Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Goodreads Blurb

A heart-stopping story of love, death, technology, and art set amid the tropics of a futuristic Brazil.

The lush city of Palmares Tres shimmers with tech and tradition, with screaming gossip casters and practiced politicians. In the midst of this vibrant metropolis, June Costa creates art that’s sure to make her legendary. But her dreams of fame become something more when she meets Enki, the bold new Summer King. The whole city falls in love with him (including June’s best friend, Gil). But June sees more to Enki than amber eyes and a lethal samba. She sees a fellow artist.

Together, June and Enki will stage explosive, dramatic projects that Palmares Tres will never forget. They will add fuel to a growing rebellion against the government’s strict limits on new tech. And June will fall deeply, unfortunately in love with Enki. Because like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.

Would it be completely horrible of me to say that this is one of the worst books I've ever read? Because it really felt like it. As much as I wanted to love it (I mean, this was one of the first 2013 debut did HEARD of that had such an amazing synopsis) I really couldn't. I just...couldn't.

So I didn't realize until I was 3 chapters in that everyone was homosexual. And, I do mean everyone. Our love interest, the guy best friend, the mom, the ambassador, etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it, but it would've been nice to get a warning. I could also see how it advanced the plot, but couldn't they just have changed a gender and have it work the same? We never got why everyone suddenly disregarded gender and why everyone was suddenly very...loose. I guess it does play on that "wild side" of Brazil, but...well. 

I also had a giant issue with the characters--they felt so flat to me, especially Gil. And Enki...he would be so mischievous then suddenly very serious and a tad morbid, making his character a very...complicated, changing one. June was definitely one of the worse characters I've run into. She was pretty egoistical. She thought herself as the best artist in Palmares Tres and felt like she deserved the Queen's award (think of it as the Oscars, except only one) when there were others CLEARLY better than her. 

The romance...oh man. Where do I START with this. It was all very insta lovey. Very. Gil and Enki kissed pretty much a few minutes after they saw each other, the 5 minutes in between 

used up for a very...insinuating dance. And then Enki is apparently very in love with Gil, and June very attracted to Enki, at first because of his darker skin color. A bit shallow? I thought so, at least. And then there starts this weird dance in which Enki and June are...weird. They kiss,it doesn't mean anything, the kiss more, and stuff, but they still don't really fall in love. And, using the delicate phrase of the book, Summer Kings screw like mayflies. Oh man, was that true. Weirder still, Gil who was in love with Enki was fine with sharing him with June. Ummmm...

Honestly, I didn't really understand anything happening in Summer Prince. Everything was happening so damn quickly, then we'd have a time skip and never find out what happened between then and now. The writing may have been lush, but it was definitely confusing to me. I got the main gist of it, but other than that...or maybe I was just so bored of this book, I unintentionally skimmed it? I know I definitely skipped the last 75 pages at least. To read about an ending I predicted since the beginning. I hate to say it, but saying I'm disappointed is an understatement.

My ending statement? It may have been a idea with a great potential, but the way it was executed just didn't meet up.

Pages: 304

Genre: Sci-fi/Dystopia

Series: Stand alone

Publisher: Scholastic

Release: March 1, 2013

Rating: 1