Book Review: The Summer of Broken Rules by K. L. Walther

For many years, Booktok has been a major influence on which books become popular. A few years ago, I heard about a popular Booktok novel called The Summer of Broken Rules. It was written by K. L. Walther, who became extremely popular because of this book.

Back then, it was highly recommended by a YouTuber that I used to follow. I didn’t know at that time that the YouTuber was also a huge Taylor Swift fan and loved the book because of it’s ties to her. Today I don’t follow the YouTuber because of many reasons. One of the minor reasons is her incorporation of Swiftie references throughout her videos.

After reading the book, I felt very conflicted about how to talk about it online. This is why it’s taken me years to figure out what to say or if I should recommend reading it. Although I still feel very conflicted about how to talk about the book in a review post, I’m tired to stumbling across my book review post in my saved drafts files. So, I’m going to review it, no matter if I am sure about what to say or not.

The official book blurb on Amazon is…

Meredith’s family’s annual game of assassin at Martha’s Vineyard during a summer wedding is the perfect chance to honor her sister’s legacy, and finally join the world again. But when she forms an alliance with a cute groomsman, she’s at risk of losing both the game … and her heart.

When Meredith Fox lost her sister, Claire, eighteen months ago, she shut everyone out. But this summer she’s determined to join the world again.

The annual family vacation to Martha’s Vineyard seems like the perfect place to reconnect. Her entire extended family is gathering for a big summer wedding, and although Meredith is dateless after being unexpectedly dumped, she’s excited to participate in the traditional Fox family game of assassin that will take place during the week of wedding festivities. Claire always loved the game, and Meredith is determined to honor her legacy.

But when Meredith forms an assassin alliance with a cute groomsman, she finds herself getting distracted. Meredith tries to focus on the game and win it for her sister, but she can’t help falling for him. And as the week progresses, she realizes she’s not only at risk of losing the game, but also her heart.

Like I mentioned, I don’t know how to describe how I feel about this book. As someone who has become increasingly annoyed by and find many aspects of Taylor Swift’s career extremely troubling, I clearly am not the target audience for this book. It is noted in the book that it is inspired by Taylor Swift’s songs… and the infamous summer of 2016. I remember what was going on back then, mostly because I was using social media as a means of escapism while I took care of a dying relative. So, although I have opinions about what happened back then, I always believed they didn’t matter much. After all, I’m just a normal person, living my normal life.

The problem is, after reading the book, I can truthfully say that it is riddled with references of the summer. I don’t want to bother mentioning them, but Swifties would probably be able to figure them out. As someone that experienced really great things that year, and had a very horrible ones too, I felt irritated by it. There are moments in the year I want to relive, but there are many, many others I am more than happy to forget about.

This element of the book is why I felt conflicted about it. Of course it is great for Swifties to read. It is my fault for blindly trusting the YouTuber that recommended it without researching it. If I did, I may have not read it. Yet, there is still something (Or somethings?) about this book that I actually like.

It is written very well. No matter how many Taylor Swift references are in the book, I can see someone really enjoying this book. I think it could be a great beach read. It is easy to follow and the characters are pretty well written. The romance develops between the two main character easily and gently. The downside is the Swift references throughout the story. I really do feel like this story was weighed down by them. It is almost as if the author was trying to incorporate as many details as possible about Taylor Swift’s 2016 summer into one book. This is why I was lead to wonder how the author obtained so much information about Taylor Swift. (Or did I miss many details about Taylor Swift that were made public in the United States?)

So, do I recommend this book? If you are a Taylor Swift fan, then yes. You’ll enjoy it. A lot. If you’re not a Taylor Swift fan, maybe. If you are looking for a clean romance novel that takes place in New England, then give it a try. If you are sick and tired of all the Taylor Swift inspired stuff available to purchase, then no. You won’t like this book. As for me, I don’t know what I’m going to do with my copy. In the spectrum of stories that could be inspired by Taylor Swift, this book, and many others like it, are not what I’m looking for.

 

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!