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All Summer Long
A vivid and evocative portrait of the raw and explosive desire of early love.
It’s 2012, it’s a sweltering summer in Adelaide, and Olivia is 19 and dreaming big. When she meets the charismatic Miles, they are instantly and helplessly drawn to each other. But Miles has already made promises to someone else, and Olivia is already in love, isn’t she?
As they grow more entangled, they move between their plans and dreams, between longing and letting go. But only one thing is certain: they are profoundly altered by knowing each other.
Sensuously crafted, All Summer Long paints a bittersweet picture of the confusion and messiness of your early 20’s, the exquisite lure of first highs and first loves, and the people who stay with you long after life has moved on.
It’s 2012, it’s a sweltering summer in Adelaide, and Olivia is 19 and dreaming big. When she meets the charismatic Miles, they are instantly and helplessly drawn to each other. But Miles has already made promises to someone else, and Olivia is already in love, isn’t she?
As they grow more entangled, they move between their plans and dreams, between longing and letting go. But only one thing is certain: they are profoundly altered by knowing each other.
Sensuously crafted, All Summer Long paints a bittersweet picture of the confusion and messiness of your early 20’s, the exquisite lure of first highs and first loves, and the people who stay with you long after life has moved on.
100 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2021
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 23, 2021
All Summer long is a stunning evocation of the complete madness inherent in sensuous love. Poetic, transcendent and compelling. While set in a specific place and time, it is a story which could belong to any of us. It left me feeling I had completed a long journey, a painful and beautiful dream.
May 22, 2021
A beautifully composed story perfectly capturing the exquisite lure and explosive desire of early love.
Tightly written and timelessly relatable, those of all ages will find themselves recalling their own experience-the confusion and excitement, the tantalizing possibilities, turbulent emotions, the sheer intensity of wanting, and ultimately the maturing of decisions that need to be made.
Tightly written and timelessly relatable, those of all ages will find themselves recalling their own experience-the confusion and excitement, the tantalizing possibilities, turbulent emotions, the sheer intensity of wanting, and ultimately the maturing of decisions that need to be made.
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July 3, 2022This review was first published on the Underground Writers website and can now be read on the reviewer's blog here: https://oddfeather.co/2021/08/18/revi...
Amelia Joy’sdebut novella, All Summer Long, is a raw, searing story of intoxicating first love, set in Adelaide in 2012. Olivia is 19, going to university, and hiding inside a cocoon of solitude and disaffection. Then, one scorching summer day at the beginning of term, she meets Miles, a social butterfly who seems fascinated with her, and she is hooked. But he has a girlfriend. And she has a boyfriend; Olivia and Miles aren’t touching, only spending all their time together, talking, dreaming, laughing. That’s alright, right?
Over the rest of the year, and for several years after that, Olivia and Miles dip in and out of each other’s lives, exchanging feverish text messages, stopping and starting, trying to move on but always halted somehow by the other. Moving between polar opposites of place, temperature, and plans for the future, Olivia wants to be with Miles in the heat-churned city, living in the day, the moment, overwhelming each other in body and spirit. Then, when he recoils and returns to his first love, she escapes to the Adelaide Hills, to the cold and her ex’s white-picket-suburban-family familiarity. But she feels numb; that place, that version of her future, holds nothing for her. And on her return to the city and Miles, he talks about the engagement ring he’s buying for his girlfriend, the wife and family and future he wants. And somehow Olivia isn’t right for that.
Joy manages to capture the heady rush, the all-consuming pain and euphoria of first love. This book is an excellent example of the power and importance of the novella. This story could only hold so much impact, so much emotion and force, in a short number of pages. Any longer and the effect would be diluted; any shorter and it would be pure poetry and less accessible to lovers of prose. But this length, with this potency and depth of writing, creates a story that punches you in the gut with every emotion you stumbled through in your late teens and early twenties, then leaves you forlorn and breathless, wondering what just happened.
Amelia Joy’sdebut novella, All Summer Long, is a raw, searing story of intoxicating first love, set in Adelaide in 2012. Olivia is 19, going to university, and hiding inside a cocoon of solitude and disaffection. Then, one scorching summer day at the beginning of term, she meets Miles, a social butterfly who seems fascinated with her, and she is hooked. But he has a girlfriend. And she has a boyfriend; Olivia and Miles aren’t touching, only spending all their time together, talking, dreaming, laughing. That’s alright, right?
Over the rest of the year, and for several years after that, Olivia and Miles dip in and out of each other’s lives, exchanging feverish text messages, stopping and starting, trying to move on but always halted somehow by the other. Moving between polar opposites of place, temperature, and plans for the future, Olivia wants to be with Miles in the heat-churned city, living in the day, the moment, overwhelming each other in body and spirit. Then, when he recoils and returns to his first love, she escapes to the Adelaide Hills, to the cold and her ex’s white-picket-suburban-family familiarity. But she feels numb; that place, that version of her future, holds nothing for her. And on her return to the city and Miles, he talks about the engagement ring he’s buying for his girlfriend, the wife and family and future he wants. And somehow Olivia isn’t right for that.
Joy manages to capture the heady rush, the all-consuming pain and euphoria of first love. This book is an excellent example of the power and importance of the novella. This story could only hold so much impact, so much emotion and force, in a short number of pages. Any longer and the effect would be diluted; any shorter and it would be pure poetry and less accessible to lovers of prose. But this length, with this potency and depth of writing, creates a story that punches you in the gut with every emotion you stumbled through in your late teens and early twenties, then leaves you forlorn and breathless, wondering what just happened.
May 26, 2021
Amelia Joy's words drip with sensuality and power as she takes us into a world of obsession, confusion and passion. What a magical ride! All Summer Long is a beautifully rendered story with rich imagery leaving a deep heartfelt impact on the reader.
November 10, 2021
Amelia Joy is a JOY to read. All Summer Long is an authentic and colourful novella full of brutally honest insights, naivety, internal revelations and deep inner conflict—a very real book, transgressive even, mirroring the lives and struggles of most people sliding into their twenties. Love, unrequited or returned, and red herrings. Drugs and intoxication. Music and art. Passion and dysfunction. Adventure and trouble. And of course, that theme ever-present throughout: yearning.
The prose is beautiful and elegant, yet also simple so that the common reader can hang onto every line of poetic charm and feel what ‘Olivia’ feels. She makes mistakes, she falls to the ground, she picks herself up, and it’s a cycle without any answers. A striking resemblance to real life. The novella hits all the right beats at all the right times. It causes a strange pulling between two reader hopes: the hope that Miles and Olivia get together, and the hope that Olivia forgets about Miles and carries on with her life. I only wish the book were longer!!! I could read hundreds of pages about Olivia and her struggles, her dreams, and the things that make her heart tick.
I could see some of myself in Olivia. As a young man, some of my own late-teens to early-twenties experiences were parallel with hers—desires and memories of a past me who yearned too much, dreamed too much, whose life revolved around the people I was obsessed with at the time, until their presence would slip from my life and I’d be left with remorse and endless craving. This sense of overwhelming craving and obsession is best explained by Amelia Joy herself:
‘In the quiet of that night, something monumental shifted inside me. All I had ever craved was the hot rush of being wanted, and that was all I ever had. But this was more than that. This was something unfathomable.’
The prose is beautiful and elegant, yet also simple so that the common reader can hang onto every line of poetic charm and feel what ‘Olivia’ feels. She makes mistakes, she falls to the ground, she picks herself up, and it’s a cycle without any answers. A striking resemblance to real life. The novella hits all the right beats at all the right times. It causes a strange pulling between two reader hopes: the hope that Miles and Olivia get together, and the hope that Olivia forgets about Miles and carries on with her life. I only wish the book were longer!!! I could read hundreds of pages about Olivia and her struggles, her dreams, and the things that make her heart tick.
I could see some of myself in Olivia. As a young man, some of my own late-teens to early-twenties experiences were parallel with hers—desires and memories of a past me who yearned too much, dreamed too much, whose life revolved around the people I was obsessed with at the time, until their presence would slip from my life and I’d be left with remorse and endless craving. This sense of overwhelming craving and obsession is best explained by Amelia Joy herself:
‘In the quiet of that night, something monumental shifted inside me. All I had ever craved was the hot rush of being wanted, and that was all I ever had. But this was more than that. This was something unfathomable.’
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2021
Full disclosure, I had the total and utter pleasure of working on an earlier draft of Amelia's novella a summer or two ago and haven't really stopped thinking about it since. Amelia's prose simmers and cracks, managing to capture those incomparable feelings of first love under a hot sun, the ways it moves you in fundamental, under-the-skin, hard-to-pin-down ways. She makes palpable and gives shape to that heady mix of love, pain, frenzy and freedom that feels so ineffable at the time. The story of Olivia and Miles feels personal but also so relatable, and Amelia's writing is as intoxicating as her subject matter. A gorgeous, searing debut from a talented writer. I can't wait to see what she writes in the future.
November 5, 2021
I devoured All Summer Long in one go, but I wanted to make it last so much longer! I just could not put this book down! Joy’s writing is intoxicating and paints a vivid picture of how messy and all-consuming a first love can be and how it can linger for the rest of our lives. It is yearning, it is heartache, it is lust and sadness and it is above all else — beautifully written. It has all the thrill of romance laced with the bittersweet residue of something raw that can only be described as real life. I will definitely be reading this book again!
October 9, 2022
Dangerously sensual. Breathtakingly poetic. So many drop-dead gorgeous metaphors and descriptions of love. So much tension. Every sentence is a gun. I read every chapter and every paragraph with my breath held; every word could be the one that tips my heart over the edge and shatter it completely. And it did. I have no other words. Fuck.
January 4, 2022
First read of the year “All Summer Long” by Amelia Joy was a 4.5/5 stars. I loved this passionate story it was so intense and a wonderful quick read. I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much considering I hated the main characters. (They were written wonderfully, Amelia has a real talent because her writing is so rich and evocative I just didn’t like that they cheated on their partners and acted so recklessly. Miles didn’t deserve the happiness he found and Olivia definitely deserved what she got after trying to break up a relationship I felt so sorry for poor Grace!) I wish there was more to this story because I couldn’t put it down! but it was wonderful even as a short novella. 🤎✨
December 26, 2021
At the close of pretty much two years in isolation, All Summer Long was the sensual rush I needed. Exploring that blurred space where love and infatuation overlap, Joy's prose is lush and evocative - illustrating the big, brazen emotions that churn beneath understated dialogue. Very keen to read more from this author - an authentic voice.
August 26, 2021
A beautiful snapshot of love, obsession, and of how we lose ourselves in others.
February 18, 2022
A short but enjoyable novella about romance in 21st century Adelaide. I enjoyed the setting of this book and the fact that it is so contemporary and relatable for a young reader.
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April 20, 2024This review was first published on the Underground Writers website and you can read it on my blog here: https://oddfeather.co/index.php/2021/...
Amelia Joy’sdebut novella, All Summer Long, is a raw, searing story of intoxicating first love, set in Adelaide in 2012. Olivia is 19, going to university, and hiding inside a cocoon of solitude and disaffection. Then, one scorching summer day at the beginning of term, she meets Miles, a social butterfly who seems fascinated with her, and she is hooked. But he has a girlfriend. And she has a boyfriend; Olivia and Miles aren’t touching, only spending all their time together, talking, dreaming, laughing. That’s alright, right?
Over the rest of the year, and for several years after that, Olivia and Miles dip in and out of each other’s lives, exchanging feverish text messages, stopping and starting, trying to move on but always halted somehow by the other. Moving between polar opposites of place, temperature, and plans for the future, Olivia wants to be with Miles in the heat-churned city, living in the day, the moment, overwhelming each other in body and spirit. Then, when he recoils and returns to his first love, she escapes to the Adelaide Hills, to the cold and her ex’s white-picket-suburban-family familiarity. But she feels numb; that place, that version of her future, holds nothing for her. And on her return to the city and Miles, he talks about the engagement ring he’s buying for his girlfriend, the wife and family and future he wants. And somehow Olivia isn’t right for that.
Joy manages to capture the heady rush, the all-consuming pain and euphoria of first love. This book is an excellent example of the power and importance of the novella. This story could only hold so much impact, so much emotion and force, in a short number of pages. Any longer and the effect would be diluted; any shorter and it would be pure poetry and less accessible to lovers of prose. But this length, with this potency and depth of writing, creates a story that punches you in the gut with every emotion you stumbled through in your late teens and early twenties, then leaves you forlorn and breathless, wondering what just happened.
Amelia Joy’sdebut novella, All Summer Long, is a raw, searing story of intoxicating first love, set in Adelaide in 2012. Olivia is 19, going to university, and hiding inside a cocoon of solitude and disaffection. Then, one scorching summer day at the beginning of term, she meets Miles, a social butterfly who seems fascinated with her, and she is hooked. But he has a girlfriend. And she has a boyfriend; Olivia and Miles aren’t touching, only spending all their time together, talking, dreaming, laughing. That’s alright, right?
Over the rest of the year, and for several years after that, Olivia and Miles dip in and out of each other’s lives, exchanging feverish text messages, stopping and starting, trying to move on but always halted somehow by the other. Moving between polar opposites of place, temperature, and plans for the future, Olivia wants to be with Miles in the heat-churned city, living in the day, the moment, overwhelming each other in body and spirit. Then, when he recoils and returns to his first love, she escapes to the Adelaide Hills, to the cold and her ex’s white-picket-suburban-family familiarity. But she feels numb; that place, that version of her future, holds nothing for her. And on her return to the city and Miles, he talks about the engagement ring he’s buying for his girlfriend, the wife and family and future he wants. And somehow Olivia isn’t right for that.
Joy manages to capture the heady rush, the all-consuming pain and euphoria of first love. This book is an excellent example of the power and importance of the novella. This story could only hold so much impact, so much emotion and force, in a short number of pages. Any longer and the effect would be diluted; any shorter and it would be pure poetry and less accessible to lovers of prose. But this length, with this potency and depth of writing, creates a story that punches you in the gut with every emotion you stumbled through in your late teens and early twenties, then leaves you forlorn and breathless, wondering what just happened.
April 4, 2022
I began reading ‘All Summer Long’ in the afternoon sun on my deck, some of my favourite oldies playing in my ears and I didn’t put it down until I finished, and the sun had made way for the moon. This novel is a heartbreakingly raw and honest portrayal of young love. This is the book I needed when I began university, this is the book I needed throughout all the unrequited loves and nights of bad choices in the name of a boy who broke my heart. This is honestly the best romance and coming of age novel I have ever read, I cannot stress enough how much this novel made me feel nostalgic, heard, understood and brutally emotional. This was an emotional journey alongside the protagonist Olivia, and I felt and understood all that she went through. I pictured and reminisced in all the times I too felt as Olivia did and will come back to this book time and again. I have underlined and tabbed it to my heart’s content and have found myself in-between so many lines that it’s like Amelia Joy has plucked it from my minds eye. Amelia Joy’s writing is poetic, and instantaneous in capturing that coming-of-age essence of insecurity, finding yourself amongst a chaos that is fast moving, obnoxiously loud and unapologetically cruel.
Joy has unknowingly given written hugs to all of us who have ever felt what it feels like to be young and caught in the web of a love that you know will ultimately destroy you. Her novel reminds me of the summer I was nineteen, and I wish I could go back in time and give her this book, for I know she would feel comfort in knowing she was not alone.
What an incredible debut.
Joy has unknowingly given written hugs to all of us who have ever felt what it feels like to be young and caught in the web of a love that you know will ultimately destroy you. Her novel reminds me of the summer I was nineteen, and I wish I could go back in time and give her this book, for I know she would feel comfort in knowing she was not alone.
What an incredible debut.
June 20, 2022
I barely write reviews, but this time I so really feel to do it that I don't even know where to start. This book overwhelmed me from start to finish. I can certainly that this is the first time I read a book by a debuting author that left me completely without words. Amelia Joy's words reached the inner parts of my soul. The intensity of summer loves that remains in the hearts even after summer has passed, the uncertainty of life at 19, uncomprehending each other's and one own's emotions, losing oneself into someone obsessively: all this mixed in this novella where nothing is left to the case, where every word is pondered carefully, leaving the reader an enchanting experience. Not the usual love story, but a journey that goes deeper into the human soul. This reading experience was such a ride... I felt relatable in so many scenes and truly there were no lines that bored me. To me, it is a short novella that will certainly be in my heart for a very long time.
November 13, 2022
Amelia Joy's writing is stunning and I found myself rereading sections to revel in the emotions she sparked and how she so uniquely described small moments between the characters. In such a short amount of pages, you feel a connection and understanding of Olivia which is maintained through the entire story and made me not want to put the book down!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews