Joint Review: Kristen Strassel’s SEASONS IN THE SUN (YA) and BECAUSE THE NIGHT (NA)
Doing something a little different today: a joint review of two connected books I recommend for lovers of cute YA contemporary romance and super-hot vampire smut.
You’re probably like, “Whuh?”
Yep, Kristen Strassel pulls off a neat trick with her NIGHT SONGS series, pairing a YA contemporary novella with a full-length paranormal romance. I’ve never seen that done before, so I was excited already—I love authors who push the boundaries and experiment with genre.
Kristen Strassel
Does it work? Yes. It’s true that they’re very different: SEASONS is a light and sweet coming-of-age summer romance, and BECAUSE THE NIGHT is darkly compelling and very adult in its themes and exploration of sexuality. But to the author’s credit, the two books tell the seamless story of a heroine, Callie, who’s always recognizably herself – even when she ditches her former innocence and plunges headfirst into an underworld she may or may not be ready for.
BTN was technically released first, but to those new to the Night Songs series, I’d actually recommend reading SEASONS first. I wish I’d done it that way myself, because Seasons eloquently answers a question that looms large in BTN – Why is Callie so hung up on Tristan? In SEASONS, we get to watch them fall in love, quickly but realistically, over the course of Callie’s eventful fourteenth summer working at her mom’s café in Martha’s Vineyard. It’s a great, vividly realized setting, and Callie’s very relatable: she’s a reliable, responsible girl who’s just about fed up with pleasing her overprotective mom, and Tristan meets her just as her innocence starts curdling into defiance. (If you’ve ever fallen hard and fast for a boy with a guitar and a dark side, this book will give you a mad rush of feels.) Strassel really shines at recreating the feeling of first love through cute, romantic set pieces—a banter-rific surfing lesson, a bonding session on the beach at night, a epic forbidden concert date that takes several unexpected turns. The bond between Callie and Tristan is well-drawn and believable, especially when he starts opening up to her about his troubled past, and the unresolved ending hooks neatly to the beginning of BECAUSE THE NIGHT.
Callie’s older in BTN – by just a couple years, but those years have made a big difference. She’s more courageous and independent, and she’s ready to strike out on her own and track down that first love she’s never stopped thinking about. But a LOT has happened to Tristan since their sweet summer romance—he’s now the guitarist in famously decadent “vampire rock band” Immortal Dilemma—so when she locates him in Las Vegas, picking up where they left off isn’t exactly easy. Plus she meets an adorkable mechanic named Brad who calls himself Blade, and all of a sudden everything’s WAY more complicated than she ever imagined.
So full disclosure: I don’t ordinarily gravitate toward books about vampires, rock stars, and/or Las Vegas, so I was counting on the author to pull me into this world and make me want to stay. And Strassel’s an excellent tour guide. There’s something authentic and no-nonsense about her voice, and the paranormal elements are woven in smoothly – I don’t know, I just bought the whole thing. Strassel’s also got this salty, down-to-earth humor that I really dig. (Callie and Blade have this exchange about business cards for prostitutes that made me snort loudly several times.)
For me, the best part of BTN is its refusal to idealize Callie and its honesty about the mistakes we all make when we’re young, in love, and trying to figure ourselves out and pinpoint where our boundaries are. I was completely charmed by Callie’s unexpected detour into romance with Blade, and I wanted to yell at her for getting sucked back into Tristan’s orbit – but you know, that’s EXACTLY what would happen with this girl, in this situation, with the backstory defined so well in SEASONS. Major props to the author for not backing away from that. I love a heroine who screws up royally and still manages to keep us on her side through all her ups and downs. (Strassel is also great at making you feel the fierce attraction between Callie and Tristan, which makes Callie’s choices even more plausible. And she writes a HELL of a sex scene.)
Oh, and there’s a WICKED little cliffhanger at the end. It was a very “WHY YOU LITTLE–” moment for me. You’ll want to hunt down the author and stand over her while she finishes the next installment of the NIGHT SONGS series. In the meantime. . .
Pick up Because the Night
Pick up Seasons in the Sun