The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel on January 1st 1970
Pages: 310
Goodreads
Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil.
Sal seems to appear out of nowhere - a bruised and tattered thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be the devil himself answering an invitation. Fielding Bliss, the son of a local prosecutor, brings him home where he's welcomed into the Bliss family, assuming he's a runaway from a nearby farm town.
When word spreads that the devil has come to Breathed, not everyone is happy to welcome this self-proclaimed fallen angel. Murmurs follow him and tensions rise, along with the temperature as an unbearable heat wave rolls into town right along with him. As strange accidents start to occur, riled by the feverish heat, some in the town start to believe that Sal is exactly who he claims to be. While the Bliss family wrestle with their own personal demons, a fanatic drives the town to the brink of a catastrophe that will change this sleepy Ohio backwater forever.
First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea. Each week, participants share a paragraph (or two) from a book they are currently reading or are planning to read soon.
Today I’m going to share the first couple of paragraphs from Tiffany McDaniel’s The Summer that Melted Everything. This book has been on my TBR for a long time so when the author reached out to ask if I’d like to review it, I was thrilled and flattered and, of course, said YES! I started it last night but didn’t get very far as a trip to the basement for a bottle of wine resulted in my discovering that a valve on the boiler was leaking and things went downhill from there. I’m loving it so far, though, and am looking forward to getting back to it this afternoon. Without further ado:
I
“The heat came with the devil. It was the summer of 1984, and while the devil had been invited, the heat had not. It should’ve been expected though. Heat is, after all, the devil’s name, and when’s the last time you left home without yours?
It was a heat that didn’t just melt tangible things like ice, chocolate, Popsicles. It melted all the intangibles too. Fear, faith, anger, and those long-trusted templates of common sense. It melted lives as well, leaving futures to be slung with the dirt of a gravedigger’s shovel.”
What do you think? Would you continue reading?
I found this opening to feel very ominous and atmospheric and was immediately drawn in.
Yes ominous is the word I’d use too – happy reading!
Thanks, Cleo!
An unusual opening, so of course I’d read more.
Great, Catherine! Unusual, indeed!
Oh, yes, memorable things can change lives. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Laurel!
The blurb is great and I love the first paragraph! I’m 99% convinced – just waiting on your review to push me that extra 1%…
Awesome! I hope to have it up soon. 🙂
Both the blurb and the first paragraph sound great! I like the flow of her writing so I’d definitely keep reading. Looking forward to your review
Thanks, Renee! I love her writing style.
It is intriguing and The Summer that Melted Everything is a book I’ve looked at many times, but just never got any further than that. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts on it.
I’m enjoying it so far. Hope to finish it soon! There are so many books like that for me – ones I keep seeing but somehow haven’t read…
I love your description of this introduction; ominous and atmospheric. That’s so true! I cannot wait to dig deeper into this book. I will certainly continue to read it. How about you?
Thanks, Jackie. I’m liking it very much though I didn’t get much reading done the past couple of days. It’s very different (in a good way) and I’m still at the fun stage where I’m really guessing how it will play out.
I’m about halfway done at this point myself– I have figured out one major plot point, but I’m sure there will be another twist. I definitely agree that this is a different sort of book. I really appreciate the unreliable narrator who is occasionally reliable. Fascinating.
I agree! I finished it on Tuesday but I needed a day or two to digest it before writing the review. I really loved and appreciated all that this book was and I’m sure my review couldn’t possibly do it justice.
My review feels stiled and incomplete, but I wanted to write before I lost all the ideas in my head– I know I could unpack so much more than I did… In particular whether there is magical realism in this book or not, or what Sal has the devil and his depiction of the devil really means. So much to understand.
I just read your review and I thought it was awesome! I’d love to have an offline discussion if you’re interested. I have lots of thoughts swirling around in my brain, many related to your questions above, that I can’t really include in my review because of spoilers. No pressure though. 🙂
Yes! Let’s do it. You can reach me via email at jackieb@deathbytsundoku.com . I’d love to chat about what’s swirling in our heads. Because there’s definitely a lot to unpack here.
Awesome, Jackie! Thanks!
That sounds very different; hope you are enjoying it.
It’s so different from anything I’ve read lately. I’m loving it!
I love books set in the 80’s so I’d definitely give this a go.
I’m with you, Emma. I love the 80’s! Perhaps I’m dating myself but so much happened in the 80’s. Both good and not-so-go but that’s with any era/generation. We were just on the cusp of so many things in terms of technology and sociology…
I adored this book, Ann Marie! Can’t wait to read what you think. I had that same thought that I couldn’t do the book justice, so I think I just gushed a lot. That’s usually my MO when words fail me. 😂
I can totally relate. When you see me using GIFs, you know I’m feeling passionate about the book! I actually thought about using them in this review for, like, 5 seconds but this book is way to serious for that.