Beautiful, heart-breaking, coming-of-age and coming out in the 50s/60s. Bleak in parts. Great work by Harker Jones.

Until September by Harker Jones is a beautifully melancholic novel that captures the intensity of young love and the inevitable heartache that comes with it. The writing is evocative, pulling you into the nostalgia of summer romances and the emotional turmoil of growing up.However, I found it sometimes difficult to fully connect with the characters, as their development felt a bit uneven. Despite this, the story’s exploration of how life unfolds, with all its unpredictability, is both poignant and relatable.Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It broke my heart in the end, but it's a well-crafted coming-of-age story that reflects the realities of life.

Unitl September is a very emotional, poetic story of a teenage boy coming of age. It is told mostly from Kyle's point of view, but the author lends insight into other character's minds as Kyle and Jack fall in love, Trey struggles with his continued infatuation with Kyle, and Trent grapples with his relationship with an island girl and the potential loss of Kyle as his best friend. The prose at times was difficult to follow for me as a reader. However, the meaning behind the words does shine through. I felt for these characters and the nostalgia of that young, bright love of teenagers. But this was not a happy story. It was gut wrenching, and I felt the dissatisfaction with the lack of continued growth of the characters at the end. They remained emotionally stagnant, It was moving to the point of tears but I wished for so much more and was left with the feeling of such depression. I'm sure this was the aim by Jones in his writing. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing me a copy of this book.

2.5 stars, rounding down to 2. Not particularly compelling, I'm afraid to say. Did have some good parts, and I can see a fair amount of people liking this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is a great book if you're looking for good prose and lots of emotional damage. (This is really not a feel good book.) I didn't particularly like any of the characters, but their sadness did hurt.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This as a really sweet book and I was really hoping lots of hopes. The rest of this review may give some hints so be warned. I just found it so incredibly sad and probably should have picked up on the hints but didn’t want it to end sadly.. it was a good book but left me just feeling a bit bereft,

This turbulent, coming-of-age love story captures the high emotions of youth and the turmoil of avowing one's identity. The scenes of summer are well-crafted, echoing the characters' strong feelings and all that feels possible, life as open as the sea, and as unpredictable. With a great deal of sentiment and nostalgia, with all the inherent and overwhelming sense of loss that comes of feeling so much of the past - feeling, perhaps, that even the present is the past and out of reach even as it happens. The book has a curious narration style, mutable viewpoints that sometimes bleed from one to another, boundaries disappearing between the characters, which makes more sense when you realise who is narrating and how much he has to construct as an outsider.

This entire story was an emotional rollercoaster; joy, pain, longing, love, emotional mess, internal battles, secrets, teenage fuck-ups, friendships, everything. I needed an hour-long emotional break after finishing this (which meant me trying to just distract myself with anything and everything until I felt emotionally stable).

Until September is a coming-of-age love story which will probably leave you an emotional mess, but you can't do anything but just be the moth and chase the flame because I knew I was going to get hurt, and I still couldn't stop myself from reading.

Here are some annotations from the story which I hope can convince you to read it because I REALLY WANT MORE PEOPLE TO KNOW THIS BOOK. IT'S CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED!
.

"If he doesn't want me, how much will I cry?"


“If I were talented I’d write epics and poems and love songs about you. I’d paint you and sculpt you. But I have nothing to offer but myself…and I don’t know if I’m enough.”
.

“My golden king. The angels smiled on me the day we met.”
“No, they smiled on me.” Kyle beamed like a fool.
“Must you always argue?”
“I’m clarifying.”
They laughed lustily.
.

I'll post a few more on my Insta review post. But the conclusion is, that this story is an incredibly beautiful work of art, and it'd be a shame to not appreciate it! And no, I'm not being sponsored or shit, I wish I was because I would love to receive a paperback someday, but that day hasn't arrived yet. I just need people to appreciate something I loved so much!

P.S.: I was not satisfied with my previous review so I decided to rewrite the whole thing instead of editing.

Until September is a dynamic portrait of a group of friends who meet every year to summer on the island. The book presents a realistic portrayal of adolescent desire and lust, and how this affects the protagonist's relationship with his lifelong friends and parents. The supporting cast are also fleshed out characters who have stories of their own. The setting also felt to me as though it were a character itself, with weather as moods and places giving meaning to events. I found the last section of the book quite unsettling and a little confusing, which has affected my overall rating and impression of the novel. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the majority of the book and liked the main characters.

What a beautiful, yet heartbreaking coming-of-age story.

Oh how I love these type of books! You feel the melancholy pouring out of the text since the first chapter. You know something devastating is going to happen, but you can't look away. The writing is beautiful, so poetic and sad. I was captivated and devoured the book in two days. I need more.

Kyle and Jack's story started like many others: two boys meet, fall in love and the rest is history. Yet, amid the 50s/60s, they have to hide their love or suffer the consequences.

I think the circle of friends that Kyle had and what happened to it showed a very common story of the carefree teenage years: people who thought they were going to remain the same forever change. You grow up, you choose your way in life. Sometimes, you leave your teenage summer friend behind. That's just life and this book painted a realistic, yet sad portrait of that fact.

I did feel like the time period could have been mentioned more; there were times when I felt a bit confused since it kind of felt like that it could have been 90s or so. Or maybe I'm just overthinking. Also, at times Kyle's language felt a bit too philosophical, didn't feel very teenager-ish.

I felt like my heart was slowly breaking towards the end. With every page, it became darker and darker. Until it was over and I just felt void. It ended not how I expected, however, very fitting & honestly I can't imagine it being any different.

Until September felt similar to Lie with me(P. Besson) or Call me by your name(A. Aciman). If you liked them, this book will be right up your alley.

𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛: 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐆𝐨𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥


This sensitively written but powerful book had me totally immersed from the first page. The author painted a poignant picture of coming out and coming of age in the 60s. The love story between Kyle and Jack and the judgment and animosity they faced being queer during this time in history was simply heartbreaking. I cried for the boys, for the men whose lives were destroyed by society and expectations.

Harker Jones writes masterfully. His prose was lyrical, hauntingly sad, and yet beautiful to read.
He paints pictures with his words, bringing you into his world, wrapping you in his feelings and melancholy. It's enchanting.

His characters were relatable for that time period, but I found I could connect easily to them and feel their emotions , love , joy, and pain.

The storyline was broken up into months, starting in May and finishing in September with an epilogue titled Winter.

It's definitely a captivating story meant to sit and ponder over long after the last page is turned and deserving of a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you netgally, and Bookgosocialfor my copy. My review was voluntary.


Instagram review
http://www.instagram.com/sheilasenchantedbookshelf

After reading Until September, I can’t help but feel like I am drowning within the depths of Kyle’s emotions. I found this book to be an achingly beautiful tale of love. I’m the type of person who feels comfortable sat in feelings of melancholy. There is a certain comfort the feeling brings, and though there is sadness there is also longing. And this book hit those feelings in all the right spots. Paired with the gorgeous prose, it may be one of the best books I’ve read in a while. While I’m not sure this is the sort of book I will find myself coming back to read in entirety (seeing as, I feel quite sullen after the fact), I know I will come back to many of the resonating lines. It is the sort of book I feel better for having read (and for having experienced it at all). The depth of human emotion I felt while reading, for me, is part of the joy of reading, even when those emotions are not necessarily the happiest. An absolutely heart achingly stunning book.

I received a free copy of Until September by Harker Jones via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are of my own, without influence.

I spent the entirety of this book waiting for something to happen...I thought the story moved slowly with little insight into the characters.

A really nice story. I had mixed feelings reading this book, it face many struggles that a lot of people had to face when they couldn’t be open about their sexuality and had to hide their true feelings. Very sad story with a great lesson!

i couldn’t put Until September down, nor did i want to, even when it was truly breaking my heart.

gay love stories set in this time really just hit me right in my heart, as someone who is gay and his it for so long due to fear i still can’t even comprehend how terrifying and heartbreaking it would have been to fall in love back then. and this story explored it in such a beautiful way that i was just obsessed with it.

I fell headfirst into Until September and didn’t want to leave, despite the fact that it truly broke my heart at times. Harker Jones writes in such a way that I didn’t so much feel as if I was reading, more that I was a ghost in Kyle’s world, watching his life play out before me in vivid hues of sunlight.

Kyle has been blessed in life in some ways, he’s rich, beautiful and smart. Every summer, him and his family go to their second house on a beautiful island, where he spends long summer days with his friends. But Kyle is haunted by the ghosts of his past, and being sensitive, he struggles to always relate to those around him. Then comes the summer when Jack arrives in his life; and suddenly, everything changes.
For me personally, the writing was just captivating and I hung on every carefully chosen word. Jones has written such a powerful and painful exploration of feeling, and how everything we do and the way we move in the world creates impacts we’re not even aware of. I found the characters emotions very raw and relatable, especially as the novel gives the readers very honest depictions of passion, death, heartache and longing.

I think Jones makes some very smart choices, and doesn’t choose to slip into what would be easy clichés for a gratifying outcome. Although painful at times, the characters experiences feel weighted in reality, especially as we weren’t gifted with a predictable ending.

There was something ethereal about Kyle’s world, and I longed to be a teenager within it, as I lost myself in nostalgia of a very different time. Amongst the teenage angst and tension, I found real beauty and a truthful portrayal.

In all honesty, I’ve never before highlighted so many phrases on a first read of a book, but I just found it all so poetic. There will definitely also be a reread, if I ever recover!

Until September is a beautiful, heart wrenching novel. It seems unfair to just say, it’s a coming of age novel, I found it much, much more than that.

A bittersweet romance taking place in the summer, after all everything changes once September comes.

This was a wonderful novel taking place in the late 50’s where being homosexual was tantamount to a death sentence.

The romance between Kyle and Jack was realistic in its simplicity. The typical start, with the turbulent times, gave way to a lovely secret dalliance. I enjoyed the tale told from Kyle’s point of view. His reactions were truthful, if not a bit naive, to his age and the time he lived in.

Until September is an enjoyable read that takes an unexpected twist. Author Harker Jones details this coming of age tale on an almost day by day approach. The romance between the leads is credible until it is not. I guess I didn't like the ending, but that's romance!
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.