Read It Forward
"Earth-shatteringly good."
Auspicious Debuts: 7 Recent (Mostly), Excellent Debuts
"[Hot Season is] a really fun read with a complex political issue interwoven into its narrative of three young women—and all in the span of 200 pages—as if Donna Tartt had been edited by Gordon Lish."
--Jonathan Russell Clark
The Oregonian
"One of 25 Oregon Writers Every Oregonian Must Read"
25 Oregon Writers Every Oregonian Must Read--Assuming You Like Sex, Strange Obsessions, and Yes, Geek Love
"Must-read book; Hot Season."
Full ReviewThe Portland Mercury
"From Franzen on Down, Activist Lit is So Hot Right Now. Portland’s Susan DeFreitas Gets it Right."
Hot Season > Purity
"While an author like Jonathan Franzen might make bemusingly unexamined digs at his squatters and freegans (the equally problematic opposite of mythologizing), DeFreitas strikes a delicate balance, depicting social agitation as, really, what it is: a gradual, infuriating, complex effort performed by smart, dedicated, flawed humans to varying degrees of commitment and success."
--Megan Burbank
Powell's Books
"A must-read."
2016 Staff Pick
"Steeped in a slow-boil sensuality and the wide-eyed innocence of the young, but also with the suspicion of the status quo, this examination of current climate fears is a must-read."
--Dianah Hughley, Powells.com
Huffington Post Books
"A stunning debut novel."
Necessary Respite from the Post-Election Blues
"This book will take you back to a time when you still thought you could save the world."
–Melanie Bishop
BookRiot
"Recommended."
Hot Season
“Relavant to things that [we’re] are seeing in the news right now…digital privacy, and how the Patriot Act has affected people who are protesting and participating in politics.”
Book Nudge (UK)
"A striking story."
Hot Season by Susan DeFreitas
"This is a striking story about living on the fringes and the difficulty of settling on an identity in that fluid moment of young adulthood when everything seems possible."
--Rebecca Foster
Rain Taxi
"Pleasingly paced and engaging…with a conclusion that rings true."
Hot Season
"You don't graduate from or age out of activism. You find new ways to tell the next story."
--Donna Miele
