Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth
Review by Lauren
Source: copy from publisher/netgalley; all opinions are my own
Official Summary: Every Sunday Savannah Ray gets an email from her dead dad. She doesn’t
know how the emails work but she’s finally ready to start looking for
answers. To find those answers she has to go to the one place she swore
she’d never set foot in after he died—Haunted Valley, the amusement
park. Once there and on the hunt for answers she is distracted by the
charming Dallas and falls hard for him. When the answers she finds
aren’t what she expected and Dallas betrays her, Savannah must make a
choice—succumb to the insanity that destroyed her father or find the
strength to rise above it.
Review: One of the things that I found interesting about Bittersweet is that there are all these little, and even bigger, mysteries throughout. That’s not to say you are left wanting answers or that you never know what’s going on. It was nice to not know everything that was happening and to be able to take the ride with Savannah. There are secrets she’s keeping, secrets her family is keeping, and even secrets that Dallas, her new crush, is keeping. Like I said, some are small…but others are big and could overpower Savannah and her loose grip on reality.
Savannah is a girl who has been betrayed by the people closest to her. She’s still haunted by her dad’s death and can’t seem to pull herself out of her grief. It’s difficult to imagine her situation, but the book was never too heavy. There are fun, lighthearted moments to break up the pain and anger. The basics of the story is that Savannah is sent to live with her Uncle Grant over the summer before senior year and to work at an amusement park called Haunted Valley, where he is a manager. Amusement parks hold a lot of good memories for Savannah, but that was when she was younger, so it’s difficult to get adjusted to working in one when she really just wants to run in the opposite direction. Dealing with some rough co-works and rude customers just adds to the start of Savannah’s summer.
Things get better though. She makes some friends, especially with Dallas, who has known her uncle for years. He’s 22, and she’s 18, but the age difference isn’t that big of a deal when they have both dealt with some heavy things. But Dallas is hiding a secret, and his is one of the bigger reveals in the book. It’s a make it or break it kind of moment for the two of them. I won’t say anything else, but it’s not what I expected. I think it was dealt with in a realistic fashion, even if the characters themselves didn’t always behave that well.
On a random note, I really liked the added fact that Savannah has hearing aids and does not hear well without them. It comes up a lot throughout the book because she works in an amusement park with water rides, and she lives close to a lake that Dallas loves to be on. It made Savannah seem more real, plus it added a physical barrier between her and some of the mean co-workers who don’t understand the situation.
Bittersweet is just what the titles says – bitter, yet sweet. Savannah loves fine, European chocolate, and she’s always discussing the need to savor the flavors, which is a great metaphor for life itself. When life gives you sweetness, take the time to truly enjoy it.
And now…an excerpt:
indulging me. My favorite meal in the whole world was biscuits and gravy from
Cracker Barrel. If I could I’d subsist on chocolate alone, but I tried that
right after Dad died and nearly ended up in the hospital.
table. We’ll eat and then you two need to get on the road,” Mom said.
met him twice before, once at a family reunion and then again at the funeral. He
had the same dark hair and eyes my dad had. Except skinnier. Grant gave my mom
an awkward hug and shook Dave’s hand. They all smiled at each other. I sat down
before he could touch me at all.
wasn’t a real smile, it was the kind of smile you gave when you felt like you
were supposed to smile but didn’t really want to.
classes since I wasn’t allowed to take the finals, and got dumped by my
boyfriend.”
say something funny to lighten the mood. Dad hated anything serious.
sorry to hear that. I hope this summer will be better for you.”
so unsure of himself. Which was odd, because Dad was always the life of the
party and completely in control of social situations. This aspect of him I
didn’t inherit. Well, I did. I used to have it, but then he died and I threw it
away.
Grant didn’t try addressing me again. Probably didn’t want me to tell him how
horrible my life was. Just as the food arrived I hiccupped. Damn. My mother
glared at me and Teddy giggled.
my dad’s side, of course. We didn’t just hiccup. We made a loud and obnoxious
noise that was more like a crow cawing. There was no way to get rid of them, I
just had to wait them out. My mother always had new suggestions on how to stop
them and they never worked. My hiccups were unbelievably embarrassing in class,
but mostly they just reminded me that I’d inherited a curse that killed my
great-grandfather during the Depression, my grandfather after Vietnam, and most
recently my dad. There were other signs of the curse, but the first was always
the hiccups. When I was little I thought the whole thing was about the hiccups,
that my grandfathers died of hiccups. It wasn’t until a few years before my dad
finally died from the wretched curse that he tried to convince me that hiccups
had nothing to do with it. Sometimes, I still thought the hiccups were going to
kill me.
It doesn’t exist. He made it up as a party story to deflect attention off of
his hiccups.”
isn’t he?” I met his eyes. Those tiny almost-black eyes that were just like
Dad’s.
is not the same thing, if your Dad had recognized it as a disease then he would
not be dead.”
cleared her throat. Grant and I looked at her and then turned our attention
back to food.
for Teddy jabbering on about Thomas the Train. To try to distract myself I
listened to him intently. Half way through dinner, Grant looked at me but spoke
to my mother.
have to spend tomorrow getting up to dress code.”
correctly.
a light pink, but no black or bright colors. You’ll have to remove the ring in
your eyebrow.” I dropped my fork. This would not do at all.
wanted to continue, to explain that my nails were not black at all, but a dark
brown of the richest chocolate. The kind that comes from Argentina. They
couldn’t be black, because I threw the black nail polish away after Candie
betrayed me and I shaved all the hair off my head. Before I could finish, he
shook his head and took a bite of his omelet. I glared at my mom.
change the way I look.”
it.”
up.” My palms began to sweat. This was not the way I’d envisioned my summer.
Pretending to be someone else. I was eighteen and they weren’t going to boss me
around.
which was hard because it was like staring straight into my father’s eyes.
in my mouth, emptying my plate, and waited for him to retort. He just looked at
my mother and sighed. Perhaps he thought he was getting a docile little girl
that would do whatever he wanted. The eyebrow ring would stay. I’d see to that.
stud in it.
This does sound like a great read, I do like multiple secrets in a book. Great review and how lovely to read the excerpt
I love finding out things as the story goes along as long as it is done right and it sounds like it was in this one. Great review and thanks for sharing the excerpt!
Wow this sounds like a great book! I love that the heroine has hearing aids! Thanks for sharing.
I haven't heard of this book, but it sounds like an intriguing read. I like the mysteries and little mysteries you described. Thanks for sharing this one with us. Awesome that the mc is so real! 🙂
~Jess
The cover reminds me a bit of Stephen King's Joyland, and I do love the idea of mystery mixed with an amusement park… I'll keep my eye open for this one!
I love when you get a character that is more real just with a simple feature to herself. You can connect more with them and that for me is my ideal bookish character. Really love the sound of this one. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have never heard of this one but it sounds really interesting. I love secrets in books and this one seems to have plenty. Great review and post 🙂
This is the first time I'm seeing this. I'm adding it to my wish list.
Okay, this sounds like a great read – I need to get my hands on a copy!
xx
This is new to me Lauren but between the synopsis, your thoughts and the excerpt I am quite curious. I love that she has a disability. WE need more diversity.
I actually read another review for this one a little while ago Lauren, and the premise sounded incredible and creepy, but the main character Savannah was abrasive and unlikable. How did you find her character overall, and was the romance believable? I love the sound of this one, but a little hesitant to start it. Not having much luck with relatable characters lately. Lovely review Lauren, really glad you enjoyed this one <3
I'm glad that you enjoyed this, I hadn't heard of this book before, but I'm glad that it had some lighthearted scenes amongst some of the dark ones! Great review! 🙂
This has such a great and mysterious concept. I mean…getting emails from your dead father? It sounds so chilling, and yet so intriguing at the same time, and I can't wait to push myself into the mystery. It sounds like such an interesting take on finding closure and interpreting grief. Thanks for sharing Lauren, and fabulous review! <3
Sounds intriguing if a little bittersweet 🙂
Sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for sharing your review!