Summer in the City of Roses by Michelle Ruiz Keil - Sheaf & Ink

“Summer in the City of Roses is a collage of Greek mythology, Shakespeare, fairytale, and 90s punk, held together in a frame that is beautifully crafted. Utterly captivating. Keil does not shy away from the sometimes painful truths of being a teen in crisis.”
Cecelia Beckman, Sheaf & Ink

The Story

From the Publisher

Inspired by the Greek myth of Iphigenia and the Grimm fairy tale “Brother and Sister.” Michelle Ruiz Keil’s second novel follows two siblings torn apart and struggling to find each other in early ’90s Portland.

All her life, seventeen-year-old Iph has protected her sensitive younger brother, Orr. But this summer their father decides it’s time for fifteen-year-old Orr to toughen up at a wilderness boot camp. When their father breaks the news, Iph storms off and is lost in the maze of Old Town. Enter George, a queer Robin Hood. He swoops in on a bicycle, bow and arrow at the ready. George offers Iph a place to hide out while she tracks down Orr.

Orr, in the meantime, has escaped the camp. He’s fallen in with The Furies. An all-girl punk band, and moves into the coat closet of their ramshackle pink house. In their first summer apart, Iph and Orr must learn to navigate their respective new spaces. And eventually find each other before a fantastical transformation fractures their family forever.

Told through a lens of magical realism and steeped in myth, Summer in the City of Roses is a dazzling tale about the pain and beauty of growing up.

My Review: Summer in the City of Roses

Simply put, a captivating story.

Michelle Ruiz Keil brilliantly writes a thought-provoking and magical story that readers will be instantly drawn to. Pulling from various threads, Keil weaves together Greek mythology, fairytale, and magical realism in a way that makes this story profound. Two siblings forced onto separate paths, yet each finding who they are the more they fall into the rabbit whole that fate has crafted for them.

Lush and enchanting writing, Keil’s interspersing of magical realism literally takes the novel into its own mystical realm. And the pulse of this story is a strong one, where the 90’s music scene enhances its thrumming beat. Creating a cacophony of syncopated sound and rhythm throughout the entire novel.

Penning with indelible ink the fairy tales and folklore we’ve been told as children, readers, like Hansel and Gretel staring jaw slacked in front of the candied house, will take in the eye catching splendor of this new world Keil creates. Where each of the characters Iph and Orr meet along the way, will play a pivotal role in how the story ends.

Fans of Greek mythology and fairytale will devour this story whole.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

RATING: – Exceptionally Inked