer we turned eighteen. One is the story of how my sister, Mary, and I were born. “Of all the stories about my family, the Fernweh women and the island of By-the-Sea, there are two that no one will ever forget. (My amazing friend Madalyn, at Novel Ink, gave this to me as a birthday gift!) 💖 Goodreads | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Summer of salt katrina leno