The Summer That Melted Everything: A Novel

"A foolish mistake, it is, to expect the beast, because sometimes, sometimes, it is the flower's turn to own the name" (McDaniel 7).

This book. This book. Tiffany McDaniel, a native Ohioan (like me!!), uses her expert grasp of the English language to produce a novel that tells not only a tale of a young boy's "coming of age", but the tale of a community forced to examine who they really are and what darkness lies just beyond the edges of their day to day lives.

The devil is invited to Breathed, Ohio - he comes, or he claims to - but this is not what one would characterize as a horror novel. Perhaps it could be about the horror of facing one's own prejudices, the horror of loss, and so on, but there are no traditional horror tropes: monsters, haunts, or things that go bump in the night. And that's fine with me, even though I love a good horror/terror romp.

Set in 1984, this novel felt like an exquisite sense of coming home to this 80's child. McDaniel's mastery of English is unique and refreshing, without being overdone, if that makes sense. Her use of simile, metaphor, characterization, description, and more, is something that I both did not expect and welcomed whole-heartedly. There were times in the novel that made me yell "YES, that is EXACTLY how it should be!" We have all heard someone say "if only I could convey my thoughts in writing...", McDaniel does that. I truly hope she writes another novel; I will be sure to snap it up without hesitation. Other reviewers have likened this book to "To Kill A Mockingbird" in terms of content, writing, and amazing-ness, and I have to agree. I like this book better!

This book wrecked me, to put it simply. Definitely read this one, but be prepared for your emotions; they will find you.

THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING is one of those magnificent books that you will not get out of your head. I’ll be eighty years-old and talking to my grandchildren, probably telling them “Yeah there was this book I read when I was young, it was about this kid who comes to this town with an invitation saying he’s the devil. Yeah, you should read that, kid.”

Tiffany McDaniel presents this carefully crafted experience of a novel that is equal parts beautiful prose, intellectual narrative and thought-provoking. Behind the slightly humorous writing hides this dark undertone that merges incredibly with the story. We meet Fielding Bliss at the age of 84, he reminisces about the summer of 1984, when a black boy in overalls and covered in bruises enters his life, holding a piece of paper where his father invites him to Breathed, Ohio. He claims to be the devil and wishes to go by the name Sal.

Throughout the novel we found ourselves jumping back and forth as Fielding tells his different life experiences and how each one was affected by what happened on that summer all those years ago. It does not go on the easy route, dividing chapters in past and present, no. It is a continuous storytelling of many facets of Fielding’s life, the shifts between then and now are so smooth and well thought-out on a mesmerizing level.

It was amazing how every character had their own particular story, it made it all so much more real when you know a character has a reason for behaving the way they do, what drives them and what’s their part in all this mess. It was kind of substantial for me and the novel how each and every one had a distinctive voice and that it wasn’t just about Fielding and Sal but about an entire racist, homophobic and hysterical community.

I need to read more books like this. You know that feeling when a book is trying to tell you something but you’re not quite sure what it is, and that’s fascinating because it’s making you think and dig deeper, and it does not stop when you’re done because you still need to figure out some sh*t by yourself? That’s how I felt during and after THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING. You’ll wonder and wonder and wonder, and it is not inherently bad, because that was the intention; for me at least.

I know I’ll re-read this in the future, I’ve always had a weakness for books that depict discrimination and intolerance, books that are not scared to show how terrible human beings can be when driven by just hate. Whether you cry or throw away your book across the room out of exasperation, one thing is for sure, this book will make you feel.

Thank you to the author who kindly provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the writing world, there are two sorts of books - there is the first category where the books are written to a somewhat formula and the themes are mass-produced and you see them everywhere and if you are like me then you have also read a lot of them and have them sitting on your kindle/bookshelves to read as they are great reads. Then there is the second category which often for me , I find these certain books difficult to read and get into and often they are confusing - they are the books that I like to call Festival books or most people would call them Literary Fiction. I call them Festival books as they remind me of the book versions of the movies that are played at Rialto - you know the Arty , Foreign Language type movies. The Summer That Melted Everything falls into the second category. The year was 1984 and Fielding Bliss was still a boy of about 12-13 years and lived in a smalltown with his dad - Autopsy Bliss who was a Judge , mother - who suffered from a form of agrophobia among other things , his brother Grand - a high schooler. In 1984, the town was hit with a massive heatstroke , it was the hottest summer ever recorded and also someone else came to visit that town - the Devil. The devil was a little black boy by the name of Sal . Some believed he was a runaway , others believed that he was the devil and this caused mayhem in the smalltown as you can imagine heat+delusions = chaos. The book what I can gather is told from the point of view of Fielding as he is now an old hermit of a man and he tells the memories of a year that changed his life forever. The year 1984 featured alot of new things including the introduction a disease which would become more familiar in today's society and unfortunately many people would die from it - AIDS. The Summer That Melted Everything is a book that will touch every reader in some way and have you believing and thinking about your beliefs on the topics of Good Vs Evil , God and the Devil ?

In Tiffany McDaniel's debut novel, she creates an allegory set in the small town of Breathed, Ohio, in 1984. Much is happening: scientists recently discovered AIDS; Apple revealed its Macintosh computer; astronauts walked among the stars; Marvin Gaye was killed; and Autopsy Bliss invited the devil to visit his town.

The devil does show up, invitation in hand, in the form of a young African American boy named Sal, who really would just like some ice cream, and he is taken in by the quirky Bliss family. Mom never leaves the house for fear of rain, Autopsy is a lawyer, Grand is a baseball star, and the narrator, Fielding, lives a broken life as he tells the story of Sal and Breathed through flashbacks.

Residents of Breathed first think Sal's a runaway from another town, and then as strange things begin happening around town, some of the residents—lead by skeptical resident Grayson Elohim—form a church-like group whose sole aim is to bring down the young boy they have begun to think is actually the devil.

Fielding shares his memories of the summer of 1984, and reveals that he can't let go of his past. He is full of regret for how he treated Sal, and for things he said to his brother. He says he fought in "the War," and while he did not actually fight in a historical war, it's clear he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Everything he experienced during that summer changed him and made him a completely different man; the relationships he forms are few and fleeting.

As Fielding reveals the story of Sal and his effect on residents of Breathed, the parallels to Gabriel García Márquez's story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" also become clear. In the story, the titular old man falls from the sky, and the residents of the town circle around him, creating a spectacle of him, while they try to make him conform to their ideal of an "angel." So it happens similarly in The Summer that Melted Everything. The townspeople, hearing that Sal claims to be the devil, immediately cast him as the villain in several unfortunate incidents in town, despite him not even being present in some cases.

The vilification of a young African American boy as "the devil" heightens the allegorical significance of the book, especially considering the consistent and repeated violence against African American men. The small-town prejudices in Breathed, as well as the outright racism and prejudice on display (toward homosexuality in addition to ethnicity) reveal the absolute worst things humanity is capable of, and those terrible tendencies have been amplified in the public eye in recent weeks. We still vilify people for the color of their skin, and stereotype, and try to make them "fit" into our idea of how people should behave. That sort of thinking is not only detrimental to society, but, as Autopsy Bliss cautions Grand after he uses a derogatory term for homosexuals: "No more words that say something about our own ignorance." This book was a reminder and cautionary tale about how what we do to others reveals more about a person's own ignorance than it does about the oppressed and stereotyped peoples.

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To be completely truthful, this is probably not a book that I would have picked up by myself. However, Tiffany McDaniel reached out to me and asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing it, and I took a chance on it. I’m really glad I did.

The Summer that Melted Everything is a story about the devil coming to Breathed, Ohio, in 1984. Fielding Bliss, the main character, befriends the devil, as he does not look like what you would expect — he’s a shy thirteen-year-old black boy in tattered overalls.

This book felt a lot like To Kill a Mockingbird. There’s a lawyer father. A young kid who loses his innocence. A person in the town that the community thinks is evil (though he may or may not be — it’s hard to tell). Even though it’s in Ohio, which at least I don’t really consider southern, it feels that way. Except throw in lots of crazy situations, a few deaths, and people really just losing their minds in the heat.

This book really resonated with me as I read it when the heat index was over 110 degrees where I live — whew. I think this was a really interesting book, because while I enjoyed it and I couldn’t put it down, I also think some of it went over my head. Many of the characters were very philosophical, but it was very intriguing.

Overall, if this sounds like something you may like, I say definitely give it a shot. I typically don’t read this type of book, but I really enjoyed this one and found myself not wanting to put it down. There are some pretty sweet twists just casually thrown in, which was mind-blowing.

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Standalone
POV: First Person – Male

This story is told from Fielding Bliss's point of view. It goes back to the summer when he was only thirteen years of age and goes to current year where he reflects on how the Summer of 1984 changed his and his family's lives.

When Fielding was young and only thirteen years old his father; Autopsy wrote a letter to the devil asking him to show himself. Right around that time Sal; a colored thirteen year old boy shows up to Autopsy's work and becomes friends with Fielding. Sal tells Fielding that he is the DEVIL and was sent there. The entire town freaks out at first unable to believe it. However; bad things started to happen around the time SAL aka the Devil shows up and everyone starts to blame Sal. Fielding find himself trapped in a world of racism. His father and mother took Sal in and adopted him as their own while the town hated him for his color and for appearing to their town. Sal was a very likable boy and very soon he became very attached to Fielding and his family. Sal had a lot life experiences and I was fascinated with his ways of thinking and the way he showed evil and good to his now new family.

"A boy holds a gun but cannot fire it, even when he knows it is the right thing to do. A god would never hold the gun in the first place…On the day you are asked to hold the gun once more, You will have to decide whether to stay the child…or finally become the man."

This book was so different from anything I've read before. I found myself so confused at first but then as I kept on reading I slowly felt deep into this story and WOW what a trip this was. This story is about life, choices, death, good and evil. I really enjoyed the connection between Fielding and his older brother Grand. Grand holds a special place in my heart. He was smart, funny and loved hard. Fielding worshiped his bother and Grand loved him so hard in returned; Sal was a great character who definable made an impact as well.

"Sometimes I think older brothers should not be allowed. We fall in love with them too much. They are our everything, all the while, they hurt out of sight for our sake."

When I hit eighty-three percent on this book I found myself unable to stop crying. I cried all the way until the end because it just hurt so much and the writing was just incredible. I encourage everyone to read this book; it is a book that will have you deep thinking about the cruelty of people and the consequences that evil and selfish choices of people made. You will have to dive in going open minded because this book will have you rethinking everything you ever knew.

A copy was kindly gifted to me via author, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

The Summer that Melted everything wasn't anything like I expected. From the cover and the title, I though it would ne a light contemporary novel. From the description I had hoped for some Dark satan- cult stuff.
What it ended up being is the end of me. It is a book with weirdly named characters, strange storyline and to be honest I was totally confused in the first part of the book.
But then after I finished it, tears won't stop coming out of my eyes and it hurt so much. I was an emotional wreck and couldn't have been more happy about it. This is the kind of book that I love to read.
It is 1984, the year of the devil.
Sal, a young boy with the greenest eyes and skin black as the night believes himself to be the devil who has come after being invited by Autopsy Bliss (weird name, I told you)
Sal and Fieldin' (the protagonist) immediately become friends and as the story progresses, we see that the devil is better than most humans. Sal's thoughts and actions, they were so pure and deep even after people treated him with contempt.
The portion of the book describing the heat and measures taken to keep oneself cold are almost hilarious.
The writing is beautiful, Character development is indeed good and the plotline intriguing.

Our torments also may, in length of time, Become our elements
—MILTON, PARADISE LOST

With Paradise Lost quotes as headers and the devil himself as part of this book, how could it be anything less than charming.
Isn’t that what sin is, after all? Life given too much flame?

Raw emotions and the innocence, the harsh brutality of time, stories behind characters, devil in the guise of humans and angel in the devil's body. These are the elements that differentiate this book from other books.
And it amazed me that this book is from a debut author.
To the author,
I totally think you should keep writing more books like this. And I would be the first in line to read them.

To all my fellow friends and readers,
Go read this book. You won't regret it.

I finished The Summer That Melted Everything a few days ago and I find myself liking it more and more as the days pass. This book is beautifully written, thoughtful and wonderfully unique. It's been quite a while since I've read a work of fiction that has impacted my thoughts and emotions in quite this way, The author evokes a sweltering Midwestern summer in such a way that you truly feel the heat. When county prosecutor Autopsy Bliss casually invited the devil to visit his small town, he certainly never expected him to arrive in the form of a 13 year old black boy with a penchant for philosophical observations and a fondness for ice cream.

The events that occur in the small town of Breathed in the summer of 1984 combine the best and the worst of human nature, the magic of faith and ponders the very nature of heaven and hell. Surely, this young boy isn't truly the devil. Is he? This one long, hot summer blurs the boundaries of reason for this town and changes young Fielding Bliss's life forever. This is a dark tale that broke my heart and wouldn't let me go. The level of emotion is profound and the author cuts to the core and exposes the very souls of her characters. I was riveted and am very glad I discovered this unique and very memorable work of fiction.

I am so broken-hearted by this book. It absolutely wowed me and wrecked me. Tiffany McDaniel is an incredibly skilled writer. Not only did the plot have me hooked from the beginning, but so did the prose. It was beautifully written which made the events of The Summer That Melted Everything that much more tragic.

The summer of 1984 is the summer that changed the course of Fielding Bliss' life. It’s the summer a heatwave ran through his town, Breathed, and the summer he became friends with the devil. The devil was invited by Fielding's father, Autopsy. What Autopsy didn't know is that the devil was a thirteen-year-old boy named Sal who looks suspiciously like a runaways from a nearby towns. Not everyone in Breathed is happy about Sal’s arrival and tensions rise along with the heat. Fielding and his family though are convinced Sal is just a boy. Others believe Sal is exactly who he says he is as strange accidents start to occur throughout town. The accidents are blamed on Sal. The heat is blamed on Sal. All because he is a young black boy who claims his is the devil. While the Bliss family deals with their own personal demons, the town is dealing with its own and slowly pushes itself toward catastrophe.

The best part of this book was its characters. McDaniel seems to be an expert at character creation and development. Each character from Fielding to Sal to Grayson Elohim were human and developed as humans do. They were flawed and beautiful and (most) were lovable. I felt for each character, even the true devil of this story (Until the end that is. I am happy about what happened to them). I think my favorite characters were the Bliss family. They were a quirky family, but one that I wanted to be a part of. Until the summer of 1984 and even throughout it, there was so much love in that family. The relationship between Fielding and Grand reminded me a bit of the relationship I had with my younger sister. McDaniel's characters came to life on the pages of this book. Their struggles came to life.

Another McDaniel excelled at was creating humanity within her pages. Each of the character's struggles (including side characters) and how they dealt with it was so human. The topical issues addressed in her book were incredibly human. McDaniel dealt with topics that humans still struggle with today. Homophobia, mob mentality, the criminal justice system, and racism. By including these issues, but not hitting you over the head with it, McDaniel made her book relevant in 1984 and today. She made me sit and think about how the citizens of Breathed dealt with these issues and how the citizens of America today are handling it. The Summer that Melted Everything really made me sit and think about what is means to be a good human in the face of these issues.

The ending was heartbreaking and disturbing and as much as I wanted to say, "That wouldn't happen in 1984, let alone 2017..." they do happen. Events as disturbing as the end of this book did happen in 1984 and do happen today. I think how rooted in truth this book was is what made it so much more heartbreaking. Each chapter revealed more and more about the characters struggles of what is bad and good, but the ending revealed the most about what humanity is capable of. All aspects of the ending shocked me, but one in particular completely broke me. I had truly come to love the Bliss family and having them torn apart in the way they were tore my heart apart.

The Summer that Melted Everything is compelling and strong and a must-read. In today's current climate it is incredibly timely and so important. It is definitely one of the better books I've read this year. It is definitely heavy and heartbreaking, but as a reader and as a human, everyone should pick up this book.

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Tiffany McDaniel for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am so glad I had the experience of reading this book.

Tiffany McDaniel hit it out of the ballpark with her first novel. I wouldn't call this an uplifting story, but I enjoyed every page of it, from the beginning, learning that Fielding Bliss's dad put an ad in the Breathed, Ohio newspaper, inviting the devil to town. And who should show up but a rather bedraggled young boy named Sal, who claimed to be the devil. The story is mostly narrated by Fielding, the 13 year old son of Autopsy and Stella Bliss. (Where does she come up wth these names?) Autopsy is a successful attorney and Stella is a very stay at home mom, in fact she never leaves her home because she has a dreaded fear of the possibility of rain outdoors, even on a hot and sunny summer day. Fielding has an older brother named Grand and a dog named Granny. The story is about a lot more than just the boy who claims to be the devil and McDaniel fully develops each of her characters.

This is an unusual family, but one that I came to love as the story went on, with all their quirks and oddities. The story is even more unusual, but one that kept me turning the pages late into the night. It's not light reading, in fact most of it is pretty disturbing. But it's a novel I won't soon forget and I look forward to reading future books by McDaniel.

When Autopsy Bliss writes an open letter inviting the devil to come to the small town of Breathed, no one expects him to be a little boy, whose arrival coincides with a heatwave intense enough to drive the town mad, riled up into a violent mob by extremists. Autopsy’s son Fielding is the first to meet the boy, Sal. Fielding befriends Sal and they take him into their home. Is he really the devil, or just a runaway, or something else? Strange things are happening in the town. Surreal, dreamlike moments of heat and horror that could only be from the devil.

"The heat came with the devil. It was the summer of 1984, and while the devil had been invited, the heat was not. It should’ve been expected, though."

A lot of reviewers have compared this to To Kill a Mockingbird. You’ve got the lawyer father with the weird name, who is one of the only sane and fair people in the town. You’ve got the townsfolk who are looking for someone to pin their problems on. There are the race issues. The loss of innocence. The violent mob, and the child’s narrative perspective. These are common themes, though, and the similarity is, I think, superficial. On a deeper level this book is dreamlike in style (or perhaps nightmarish) and more akin to something by Geoffrey Eugenides than Harper Lee. It’s a gothic tale with a heavy dose of Romanticism, and it comes together in the form of surprising, surreal and evocative imagery.

"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 the gravedigger’s shovel."

The story is told from the perspective of Fielding Bliss, many years later as he looks back on that awful summer. Older Fielding is a wreck of a man, suicidal and filled with regret for the things that took place. The contrast between him and the young boy who went for a walk to buy some chocolate on a pleasant summer day, the day he met the devil, is striking. Sal is a hypnotic character. You’re left guessing whether he is really the devil or not, right to the end of the book, but you also empathise with him from the first moment of meeting him.

"If the devil was going to come, I expected to see the myth of him. A demon with an asphalt shine. He’d be fury. A chill. A bad cough. Cujo at the car window, a ticket at the Creepshow booth, a leap into the depth of night."

The Guardian calls McDaniel’s imagery “overwrought”, as she talks about mud having moods, or star-soaked songs. On the contrary, I found it refreshingly different. McDaniel plays with the images but she also plays with the sounds of the words, lulling you in with a subtly building rhythm. The words thrum and throb, and the imagery is like the haze rising off a hot tar road; it’s hard to make out and it obscures the meaning a little but it evokes the feeling of the moment so vividly and on so many different levels at once, that it’s like the many angles of a Picasso painting, showing everything from all directions at once. It is the imagery and style of this novel that makes it one of the most distinctive and interesting books I have read all year. Add the brilliantly complex plot and you’ve got a winning book.

"I imagined him with reptilian skin in a suit whose burning lapel set off fire alarms. his fingernails sharp as teeth and cannibals in ten different ways. Snakes on him like tar. Flies buzzing around him like an odd sense of humor. There would be hooves, horns, pitchforks. Maybe a goatee."

So it is surprising that it has not been getting the kind of recognition you would expect. Why aren’t more people talking about this book and buying it? Perhaps it is a matter of timing; with the similarities to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the timing of The Summer That Melted Everything being released within a week of Go Set A Watchman is unlucky. But this is a summer book; I read it in the smothering heat of a Texan summer. However, it is also a topical book – the current anger towards outsiders and minorities in small-town America is something that could do with some literary focus.

"The lukewarm past had been overtaken by the scalding now. Gone was the perfect temperature. The breeze. All replaced by an almost violent heat that turned your bones into volcanoes, your blood into lava that yelled their eruptions. Folks would later talk about that sudden onset of heat. It was their best evidence of the devil’s arrival."

When the tough issues are viewed through the filter of fiction, they become easier to deal with emotionally. Xenophobia, racism, bigotry, religious extremism, incitement to violence by a loud minority – these are the things that are at the forefront of American minds as we head into the end days of this election. This is the perfect time for a book like this. It is a book that should be read, discussed, taught. It is a book that, although set in the 1980s, is a sharp commentary on contemporary issues and that makes it a classic.

To be a breakout debut novel, Tiffany McDaniel hits a homerun, knocking it out of the park. A bit dark and depressing, but in an oh so refreshing way. There wasn't much predictability in this story. I really enjoyed taking this journey back to 1984 and seeing things, feeling things that maybe you shouldn't feel about a book about the devil. It's a make you sit up and think about your life and the choices you make kind of story.
It sucks you into it until you can feel the hot of the summer, the hatred of the townsfolk, the love of family, and the yearn for ice cream. There is some language and adult situations; they are written, not to be adding vulgarity, but to deepen the emotions you get from the narration. There is a scene, I'm not going to go into details about because I don't like spoilers, but you can feel the angst, the hatred, smell the horrendous odors, taste the foul bitterness of burning.
Don't take my word for it, read this book for yourself. This book has the makings of a classic.

I have no greater words than STUNNING, AMAZING, STRIKING, ENGANGING that I could think of to describe the turmoil of my own emotions.
This is a story that will engage you to the fullest, that will make you feel and think about your own mistakes, maybe some held up prejudice you were never aware of or simply re-think about the things you thought of in a certain way and they could have been interpreted differently, about religion, faith, hope...all these questions were raised and brought up to me through an inspiring storytelling, almost poetic writing style that sets the pace of a soft flow until you are swept away by the powerful tide.
Simply amazing, Tiffany McDaniel is an author I will not miss out on while in search of my next read that will challenge me, make me re-think, and re-think again, then start all over again while I find my way back into my own comfort zone.
It's worth every single step i took on this journey.
This is simply a book you MUST read!

With this one the blurb sounded interesting. It's not my typical type of read. I usually like my books to have a little romance but occasionally I need a break and need to read something a little different. I am really glad I picked The Summer That Melted Everything to read. I have read a lot of book but I haven't read anything like this one before. It's an interesting and intriguing story.
In 1984 it's super hot in the town of Breathed and Fielding's Dad invites the devil to their town. A thirteen year old boy named Sal shows up. He says he's the devil. Things happen throughout the summer that has people believing Sal is the devil. Are the accidents around town just accidents or have they been caused by the devil himself? Fielding and his whole family are pretty interesting and throw Sal into the mix and I didn't want to put the book down. It's one of those reads that is thought provoking and leaves you thinking about it even after you put it down.

Date Read: 07/14/16
Pub Date: 07/26/16

5 STARS

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 temperatures 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 wrestles with their own personal demons, a fanatic drives the town to the brink of a catastrophe that will change this sleepy Ohio backwater forever.

I think something deep in my soul has shifted after reading this book. My gut is still churning after turning the final page 2 days ago, and its been years since a book brought me to the brink of tears. I read more psychological thrillers and dark fiction than one human likely should, yet none of that seemed as horrific as what I just read. Don’t misunderstand- this isn’t some bloodbath horror tale with cheesy specters of the devil and his minions. The only apparition in this story is a 13 year old boy, but back to that in a minute.

“The heat came with the devil. It was the summer of 1984, and while the devil had been invited, the heat was 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?”

Just like the blurb states, the setting is summer of 1984, and the book describes what was going on in the media during this time. I really loved all the small details she took the time to include; this seemed to put the level of writing over the top for me. Autopsy Bliss (yep, his real name), father to Fielding Bliss (our narrator), has placed an ad in the local paper inviting the devil to town. The reasoning behind this is explained in the final pages of our story, so you do get all kinds of closure, but the story starts out making you scratch your head and wonder “where is this lady going to take us with this?”. Yes, then a 13 year old black boy with green eyes shows up holding said ad claiming to be the devil, but this book is not what you’re thinking it is. I admit, I saw my friend Shelby’s review on Goodreads and my curiosity was piqued, but I was already overloaded with NetGalley books so I figured I’d catch it some time after publication. Thankfully the author contacted me and convinced me to read it now! Fact: Chelsea never re-reads books. Fact: Chelsea is going to have to re-read this book sometime in the future.

“You can tell a lot about a man by what he does with a snake…
A snake that could harm you, you don’t have much choice to kill. You wouldn’t be able to leave a cobra in your sock drawer. But a snake that is no threat will greatly define the man who decides to kill it anyways.”

The characters are what really sold me on this story. Each one was deep, flawed, and broken in their own ways, yet still lovable as I felt attached to each member of the Bliss family, including Sal. We get to see snippets of Fielding’s life as he ages from memories he shares with us as a man in his 80’s. We know early on that something major will happen at the end of the summer of ’84, and the tension grows in a slow, yet powerful way. Each chapter brought new revelations on the character’s personal struggles, as well as the impending doom that lingers over the entire town of Breathed. This story was crafted with so many real issues that were relevant then and are still relevant now- mob mentality, racism, homophobia, and the ever failing criminal justice system. The ending was nothing short of disturbing, mainly because it is so easily pictured and believable. I was completely shocked with all aspects of the ending; I did not see one thing coming with how this story concluded and it made me feel this weird cross between horrified and satisfied. I don’t want to put any spoilers in here, but I felt I had grown close to this family and was broken with them every step of the way. This is a must read that is deep, compelling, and timely for what is consuming our state of current affairs. My heart broke and wept openly as a reader, as a mother, and simply as a human being. PLEASE read this book; it will certainly be a pick in my round up for TOP 10 books I’ve read this year.

*Many thanks to author Tiffany McDaniel and St. Martin’s Press for providing my copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

When the devil comes to Breathed, Ohio in the summer of 1984, he's not what one might expect. Instead of a menacing beast, when the devil comes to town he comes as a sweet 13 year-old black boy, one who still remembers what it was like to fall from God's grace. When Fielding Bliss finds the devil, who calls himself Sal, he befriends him and takes him home, where Sal is welcomed by Fielding's parents and brother Grand.
Along with Sal comes an unbearable heat that contributes to a delirium over Sal. When a series of accidents take place in town, the Bliss family's neighbor, Mr. Elohim, begins spreading the word that it is Sal's fault. He becomes fanatical in his attempt to convince the townspeople that everything wrong with them should be blamed on this boy who claims to be the devil. Meanwhile, Sal is much more of a saint than a sinner, being a friend to everyone he meets.
This book is so original and so unique and I loved every page, even when it made me cry. While the premise of the devil coming to down in the guise of a young boy is unlikely, the events that unfold are all too easy to imagine, when one person spreads lies and hatred about another person. While so many events in the book are heartbreaking or horrific, it also shows the good side of humanity in Fielding Bliss and his family.

Oh man, I am an emotional wreck after reading this book. Holy crap! I haven’t cried this much because of a book in such a long time; i actually have a headache from crying so much. This is such a unique and thought-provoking book. I felt attached to each member of the Bliss family, Sal included, they’re flawed in each their own ways I couldn’t help but love them. I think it’s safe to say that Fielding, Sal, Grand, Stella and Autopsy, will always have a special place in my heart from this point on. This book was so incredibly well written, I applaud Tiffany McDaniel for creating this emotionally heartbreaking story.
Though this book might not be for everyone, but if you have an open mind, I would highly recommend you pick up this book.

4.5 stars

The Summer that Melted Everything could also be titled The Summer that Everyone lost their damn fool minds.

I love books that cause me to think and feel. This did both. After reading this book, I sat and thought about it for quite some time.

“You can imagine anything you want in the dark. You can imagine your father loves you, you can imagine your mother is not disappointed, you can imagine that you are...significant. That you mean somethin' to someone. That's all I ever wanted, Fielding. To matter. That is all I've ever wanted.”

So I am doing thinking. What I do think is that hatred is such an ugly thing. Ignorance is such an ugly thing. Regret will wear you down and that one summer and forever change a life.

This was a very beautifully written book. Very lyrical at times. There are so many passages in this book that I highlighted on my kindle that if I included them all there would be no room for my review. At times the atmosphere felt like it was dripping along with the sweat from people's bodies.

I have heard many times while obtaining my degrees in Clinical Psychology that that Murder/Homicides go up with ice cream sales. We are taught that it is a coincidence. But heat does something doesn't it. Don't we all get a little irritable when overheated? Can the heat really make people crazy?

During a Hot (as in the hottest ever) summer in Breathed, Ohio, Autopsy Bliss places an ad in the local newspaper:

“Dear Mr. Devil, Sir Satan, Lord Lucifer, and all other crosses you bear,
I cordially invite you to Breathed, Ohio. Land of hills and hay bales, of sinners and forgivers.
May you come in peace.
With great faith,
Autopsy Bliss”

Did he ever expect anyone to show up? What were his motivations? What in the world?

But then a dirty, bruised, 13 year old boy arrives, claiming to be the devil who has come to answer the invitation. Fielding Bliss, Autopsy's youngest son, brings him home and introduces him to his family. Surely he must be a runaway. Clearly he cannot be the devil...can he? Word spreads, as it often does in small towns, that the devil has in fact arrived in Breathed, Ohio and along with him strange occurrences.

“I'm the devil. No one tells me when to stay and when to leave. But it sure is nice to be wanted. I tell you, Fielding, it sure is nice to be wanted in this very place.”

Wanted by some (the Fielding family) hated by others (who shall remain un-named here). I really liked the Fielding family. The Mother, so afraid of rain, Autopsy trying to do right, Grand who loved his brother and always looked out for him.......then there was Sal, claiming to be the devil who spoke so eloquently that it was hard to believe he was 13 years old.

Tragic events unfold. Some very horrific and tragic events unfold. There are secrets in this town. So many secrets and some Fielding begins to learn. The book has so many themes: agoraphobia, brotherly love, abuse, acceptance, hate, homophobia, racism.

The story is told by Fielding in 1984 and we see him as an adult in the future. How did he get to be the adult he was? As you read, you see how one summer can change lives. How regret and hindsight have plagued him. Most is about his brother. What if he had stopped him? What if he had reached out as he brother passed the doorway? So many what ifs. The way we punish ourselves for being human.

“Pain is our most intimate encounter. It lives on the very inside of us, touching everything that makes us. It claims your bones, it masters your muscles, it reels in your strength, and you never see it again. The artistry of pain is its content. The horror of it is the same.”

Such an emotionally moving book. Highly recommend. Some horrible things happen so be warned and grab a kleenex.

I really enjoyed this novel. The plot is unique, and the characters as well as the town itself are eccentric and interesting. When attorney Autopsy Bliss places an ad in the local Ohio paper, he invites the devil to come to town....right here in Breathed, Ohio. Be careful what you wish for......this is the story of magical realism and characters that will engross you, along with the eternal question "is there an actual devil, or is the devil an inherent trait of mankind?"

Narrated by the son of the attorney, it's told in the first person and takes place in 1984 and a more current time period. Disturbing, engrossing, odd and oh so readable, I really enjoyed this and can't wait for the author's next work.

This was such an original concept that I was skeptical at first that it could survive a book-length telling. The narrator tells the story in 2055 at age 84 about a 1984 summer that changed him. A prosecutor learns he has sent an innocent man to prison where he died. The prosecutor then invites the devil to his rural Ohio town in 1984. A 13-year-old black boy arrives claiming to be the devil and becomes the friend of the then 13-year-old narrator who is the prosecutor's son. If we accept that the boy could be the devil, some things make sense. And the more we learn about the boy and the people who persecute him because of his claim, the more we can also doubt his claim. Why would he say such a thing? What is good? What is evil? Poetic, muscular verbs. Elegiac, mythic, and a compelling plot. Vigorous sentences in disjointed voices that reveal our own hidden compulsions. I loved this book.

This is quite an impressive debut title from McDaniel. The author establishes and tackles some controversial topics - the protrayal coming off as bias most of the time, mind you - that defines the atmosphere of the story and the community of Breathed, Ohio. The story is told from the perspective of Fielding Bliss, who recalls the summer of '84 when, at the time Breathed is experiencing the hottest of summer's, a young boy happened into town, claiming to be the devil summoned by Fielding's father, Autopsy Bliss. I was in two minds about this story from start to finish. There were definitely moments I found so engaging I didn't want to stop reading and then there were moments I found a little overbearing that I found myself putting the book down. My curiosity to discover Sal's fate, however, won the battle, and so I read on and finished the book, which I'm glad I did because this book is interesting and enjoyable.

This story certainly piqued my interest right from the start as it was something I hadn't read before, and I found it to be rather refreshing. What really stood out for me was the way the author personified idelogy - virtues and vices presented in the form of man. Having said that, I did find the writing style to be somewhat preachy and subjective, and while the story was very engaging and thought-provoking, it took me a little while to gravitate towards the characters. I didn't quite feel as connected to the characters as I had hoped as the authorial voice was very dominant, ultimately superceding the voice of Fielding Bliss and the other characters whom, at first, I found to be very independent of societal strains, such as Sal (the self-proclaimed devil), Elohim (Fielding's cynical neighbour) and Grand (Fielding's older brother). The characters of this story go through quite a journey, so much so, there never appeared to be a moment of resilience for Fielding. The story became overconsumed with its portrayal of good and bad, wrong and right - moral codes of reality - that it lost its way. I kept forgetting that the narrator of the story was Fielding as his voice kept being buried, and I had to dig to find him. He, along with other strong characters, became the quintessence of moral sentiment. I found the vibe throughout to be on a monotone level, even at its most climatic moments, and I think the reason for that is for the very fact that, along the way, I lost Fielding Bliss.

I wanted to feel more for the characters and care more about their fate, but the constant flux of moral values, be it negative or positive values, somewhat silenced the real story. I found the allegorical implications throughout transcended that of the story on exhibit, that being the breakdown of a close-knit family on trial for the hardship that has befallen the residents of their hometown. The author certainly has a keen eye for the paradoxes of our world - a meeting place of perfection and imperfection - but I really just wanted an uninterrupted portrayal of the world inhabited by Fielding Bliss and his quirky family from the mind of Fielding Bliss himself, and I don't feel I got that - not a hundred percent of the time anyway.

I wanted more of Fielding's perspective on his reality, which I feel would have pulled me into the story more as opposed to causing me to disconnect from the story every so often. Despite that, I found the book to be a good read, and I think a lot of folks will enjoy it.

I received a free copy of this book.

I'm sitting here having just finished reading this book and I'm not sure exactly what to write. And I in no way mean that in a bad way. I just went on a journey that was majorly intense. There were so many controversial issues going on in this book. Plus there's the fact, was Sal the Devil?

There were just so many things I enjoyed about this book. I loved Sal's description of Hell and the way he would counsel people.

I seriously cannot believe it is a debut. Kudos to you Tiffany McDaniel on a job well done. I enjoyed it, was entertained and am looking forward to your next one!!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for allowing me to review this book for free.

In her first novel, I must say that Tiffany McDaniel hits this one right out of the park. It reads like a classic with all of the quirks of Flannery O’Connor with a twist of Shirley Jackson to match.

The story follows the eccentric Bliss family who live in the fictional small town of Breathed, Ohio. The year is 1984. Autopsy Bliss (I love their names!), the patriarch of the family, writes an ad in the local paper inviting the devil into town. Several days later, a green eyed, 13-year-old black boy calling himself Sal (“the beginning of Satan and the first step into Lucifer, Sa-L”) appears to Fielding Bliss, the youngest of the family, claiming to be the devil himself. Although the book never explicitly confirms that Sal is who he claims to be, he certainly carries an air of mystery and wisdom far beyond his years, speaking in strange parables and telling lengthy stories about God, Heaven, and Hell. Despite his shocking proclamation, Sal is taken into the Bliss family’s home and the two boys become best friends. In the midst of a record heat wave, accidents begin to happen and the townspeople eventually come to blame Sal, the ‘devil’ who has come to live amongst them. I won’t tell you any more to avoid spoiling this novel, but I will say that it involves flashbacks, with Fielding telling us this story from 70 years into the future, the events of this particular time stealing his innocence and ultimately turning him into a broken, bitter man.

The friendship between Sal and Fielding is the foundation of this novel, upon which a complicated, layered narrative is built. Even though the story is set in Ohio, there’s a strong hint of the southern Gothic element here. There’s also thought-provoking, well placed quotes from Milton’s Paradise Lost, along with powerful meditations on the meaning of family, racism, homophobia, religion, and mob mentality. I loved how this book never felt as if it were addressing some predetermined ‘checklist’ of issues, it just focused on the characters and the story in rich, beautiful language without being preachy or sounding false.

There is a lot of emotion packed in here and the ending was just the tip of that iceberg. Just when I found myself thanking God I didn’t live in a small town in Ohio, I read this and contemplated its message (along with present day’s headlines) and realized that not much has changed. This novel functions as more of a modern parable, an old-fashioned morality tale that’s been updated for today’s day and age.

I was emotionally exhausted after reading this, because it was THAT deep. The writing here hovers somewhere between fantasy and reality, so be prepared to suspend your disbelief. There’s a lot of thinking that comes with this book, so I will not say that this a novel for everyone. I do, however, wholeheartedly recommend that people read this, because you will definitely fall in love with it, like I did.

Given a digital copy through NetGalley. Thanks!

At its heart, The Summer that Melted Everything is a coming of age book in a small town. What makes this book different, is that it takes place in Breathed, Ohio, during a summer where the devil goes to visit. However, the devil isn’t all horns and evil, but a lanky 13 year old black boy with loads of wisdom.

This book is narrated by Fielding Bliss in two different timelines. One is him during the summer of 1984, where the events took place, and one is about 70 years later, when Fielding is an old, bitter man reminiscing. I think one of the things that kept me so captivated in the book was this. I wanted to know what had changed so much during that summer that affected Fielding so much.

Tiffany McDaniel is masterful in her writing. She easily transitions between the “past” and the “present”, while also drastically changing the tone for each one. In the past, you can see Fielding’s innocence, his 13 year old self curious at the world, while in the present you see a changed 84 year old man, a man bogged down by his demons and by what happened in that fateful summer in Breathed, Ohio.

Not only that, but the writing is incredibly atmospheric. I could almost feel the intense heat, the thirst in the back of my throat, could almost believe I was walking along the dirt-laid lanes of the town.

This book tackles many subjects in an incredible way, mostly because of the way the author both painted a real picture of themes a small town in the 1980’s would go through while still also combating those ideas in-text. Amongst the themes presented in this book (and some of these are trigger warnings), there can be found: racism, homophobia, extreme violence, AIDS, religious extremism, abuse, suicide, etc. Please, if you feel like reading this and aren’t sure because of certain triggers, contact me and I’ll gladly elaborate.

This book is definitely not your “and they all lived happily ever after” kind of book. It highlights how a person is not just wholly good or wholly evil; how sometimes choices are made for us and sometimes what we don’t choose is a choice in itself. This book has many heartbreaking moments, but also many touching ones. Reading this book will most definitely change your life.

I'd like to thank the author for providing a copy of this book through The Review Chain! Thank you so much.

Tiffany McDaniel’s first novel The Summer That Melted Everything is a strange, unforgettable and wondrous one, from its hooking beginning onwards:

“The heat came with the devil. It was the summer of 1984, and while the devil had been invited, the heat had not”

Wha….a..t?! The devil invited, the heat not invited……who? Who has invited the devil? Why has the devil been invited……..and, you can see, I needed to know

McDaniel's started with a sinister, compulsive and alluring drumroll, and her densely packed, image filled writing – a quite marked individual voice - grabbed me by the throat.

Okay here is setting, narrator, and sketch of the journey’s beginning and a loose laying out of terrain – but as the power, shock and particular unfolding can only happen for each reader, reading the bookmap for themselves, you need to bring your own (possibly violently swinging as you will be traversing through areas of magnetic interference) – moral compass

“I once heard someone refer to Breathed as the scar of the paradise we lost. So it was in many ways, a place with a perfect wound just below the surface.

It was a resting in the southern low of Ohio, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, where each porch had an orchard of small talk and rocking chairs, where cigarette tongues flapped over glasses of lemonade”

Fielding Bliss is a 13 year old boy, son of a small town lawyer, Autopsy Bliss. And I nearly wrote Atticus Finch there, by mistake (more later) Fielding is, we quickly see, younger son in a happy, quirky family. He idolises his popular, kindly, widely admired-and/or desired older brother Grand, star of the baseball team, self-taught speaker of Russian, just because little brother Fielding tells him he has ‘Russian eyes’. Mom is a beautiful and warm woman….except a little damaged, as she has agoraphobia, and can’t go outside her house for fear of rain. And, it turns out, no real spoiler here, as it is revealed only a couple of pages in – it is Autopsy who has invited the devil by placing an ad in The Breathanian, the local newspaper of Breathed, Ohio.

Fielding is the first person narrator of the events of that strange, melting summer. He is also the one who first meets that devil, or, perhaps, the one who first meets a small boy of his own age, impoverished and hungry, who claims to be the devil, and is desperately wanting ice cream.

Yes, I know, strange, weird, but, believe me, not random, not weird-for-the-sake-of-bizarre. McDaniel knows exactly where she is going to take us, and everything we think we need to know (and much we had no idea we were going to need to know) will be revealed.And, I fully expect along the way you will shiver in shock and terror, bark in appreciation at the oddball humour, weep in despair, and be riven by pity and rage.

Again, no spoiler because this will come quite early. Fielding is not writing his story in real time – this happy boy is being looked back to from behind the eyes of an elderly, bitter, self-hating and broken man. The journey will take us from the then of 1984 to some seventy years later, and a trailer park.

Some startling comparisons have been made, to mark out the territory McDaniel’s book occupies – Shirley Jackson, AND Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. And I would like to add one of my own – Carson McCullers - often described as Southern Gothic, and who also explores 'the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts’ (Wiki quote)

Generally I find myself harrumphing in disbelief at these kinds of comparisons. Not here. The Jackson comparison is apt for the wonderful combination of horror, a strange, dysfunctional world and sometimes savage, dark humour. Mockingbird gives us the child of a small-town lawyer, and events triggered by a small town mentality of suspicion and fear of the outsider which might go along with the better aspects of small-everyone-knows-everyone community. And the dark effects of small-town mentality also expose something which has wider, more pertinent effects country, and even, world wide. More later. As for McCullers, it is the mix of tenderness and brutality, both within the misfits, between the misfits, and towards the misfits – who, surely, are everyone

“You say, ‘Momma, I just want more. I want to fly like the sudden light. I want to know what it’s like to have a reason to dance. I want all the possible love’

She says people like us don’t dance and we don’t fly. People like us, she says, don’t get more. We take the life we are given and we say grace and glory be to God who is His merciful wisdom has granted such bliss. You hate her God and His wisdom. You hate her acceptance of that empty life.”

Added to this mix, quotations from Milton’s Paradise Lost at every chapter head nod us back to that complex portrayal of the devil. Milton is always reminding us Satan, Lucifer, is fallen angel. The small boy who has arrived in Breathed in response to Autopsy’s invitation, takes the sobriquet Sal – Sa for Satan, the devil, and L for Lucifer, the reminder of the original, angelic light filled (lucent) angel before fall. There are other names belonging to other characters within the book that we might need to reflect on. Who is good, who is not good, what is evil, and who might be evil and how might evil move amongst us. And what of God, and who, and what, and who might be and how might goodness/Godness move amongst us

And all this complexity is twined and hooked into wondrous writing, as I hope my quotes have illustrated

The further I read, the more I was thinking of the political events of the year, of the move towards a kind of global suspicious, fear-filled, small town isolationism – particularly on both sides of our ponds, but also wider.

A small cavil – yes, there are times when I think McDaniels can overwrite and the wonderfully rich layers of meaning within her writing can sometimes become a bit left dangling, in need of pruning back, clipping, tidying up or even, finished off by leading them to a clearer conclusion.

I often feel that when I finish a really fantastic book that it is harder for me to write a review on it than it is to write one for a book that was just alright for me. I went through such a wide and varied range of emotions while reading this one that it is rather difficult to process my thoughts and feelings, much less put them into words that give this piece of work the credit that it is due, but I will do my best.

This is yet another book where I feel the reader should go into it knowing as little as possible, so I apologize in advance if I’m annoyingly vague. The story is told from the perspective of Fielding Bliss, who is now elderly but was thirteen in the summer of 1984 when the devil came to his town of Breathed, Ohio. The town itself is its own character as the heart and soul of this book is based on this town on the brink. It’s apparent from the get go that terrible things will happen in Breathed during the summer, but what actually takes place is deeper and more bothersome than anyone could possibly imagine.

I’m amazed that this is McDaniel’s debut novel as she writes like a seasoned pro. Her use of language is powerful, hypnotic and haunting and the symbolism has such a lyrical beauty to it. On top of her stellar writing, she is unabashedly bold in the topics she covers. She tackles, racism, homophobia, abuse, death, AIDS, and cult like mentalities. All very heavy, but somehow, despite the seriousness of all of these topics, she manages to bring such a profound clarity to important issues. Every single character is well crafted and complex, from Autopsy, Stella, Grand, Sal, Eloheim and the various residents of Breathed. I was very engrossed in these people’s lives and invested in what their outcome would be, even if I knew that there were ominous things ahead.

For me, one sign of a great book is when it makes me feel. Well, I really felt a plethora of things both during and since I finished this. I was heartbroken, angry, saddened, devastated, in utter disbelief, but most importantly to me, I felt like this was like no other book I have read before, it is in its own unique and original category and I cannot wait to see what McDaniel comes up with next.

Fielding Bliss is an old man telling his story of the summer that changed everything. When you finish reading his story, you’ll completely understand why he’s now one of those nasty “Get off my lawn!” old guys. And you’ll also probably feel like crawling in a deep dark hole and never returning to planet earth. At the very least, you’ll likely give those old cranks a pass the next time they holler at you or your kid.

This story is cruel, it is bleak and it is beautifully descriptive and impossible to put down. You might not want to start it for your own well-being but then you will never know what you are missing.

It is the summer of 1984, a simpler time in many ways and also a just as complicated time. It’s the summer of hair spray and the beginning of AIDS and all the fears and prejudice associated with it. Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” could be the soundtrack for this one. In a little town called Breathed, Ohio the heat relentlessly blasts thirteen year old Fielding and everyone around him. When his dad, for some reason, decides to send out an invite to the Devil, well, no one is all that surprised when he actually accepts. What better circumstances for the devil to come a-calling than this brutally hellish summer?

The devil arrives in the form of a young black boy the Bliss family name Sal. Being kind folks, they take him in. Dad did invite him, after all. Sal is an old soul and makes fast friends with Fielding but soon a series of very unfortunate events occur around Sal. Prejudice, fear and heat induced madness start to take over the residents of Breathed as more terrible things occur over the tragic summer. And that’s all I’m going to say about the plot.

The descriptions in this book are a thing of pure beauty. It was truly an experience, this book. It brought me back to that time in the 80’s when I could spend all summer under a weeping willow tree reading while Corey Hart and Madonna serenaded me from an over-sized boom box. The summer just before tragedy struck my family, altering it forever. This book hit a nerve in me and reading it was a bit cathartic. As painful a read as it was, I will never regret reading it.

This is one of those books that will break your heart even if you think you don’t have one and could easily leave you in a funk, so do yourself a favor and find yourself a nice, sunny spot outside and get to reading it.

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel * 5 Stars

I received a copy of this book from the author Tiffany McDaniel through #thereviewchain and this does not affect my opinion on this review.

Wow. This book is amazing. I have so much to say that I don't know how to start. When I read the synopsis of this book I was expecting something totally different. So when I started to read I had a hard time connecting with the book and characters. It was not the easy and light read I was expecting. It took me a little while to get into it but I'm so glad I stuck around.
This novel is deep. It's so deep it hurts. It made me cry. The writing is beautiful and exceptional. The themes are exposed in a metaphorical way but somehow you are able to know exactly what is it about. And I will not lie, it is not an easy read for those who are not use to this kind of writing, but once you understand, it gets easier. Although the story is about a thirteen year-old-boy named Sal, who went to a small town claiming to be the devil, Tiffany McDaniel brings polemic themes to this book. She talks about social and racial prejudice, hate, love, guilt, blame, right and wrong. There's a little bit of religion too but without trying to persuade anyone. But this story, is really about humanity. It is about how people judge the world by their own perspectives and act accordingly with what they judge right or wrong. It is about how quickly we are to judge others instead of putting ourselves on their shoes and be empathetic. It is about how unfair people can be to one another. This book had great impact on me, it made me question yet again what is happening with humanity. I am the person who goes back and forth between losing hope in humanity and believing in it again. It's like a roller coaster, one minute I'm hopeful, the next I post faith. That's how I feel when I remember Sal’s actions toward those who hurt him. Sal claims to be the devil, but what I see may not be the same as you see. Maybe the devil is the one claiming to be the angel and the angel is the one claiming to be the devil.
This book was supposed to be my last read of 2016, but I'm glad it was my first read of 2017.

#alinemattosreviews

Netgalley arc
I was intrigued by the idea of sending an invitation to the Devil and having it answered. Having the Devil show up at your doorstep and seeing what will come. This is a debut novel.
I really enjoyed the premise for this story. The idea of the Devil coming to town, having a face and a name, and seeing the consequences that come from it. Very interesting to contemplate and consider. I also really enjoyed the writing. It had a nice, lyrical style to it and was just nice to read.
I don't think this was my type of story, the kind of book I would usually pick up and read. Now, I like to think that I give all books a chance. I'll read everything from Middle Grade to Adult Fiction. Fantasy to Contemporary. I don't think this was my type of book though. It was very deep, it explored many serious issues. It might even have been a little too deep for me, I'm not sure I understood all the messages that were being conveyed or all the things I was supposed to get from it.
It also wasn't a happy story. There was a lot of darkness in this story, and not a whole lot of light. Everything Fielding had known and loved was kind of destroyed when the Devil came to town. It was a depressing read. I'm not sure I liked all the darkness. There's no happy ending to this tale. When the Summer of 1984 is over, Fielding's life doesn't get better, it kind of gets worse. His whole family lives just a half-life after that summer. Inviting the Devil kind of ruined everything. And was he even really the Devil? Sal did seem too smart to be a little boy, but could the Devil really have any good in him? I don't know. Too deep for me.
So while this wasn't my type of book, I'm happy I had the opportunity to read and review it. I know there will be people that read this book and love it. It's a very interesting story with great writing, lessons, and themes. Sure I didn't understand everything this book was trying to say, but someone else's life could be forever altered and impacted by this story. If this sounds like your type of book, pick it up and give it a read.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5
Deep

I loved it. Beautiful words telling us terrible things. 1984 was the Summer of death made so by people who never meant to be violent. The Father of the Bliss family invites the devil to Ohio and he shows up in the form of a 13 year old boy and he brings with him a heat never before felt in that town. He must be the devil. Bad things start happening upon his arrival. He must be the devil. Nightmares and dreams become alike. Add in a man who is an instrument that orchestrates panic through the chorus of fear and there is no doubt that this kid is the devil. There are no happy endings in the town of Breathed, Ohio in the Summer of '84 and it's difficult to admit that sometimes we are our own devils. A lot of the words I used in this review are direct, or almost direct, quotes from the book. A stellar novel by Tiffany McDaniel and for it to be her debut? She has set the bar mighty high for herself. The Summer that melted everything and turned a town into a paradise lost.

This novel was everything it promised to be and then some.

Wow.

I've devoured THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING in three feverish days. It is a smart, poetic, uncanny and ultimately understated piece of literature that goes beyond celebrating the nature of Judeo-Christian society like Southern Gothic does. THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING challenges it. It's not a novel about religion like it pretends to be, it's a novel about our understanding of good and evil and that is what makes it so great. It calls out one of the most embedded trope in our society. One that filters everything we see, do and feel.

THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING is not a story about the devil coming to town. It's not a story about a dispossessed kid pretending to be Satan either. It's a story about how you and everybody else interpret all the whos and the whats of whatever you're presented. This is a rare novel that has both brains and heart. I cannot recommend it enough.

The Summer that Melted Everything is the beautiful debut novel of Ohio native Tiffany McDaniel. A tale of love, loss, and learning, this incredible work of fiction works hard to opens its readers eyes – and their hearts.
It is the story of the summer that the devil, seemingly, came to Breathed, Ohio, the hometown of our protagonist, Fielding Bliss. The story is told by Fielding, as he is looking back on his life and, more specifically, the summer of 1984, when he met a boy called Sal who brought to Breathed more loss than Fielding had ever experienced in his thirteen years of life so far. The plot explores how far humans will go when they are frightened by things that they do not (and refuse to) understand
I gave this novel a four out of five stars simply because it took me a long time to understand exactly what it was about. That’s not to say that I didn’t love it, because I did. I actually subconsciously let myself put off finishing it because I didn’t want to be done reading it. I know that The Summer that Melted Everything will stick with me; its lessons, its characters, its tragedies.
One of the most powerful scenes of the entire novel is in the last quarter of it, when Fielding, Grand, and their father walk out to meet the mob that is meant to be destroying their home with rocks…and they offer them flowers. One stone for a flower, Autopsy says. Sounds like a bargain to me. It is one of the most beautiful passages I have ever read. The three of them dismantling a violent threat to their family with flowers.
I could never have expected all of the death and destruction that this beautiful book holds. I could never have expected Dresden, her young life swept out from underneath her by a falling branch, or even Grand, murdered by his own inescapable nature.
This novel squeezed and squeezed my own heart until it popped. McDaniel’s style of writing is eloquent and intriguing that the only thing stopping me from putting it down was real life and my own stubbornness.
Full of all of the surprises that life is apt to throw at us, The Summer that Melted Everything is heartbreak incarnate, describing for its audience exactly how its protagonist, Fielding Bliss, learns to cope with them. McDaniel explores relationships – familial, platonic, and romantic alike – and how they can make us stronger and break us apart, sometimes simultaneously.
I would recommend this book to fans of contemporary heartbreakers! It is an incredible first novel from author Tiffany McDaniel.

This is a delightfully quirky novel, narrated by the 13 year old son of an attorney. The boy, Fielding, is responsible for inviting the devil in the guise of another young lad to stay with his family. The story takes off from there and it's just as unique as it sounds. It's funny at times and tragic at times, but it's always compelling and engrossing. You haven't likely read anything quite like this. You'll remember it after finishing it and will probably be looking forward to Tiffany McDaniel's next novel.

I've spent the entire weekend finishing THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING and it was intense! It's such an intriguing story that will have you sucked in from the very beginning. The final few pages had me on edge! It's dark and hard to get through at times because of how intense it gets, but I'm definitely happy I read it. Loved it! Absolutely loved it!

This story follows Fielding Bliss who has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year his father, Autopsy Bliss, invited Breathed’s own devil. The devil came to Ohio in the shape and form of a thirteen year old boy named Sal. We get to hear this story from Fielding's perspective as on old man in his 80's now reflecting on the summer of 1984 when he was 13 years old.

This is a very heavy novel - and what I mean by that is it covers a lot of profound topics at once such as sin, prejudice, racism, homophobia, and the idea of blaming all the bad things in your life on the devil. While I enjoyed the positive message this book sends about how wrong prejudice and racism and homophobia are - I also found the story to be quite dense and difficult to get through. This book is being compared to To Kill A Mockingbird by some people, and I totally understand that. This book might be considered a classic because of the immense amount of topics it covers, but I personally found it kind of difficult to read. The writing style is gorgeous, but at times there is unusual language used that kind of went over my head, and the writing style is so elaborate. That is not the author's fault in any way - that is only me. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I think this is intentional because it seems like all the characters are only used to send a political message to the reader about one thing or another.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story - the idea of the devil coming to town and changing everything. I just don't think this book is for me. I'm not typically a huge fan of books that dive deep into religion, but I did enjoy the way this book explores the ideas of the devil, and the way people fear him. I was happy to review this book, but I don't necessarily think this is something I would have picked up on my own. But all the problems I had with this book were my personal nitpicks, and I do think this book has the potential to become a classic. It's an incredible debut novel from Tiffany McDaniel that has many important statements.

This is an interestingly disturbing book that is filled with emotions and a deep darkness. The devil comes to Ohio! For a debut novel, McDaniel has done herself justice with such a powerful book. The heat of the book is not just the temperature of this summer in 1984. Is the devil a supernatural power or just part of mankind itself?

I received this book free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ~Amy's Bookshelf Reviews

I will give The Summer That Melted Everything credit for one thing... always being able to find a way to top itself in having horrible things happen to its characters. The book starts off interestingly enough with the narrator telling us about how as a child he met a boy that claimed to be the devil. Bad luck seems to follow the boy around and there is some thoughtful discussion on the nature of man, God and Satan... but then the bad stuff just keeps getting piled on until the reader is beaten into submission and stops to care about what happens. So SPOILERS... this book has the following : death of a dog, miscarriage, infidelity, child abuse, sexual abuse, false imprisonment, racism, suicide, homophobia, AIDS, more suicide, dead parents, cults, and the death of more than one child. I'm probably forgetting something... oh yeah.. after the big climax when an angry mob burns a child to death when I'm thinking "well at least there wasn't any cannibalism" we find out on the second to last page that one of the characters is a serial killer that eats small children! For a relatively short book this is maybe a few too many topics to tackle. The whole thing is so over the top it is hard to care about what happens. There are at least three major plot lines that could have served up enough plot for the entire novel. For awhile the book reminded me of kind of a dark mirror universe equivalent of A Prayer for Owen Meany... they both have the same structure of a narrator looking back and telling us about a childhood friend (that accidentally kills someone) that was weird and may or may not have a supernatural purpose... but you know Owen Meany takes its time to really build up the characters and balances the dark with some lightness and packs an emotional punch. This book, not so much. Plus I'll also note that the characters have ridiculous names and it doesn't help.

EPIC! This book was absolutely epic. I crawled inside this story, and I did not want it to end. I lived with the Bliss family during that hot summer of 1984, and I was attached to each character who was beautifully drawn, yet deeply flawed -- and all so real and genuine. The issues of 1984 are still relevant today. The writing has incredible flow and pacing, and the descriptions, wow. I found myself reading and re-reading passages just to think about them further; to really get that visual effect. The entire book reads like a true classic - descriptive, timeless, epic, character-driven. Yes, there are dark parts to this story, but those dark places have a meaningful purpose. This book connected to my heart, and I will be thinking about it and these characters for a long time. I won a copy of this book, and this was my unsolicited, honest review.

Fielding Bliss will never forget the summer of 1984, and I don't blame him. This book delves into human nature and human reaction, it's about prejudice, racism and gosh darnit it just makes you think. It shows external and internal factors that play on the dynamics of a family and of individuals.

The writing was captivating, it did a wonderful job painting a picture of the environment of the small Ohio town. I had to make sure my A/C was on while I read just to combat the heat that I could imagine the citizens of Breathed facing.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of the story, about the devil coming to town on invitation. This book makes you want to continue to read, to figure out who or what Sal is, is he really the devil? We get glimpses of foreshadowing we get in certain parts of book, of how Fielding turns out as an adult.

I knew going into The Summer that Melted Everything that this would not be a story that ended happily ever after. Despite the heavier subjects touched upon in this story McDaniel's writing manages to make the words float right off the page. If I had to describe this book in three words I would have to say it was beautiful, heartbreaking, and haunting. Definitely worth picking up.

Tiffany McDaniel has created a world that makes the reader want to remain for as long as possible. The description of her small town in Ohio brings to mind the best and the worst of small towns throughout modern literature. Her easy style and the feel of the town compares well with Harper Lee's small town Alabama. The depth of her characters are on a par with the best of Stephen King. Her plot could fit easily with Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. The story builds like the heat on a summer day as the characters move about their lives, interacting in ways that are never obvious or predictable. This novel is thought provoking and brings the reader along as it winds its way through a few months during a particularly trying time. It demonstrates a maturity and understanding of individual and group think that is difficult to acquire. Maybe this isn't the book to take along to escape from your own world. It is the book to take if you want to visit a new world where the people are often uncomfortable in their own skin and the circumstances are different from any you ever experienced. Read this book and continue to look for other novels by Tiffany McDaniel.

This book is a searing indictment against prejudice. I cannot begin to convey the emotional pain in 'The Summer that Melted Everything'. Tiffany McDaniel writes with a powerful poetic virility and enormous endless grief. Tears drip from every sentence. My heart isn't just hurting, it is shredded.

There are imperfections, dear reader. The story is overwrought and gothic, it even teeters into florid - but, gentle reader, I don't care.

This is a book which should be read cold. If literary genre suits you, you will be in puddles by the end.

"Fear is ignorance's first shadow."

"Sometimes this world is like red fences in the snow. There ain't no hiding who we really are."

It's been a long time since I've come across a book, any book, that moved me as deeply as The Summer That Melted Everything. I don't know whether to pat Tiffany McDaniel on the back or secretly cringe, because this made for one hell of a debut novel and I guarantee that this book will be the measuring stick for which all of her future works will be compared to.

Full of emotion, McDaniel covers a myriad of important and controversial themes which run the gamut from homophobia to racism, radicalism and abuse, leaving the reader to form their own opinions on what truly makes a devil. Simply put, evil wears many hats, and merely calling oneself a devil doesn't make it so. But at its core, this novel is truly relationship-centric, showcasing the inner workings of small-town life and the families within, alongside the intricacies and atrocities of human nature, which McDaniel features in heart wrenching and assiduous detail.

"...hell is a hallway of doors."
"You know where the word hell came from." He crossed his hands on his lap. "After I fell, I kept repeating to myself, God will forgive me. God will forgive me. Centuries of repeating this, I started to shorten it to He'll forgive me. Then finally to one word, He'll. He'll. Somewhere along the way, I lost that apostrophe and now it's only Hell. But hidden in that one word is God will forgive me. God will forgive me. That is what is behind my door, you understand. A world of no apostrophes and therefore, no hope.

I've never highlighted passages in a novel the way I've done with this one. Almost poetic in nature, the beauty lies not only in the story, but in the words themselves. From the sweaty, boiling heat of Breathed, Ohio to the gorgeous narrative, everything is infused with a lusciousness that reaches down into your very soul and leaves a mark. A visible one, I'm sure, assuming a soul were visible.

"If only it would've been a normal summer, a summer where the heat was easily alleviated by air conditioners and fans and those cooling stations set up in town for the elderly and those at high risk of heat-related death.

We were all high risk. The heat brought out the throbs in hearts, the fevers, the things that couldn't be let go of. It was a perfect extractor of pain and frustration, of anger and loss. It brought everything to the surface and sweated it out."

Beautifully written, deeply poignant and thought-provoking, The Summer That Melted Everything is truly one of those books that will stick with me long after I've turned the last page. In fact, I seem to be stuck with a perpetual lump in my throat. Highly recommended, and if you don't feel even the slightest tug on your heartstrings at any point in this book, well then maybe YOU are the true devil.

*eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel explores the loss of innocence in a sleepy Ohio town. Fielding Bliss is a kid growing up in Breathed, Ohio. His dad is a judge, and has been struggling with the ethical implications of his role. When he started his career, he saw everything in black and white, and saw himself as an agent of justice and ultimately God's will, but slowly he realizes that despite his best efforts, sometimes even he can get it wrong and condemn the innocent. Fielding's dad posts an add in a local newspaper inviting Satan himself to come to town. He didn't expect to receive an answer, and certainly not in the form of a thirteen-year-old black boy named Sal.

Because he has nowhere else to go, Fielding's family takes him in. The entire town of Bliss is suspicious of Sal, but he quickly wins over some friends, beginning with Fielding. He also makes enemies as the residents of Bliss start to blame Sal for everything that goes wrong. They're unable to accept that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and they see in Sal a convenient scapegoat. The tension builds throughout the novel until it comes to its ultimate tragic conclusion.

The Summer That Melted Everything starts out as magical realism. Sal claims to be the devil, and he has a host of stories and parables that seem pretty convincing. But as the story progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that Sal is just a kid who's had an extremely difficult life. He feels like the devil, because he understands what it's like to be cast out. But he's also wise and kind and helps heal the broken. The real devil doesn't have horns and a tail, it's the hatred and mistrust and resentment that are present in ordinary people and cause them to do terrible things.

When the story starts to get real, it does so in a hard way. Through Fielding's eyes, we go from the innocence of youth to tough social issues like racism, domestic violence, and AIDS. We see Fielding as a child, and we also see him as a bitter old man who is haunted by the past and lives in his own personal hell. There's no salvation in this story. And to me, the scariest part of The Summer That Melted Everything isn't just my sadness and horror at the story's ending, but the fact that I'm afraid that we haven't progressed enough as a society since then.

The story's antagonist, Elohim, preys on people's fears and amplifies their superstition. He fosters a mob mentality that grows to an unstoppable force. And despite the best efforts of good and honorable people like Fielding's father, there's nothing that can be done to stop it until the madness has run it's course and people look back at it and themselves in horror. And the worst part is that as a reader you can see it coming from a mile away and are powerless to stop it.

This is the kind of book that will make you cry and make you want to hold those you love very closely. I truly enjoyed the beginning of the book, but as I continued reading, it became more and more upsetting, and I felt more and more withdrawn. It hit me hard emotionally. That is the mark of a masterfully written story.

It’s 1984, the year of the infamous Michael Jackson Pepsi dilemma, Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”, Ghostbusters is a hit, and WHAM! is singing about waking them up before you go-go. I was not alive this year, but I can bet you it was electric. For Fielding Bliss it was another story all together. In the debut novel The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel, we see how one young boy can make a small town change in the blink of an eye, and how one family can change their lives with one little letter.

Fielding Bliss and his family live in the small town of Breathed, Ohio. A place where everyone knows everything and word travels at rocket speed. When Fielding’s father Autopsy (yes, that’s his real name-if you wanna know why you gotta ask his mama), writes a letter to the devil summoning him to the town, little Breathed, Ohio gets more than they bargained for.

When Sal shows up one hot summer day, claiming to be the devil himself, everyone is beyond shocked. That’s when Fielding besides to bring Sal home, to show his daddy that his letter has been answered, and Sal is here to stay. Even though the Bliss family welcomes him with open arms, not everyone in town is as excited to see Sal. When the heat starts to reach the boiling point, people actually start to see Sal as the devil for real. How else could it be getting hotter and hotter with no explanation?

With this heat comes catastrophe and the Bliss family has to reconcile some of their differences. If Sal really is who he says he is, then this small little town has opened up a whole new can of worms.

Okay first of all, I have to say that this book sucks you in like a good movie, and you can actually feel the heat sweltering as you read it. I’m pretty sure I was sweating through half the book. The other thing is, that Sal is so sort of likable and interactive that it’s impossible to view him as the devil, yet that’s who he claims to be. This books writing is impeccable, the story telling is on point, and I cannot wait to read another Tiffany McDaniel book. I want to read it all over again for the first time, but I’m so happy that I read it, does that even make sense? I give this book 5 out of 5 sweltering stars, and I received this book from the author herself in exchange for an honest review.

The Summer that Melted Everything is an incredible novel – I absolutely devoured this one and it is one of those books where the sheer beauty of the prose digs deep into you, the story unfolding in your minds eye, hauntingly evocative and intensely addictive.

It is a difficult one to talk about when it comes to plot, you really do not want to give anything away, in its simplest form we follow Fielding Bliss as he remembers one summer from his youth – the summer that the devil came to the small town of Breathed, Ohio and changed everything forever.

This is a unique and incredibly insightful novel, I have not read anything like it before and I do not expect to read anything like it again – a sprawling, deeply haunting and alluring tale that just sucks you into its vortex. You feel every moment of it and the characters you will meet within the pages will stay with you forever. Fielding, his father Autopsy, the inhabitants of Breathed Ohio all come to stunning life – and oh Autopsy (what a name and what a character) – forget Atticus Finch, Autopsy is a quiet but magical force of nature.

I say no more on story you have to discover for yourself – The Summer that Melted Everything is a novel that demands to be read, whatever your taste in books this is an immediate classic – setting, atmosphere, genuinely absorbing, so so beautiful in its complexity I will need to read it again to capture more of the essence of it.

People talk about talented writers. I’ve read a lot of books this year that could speak to that – but Tiffany McDaniel has that something “other” – that indefinable X Factor in the use of language that just changes conceptually the way you see things. I loved it. Very much.

Highly Recommended.

**originally reviewed on the blog with copy received via Netgalley**

I can't decide if the writing reflects literary genius or constitutes purple prose, or if both are true. Lovely imagery abounds. At the same time, angst and torment are offered up to the reader repeatedly in beat-your-audience-over-the-head passages, often quite long. Toward the end I started skimming over those passages to return to the plot.

The characters are complex and my opinion that only Sal is more likable than not is not a criticism of the novel. But their motivations and actions aren't always plausible and can feel forced. The hikikomori (a word worth Googling) mother was, oddly, among the more believable ones.

The e-mail I sent to Tiffany... "Dear Tiffany, I LOVED your book, and I hope you will feel good if I tell you that it made me think very much of Ray Bradbury, and Dandelion Wine, or maybe even Something Wicked This Way Comes. You're a great writer, and I loved this book. BTW, I grew up in a town called North Olmstead, outside of Cleveland. I get Ohio."

Wow this book was nothing like I was expecting! It was dark, gritty and exciting right up until the last page. The cover doesn’t do it justice for how good the book really is – if you’re looking for something that will leave you thinking for days, then this is for you. The author has crafted a plot with many twists and turns that you’ll struggle to forget.

In Tiffany McDaniel's debut novel: The Summer that Melted Everything, the consequences of ignorance and hatred are IN YOUR FACE and punch you right in the gut. In that respect, every freaking person on Earth needs to read this book. Why do some people hate others who are different from them? Fear, plain and simple. Weak, selfish, and judgmental cowards who are too scared to open their minds and hearts to something different from what they know and then do unspeakable things to minimize their perceived threat. The result? Good people end up dead, never to breathe another breath or love another day. Makes my soul ache at how preventable it all is.

OK, so that’s why all the five stars around town. That and the magical writing. Ms. McDaniel really can write, I’ll give her that – the tone, use of metaphors, and what felt like hundreds of highlight-worthy quotes were perfect for the setting, culture, and theme. So why didn’t my rating reach a shiny five stars along with everyone else? Unfortunately, the entire experience felt way too long. I realize that 320 pages (11 ½ hours via audio) is average, probably below average actually, but the progression of the actual storyline felt like it trickled along in my opinion (to the point I started routinely checking how much of the audiobook was left) and this aspect raised a roadblock for me. As a result, I am certain I didn’t absorb nearly as much emotion as I would have liked, thus my initial three star rating. Because I am a flawed human, this could have been (and probably was) a case of “moody Monday” so I re-read the last 1/3 the next day (because this is the part that would make a normal person a blubbering mess) and yes, I felt my heartstrings tense up and the tears begin to collect. They didn’t quite make it out and down my cheeks but it’s OK. I know I was open enough to receive the emotion this time around.

I learned a lesson: If you need a break from reading, take one. If a book just isn’t doing it for you, stop and try again another time. It’s OK. There are a million and one books on all of our TBR lists but if we just skate through them, we might pass right by the true gift of reading: Life-changing perspective that can transform us all into better human beings. The Summer that Melted Everything has the potential to do just that for its readers. Read it. Open your heart and help stop the hate.

My favorite quote:
"You can tell a lot about a man by what he does with a snake… A snake that could harm you, you don't have much choice to kill. You wouldn't be able to leave a cobra in your sock drawer. But a snake that is no threat will greatly define the man who decides to kill it anyways."