THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER is Heartbreak

Title: The Square Root of Summer
Author: Harriet Reuter Hapgood
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

So, I thought I was getting a book about time travel, and what I got was a thoughtful story about grief and loss and friendship. I'm not complaining. Some of my favorite books deal with these subjects. I just wish there were some way to prepare other readers for this book...and to make them stick with it when the going gets tough because it's totally worth it in the end.

At around page 18, I was stuck and didn't know if I'd make it any further. Gottie is a whiz at physics and math and she thinks she's traveling through wormholes to the past, and that's all well and good because I love me some time travel. However, the detail with which Gottie explains black holes and wormholes and how one might travel through them is exhausting and thoroughly confusing. And I say that as someone who aced physics in high school. BUT, as I discovered by reading on, you really don't need to understand the science or math behind the phenomenon, only that this is what Gottie believes is happening to her.

Gottie has been grieving the death of her beloved grandfather for the last year or so. And to make matters worse, right after his passing, her first (and secret) love broke if off with her. She is heart-broken twice over and has shut herself off from the world.

Until the return of her best friend. Things are rough between them at first, with Gottie still feeling the sting of Thomas' betrayal when he moved away five years ago and never wrote to her, but they move past it and something sweet develops between them. For a time, it's almost as if those five years never happened.

The characters in this book are all kinds of quirky. As in, not a single one of them seems to conform to society's norms. And that's okay. It's just another thing that I could have let bother me in the beginning, if I hadn't kept reading to determine why everyone -- at least in Gottie's family -- was so kooky. To some extent, it's a coping mechanism, just as Gottie's fixation on the wormholes is her way of dealing with her loss.

I was really able to empathize with Gottie. I lost my grandmother when I was around the same age, and I always felt close to her. My gran was just about as zany and out of this world as Grey...and she also died of cancer. The constant reminders of my own loss made this a difficult read at times, but it was also a cathartic experience. You don't realize how much you bottle up, how much you keep inside, until it's all spilling out.

This was such a weird little book. For most, it will mean reading out of your comfort zone, either because of the science-y aspect or the tough subject matter. But the payoff -- even if you don't totally understand it at first -- makes the journey more than worthwhile.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Harriet Reuter Hapgood is a freelance fashion journalist and author of THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER (coming May 2016). Her first-ever professional writing credit was for Just Seventeen magazine, and she's been YA obsessed ever since. She likes burritos, cats, Gwyneth Paltrow and young adult fiction, which she plans to write more of, though she's also considering a PhD in Dawson’s Creek.

Find Harriet:

Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram

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Labels: harriet reuter hapgood, macmillan, multiverse, reviews, sci-fi, the square root of summer, time travel

{Blog Tour} THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER - This Is Who I Am Now

Welcome to my stop on The Square Root of Summer Blog Tour: This Is Who I Am Now. This blog tour is a little different, in that us bloggers were tasked with answering a set of questions immediately upon receipt and then answering them again in a few months' time to see what had changed in that time. You can check out my responses below; but first, a bit more about the book:

Title: The Square Root of Summer
Author: Harriet Reuter Hapgood
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: May 3, 2016 -- that's today!!
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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.

This Is Who I Am Now

What Brings You The Most Joy In Life?

- Feb/March 2016: my daughter’s smiling face
- May 2016: still my Katiebug…when she’s happy, I’m happy :)

So, my little girl will always be the light of my life and she brings me so much joy each and every day. She can also be a royal pain, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

What Are You Reading?

- Feb/March 2016: I’ve been re-reading a lot of fantasy lately – mostly via audio – including the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima, The Girl of Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson, and The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski
- May 2016: Right now, I’m listening to Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. I read the book earlier this year but a good friend got me the audio for my birthday. And I’m reading Free to Fall by Lauren Miller, which has been on my TBR for ages.

I’ve been doing a lot of re-reading lately, so I guess that hasn’t changed much in the last few months. But I've also decided to start reading more of my backlist titles instead of always focusing on review books. Starting Free to Fall over the weekend was the beginning and it's already going really well.

What Is Something You’re Really Looking Forward To?

- Feb/March 2016: Katie’s 8th birthday and the #PenguinTeenOnTour stop in Dallas…I get to interview Alison Goodman before the event!
- May 2016: our big family trip to Schlitterbahn this summer…first time all of us sisters have taken our families on vacation together!

I was really looking forward to chatting with Alison Goodman, but she got delayed in Canada after that tour stop, so I got to interview Rachel Hawkins instead, which was super fun. Katie went along with me, too, and had Rachel sign the copies of the Hex Hall series that I gave her. ;)

What Is One Thing That’s Worrying You?

- Feb/March 2016: money…buying a house really depletes your funds
- May 2016: money…need to save for the big trip in July…some things never change

Apparently, money needs to grow on trees because I'll never have enough of it. But we knew that it would be hard at first when we bought the house we did because it's older and it's on a big lot that required we buy a much bigger (read: powerful) mower than what we had. That's done, but now we have a family trip on the books and that also requires money.

What Is Something That You Always Have With You?

- Feb/March 2016: a book, either a physical copy, my Kindle, or audiobooks on my phone...or all three
- May 2016: this answer will never change :)

This question really requires no further comment. =)

What Is Something That You Wish You Could Change?

- Feb/March 2016: the fact that the library I use recently reinstated the non-resident fee :(
- May 2016: the lack of empathy in the world – I’ve just seen so much hate and negativity in the world lately and it’s hard not to let it get me down

When I first answered this question, I was focused more on something I wished I could change in my own little world, but I've really been trying to work on my overall outlook on life, and well, that's where my recent answer stems from. A little love and understanding goes a long way.

About the author:

Harriet Reuter Hapgood is a freelance fashion journalist and author of THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER (coming May 2016). Her first-ever professional writing credit was for Just Seventeen magazine, and she's been YA obsessed ever since. She likes burritos, cats, Gwyneth Paltrow and young adult fiction, which she plans to write more of, though she's also considering a PhD in Dawson’s Creek.

Find Harriet:

Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram

Full List of Participating Blogs

Art​,​ Books​,​Coffee​ Blog​
Book Briefs
Bumbles and Fairytales
Confessions of a Book Junkie
Manga Mania Cafe
Ticket to Anywhere
The Irish Banana
Firefly Read It
Across the Words
Books and Makeup
Ex Libris Kate
Dark Faerie Tales
Jenuine Cupcakes
Miss Print
Mundie Moms
Nobs Book Reviews
Seeing Double in Neverland
Reading Teen
The Starry Eyed Revue -- you are here!
Read Now, Sleep Later
Forever Young Adult
Gone Pecan
Book Rambles
Perpetual Page Turner
Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
Twirling Pages
Andi's ABCs
That Artsy Reader Gir​l​
Waste Paper Prose
Evie Bookish
Book Rook Reviews
Fiction Fare
​Lady Knight Reads​
Book Nerds Across America
Page Turners' Blog
Tripping Over Book​s​
Consummate Reader
Fiktshun
Ageless Pages Reviews
A Perfection Called Books
XPresso Reads
Good Books and Good Wine
Swoony Boys Podcast

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Labels: blog tour, harriet reuter hapgood, macmillan, multiverse, sci-fi, the square root of summer, time travel