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.


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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.