The Summer Prince

Title: The Summer Prince

Author: Alaya Dawn Johnson

Pages: 288

Rating: 1/5

So this book is really weird and not for anyone who's homophobic... It's a fact that almost everyone in this book is a lesbian, gay, straight, or both. I tend not to judge but it weirded me out a little much to my embarrassment. I am not homophobic! Please believe me! It's just this book was weird and it had nothing to do with the characters being homosexual.
June Costa is the daughter of a seemingly uncaring mother and whose father died. Her mother remarried a woman who she'd met while her husband was still alive which tears June apart. She loathes her mother and the only one she really cares about is her friend Gil. She lost her virginity to Gil yet they are (and will only ever be) friends. Plus Gil is gay.
When the Summer Prince is chosen June (with help from Gil) sets up her artwork at the election. It placates her till The Summer Prince (Enki) and Gil hook up. She feels jealous and shunned by her best friend so she does something she has never dreamed of. She paints a mural for the whole of Palmares Tres to see. One depicting Gil and Enki kissing. The Queen (she's always the queen and she gets to sacrifice Enki when the time comes) needless to say is quite mad (to put it nicely) and the mural is gone by the end of the day.
The mural catches Enki's attention and so June and he meet. June wants inspiration to win an art scholarship and Enki just wants to make a statement. To make the Queen confuzzled and mad since she can't kill him until his time as the Summer Prince is over. He wants to leave his mark. As time goes on June and Enki fall in love (kind of) and hatch a plan to escape from his fate. They succeed only to be recaptured two months later and just in time for the end of the Summer Prince (king).
What will happen to June? Will she spend the rest of her life in isolation? Or does Enki (even in death) have plans for her?
Ok this book took way longer than I wanted it to. It just dragged on and on and I was totally confused by some of the words because well, they are made up! I knew what the end had to be but it still made me both sad and mad, though I refused to cry at the end. All I felt was relief for having finished it finally. It was ok but I seriously wish I hadn't gotten it.

About The Author

Alaya Dawn Johnson's short story "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was included in the Zombies VS Unicorns anthology (Margaret K. McElderry, 2010), edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black. The Summer Prince is her first young adult novel. Alaya Johnson graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures. She lives in New York City.