I'll Meet You There Review

I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Title: I’ll Meet You There

Author: Heather Demetrios

Series: None

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

Publication Date: February 3, 2015

Genre: Fiction; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 388

Format: Hardcover

Buy now From Barnes & Noble• Buy now From Amazon• Add On Goodreads

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

On some level, I always knew this book was going to be good. My book compass is rarely this right. To my delight, I’ll Meet You There started out good and kept getting better from there.

Skylar Evans is trapped in her rusty nowhere town of Creek View. If she followed the unspoken rules of all other Creek View residents, she’d stay there for the rest of her life, living pay check-to-paycheck on a GED education or less. She’d marry a good-for-nothing furniture occupier and be pregnant by the time she was getting her high school diploma. And she’d be happy about it. But passionately artistic Skylar sticks to her own Plan. But when art school and the escape from her dead beat town starts slipping through her outstretched fingers, she starts to think the Plan is just another dream. Then, Josh Mitchell, town legend turned Marine, returns from Afghanistan with only one leg. Skylar and Josh’s path coincidentally collide at Paradise, and years of loneliness and hopeless dreaming come together and form a relationship deeper in meaning than either of them had ever hoped they deserved.

This book is about a lot of things: overcoming socioeconomic status, the tragic aftermath of fighting in a war, loss, betrayal, hope, and love. It was a statement of the intricate traps set by a person’s external environment, and the trying attempts one has to make in order to break free of such prisons.

Skylar Evans has always been subject to the life of trailer parks and working two jobs to support a static life that becomes neither better nor worse. Success and comfortability is unforeseeable from her and her family’s impoverished position. Her mother, throughout the story, is vulnerable to bouts of depression and the draw of a man whose only attractive feature is his ability to finance her and Skylar’s lives.

Josh’s reckless reputation has kept his old self alive in his old home town of Creek View. His return after joining the Marines was unexpected yet quickly accepted. After all, a life in Creek View was like quicksand; you could try to escape and may even almost succeed for a moment, but sooner or later, you’re bound to be sucked back in again. Josh not only returns as a shell of the charismatic and rash boy he once was but also as a wounded veteran with the bags upon bags of suppressed learned instincts and emotions.

What’s so different about this book compared to all the other tributes to our veterans is Demetrios’ unapologetic take on the wounded veteran. Held in such high esteem, it’s not uncommon for authors to tip-toe around their characters, afraid to break their perfect warrior specimen, to flaw them in places they should be polished. Demetrios, exposed to the life of veterans and soldiers her entire life, was fearless yet respectful with her imperfect portrayal of Josh, the image of a war vet riddled with guilt, regret, fear, and post-traumatic stress. Not only was she brutally honest with the way she built Josh so ragged and bruised, but also with the means in which she formed the harsh realities of loving someone such as Josh.

Neither Josh nor Skylar can be considered unique or original. As mere representations of the millions of people living in their positions, their main purpose is to instill a special kind of compassion and respect for those they embody. Demetrios’ mastery in storytelling was hypnotic and hard to look away from, as was all the elements in her story. From the characters to the setting to the heartbreak, this novel was breathtakingly real.

Sway Review

Sway by Kat Spears

Title: Sway

Author: Kat Spears

Series: None

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Disability; Young Adult

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Buy now From Barnes & Noble• Buy now From Amazon• Add On Goodreads

In Kat Spears’s hilarious and often poignant debut, high school senior Jesse Alderman, or "Sway," as he’s known, could sell hell to a bishop. He also specializes in getting things people want---term papers, a date with the prom queen, fake IDs. He has few close friends and he never EVER lets emotions get in the way. For Jesse, life is simply a series of business transactions.

But when Ken Foster, captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming king, and all-around jerk, hires Jesse to help him win the heart of the angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse finds himself feeling all sorts of things. While following Bridget and learning the intimate details of her life, he falls helplessly in love for the very first time. He also finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget’s belligerent and self-pitying younger brother who has cerebral palsy. Suddenly, Jesse is visiting old folks at a nursing home in order to run into Bridget, and offering his time to help the less fortunate, all the while developing a bond with this young man who idolizes him. Could the tin man really have a heart after all?

A Cyrano de Bergerac story with a modern twist, Sway is told from Jesse’s point of view with unapologetic truth and biting humor, his observations about the world around him untempered by empathy or compassion---until Bridget’s presence in his life forces him to confront his quiet devastation over a life-changing event a year earlier and maybe, just maybe, feel something again.

When I first read the tagline Boy Meets Girl. Boy Charms Girl…For Someone Else., I immediately thought of Ten Things I Hate About You, one of my favorite movies, then I thought of Heath Ledger, then I sighed because Heath Ledger, then I picked up Sway because any book that can get me thinking about Heath Ledger is worth reading. Simple. Logic.

Jesse “Sway” Alderman specializes in getting people what they want. Drugs. Alcohol. An A on the semester exam. Done and done, with little to no effort. But when the school’s meathead, Ken Foster, asks Sway to get him a girl…well, Sway’s never turned down a challenge. When he realizes the “girl” isn’t just a “girl” but actually the town’s perfect do-gooder, Bridget Smalley, things get a little more challenging. Especially when he falls for her. Sway starts to change, even earns himself a new friend, Bridget’s younger brother. The only problem is he made a deal, and Bridget’s not his to keep. Will Sway fall surrender to the feelings he never knew he could feel, or will he tap into his steely, unemotional self and tell himself that this is “just business”?

First worry: The undoubtable presence of the dreaded Insta-love (Just add water!). Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. Even though “Oh, I love you! Don’t leave me! I can’t live without you!” did show up right of the gate, it didn’t bother me that much. It could be because I was expecting it, but I don’t think so.  Something about the way the author incorporated dark subjects like drugs and suicide made it, I don’t know, make sense.

Second worry: The lack of plot. I had some reasonable doubts about whether or not the nine word tagline revealed any and all plot the book contained. Would Sway turn out to be a lame, two-dimensional, superficial let-down? Or would actual tell a story worth reading? It turned out the answer would be the latter.

So, the story was good, the romance was good. Any actual complaints? Why, yes, thank you for asking. The only problem for me that almost ruined the entire book was Bridget Smalley. Too perfect, too pretty, too privileged, and waaay too hate-able. No one likes anyone that’s too perfect. And Bridget Smalley was too perfect. Sway was great. He had faults that made him all the more likeable. But Bridget had no faults. How am I supposed to like someone like that? Excuse me, but I’d like to think that guys don’t fall for just the perfect ones. However, I was able to overlook this small problem in the favor of Sway. So in the end, it’s just a tiny complaint, not a game-changer.

I liked it. In fact, it’s one of my new favorites. I would recommend it to any romantic in a heartbeat. 

Wildlife Review

Wildlife by Fiona Wood Review

Title: Wildlife

Author: Fiona Wood

Series: None

Publisher: Poppy

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Genre: Fiction; Contemporary; Realistic Fiction; Coming of Age; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

During a semester in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and love that gets complicated? That will take some navigating.
New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

In this tender, funny story of first love, good friendship, and going a little bit wild, Fiona Wood introduces two unforgettable girls who discover that before you can be true to yourself, you have to figure out exactly who you are.

First of all, love the cover. Even though it has nothing to do with the story and is very misleading.

Set in an outdoor program, this book follows the lives of two girls: Sib and Lou. Sib experienced a brief stardom when her aunt put her face on a billboard for all to see, and the aftermath is still resonating throughout her life. She was never the popular one, but after her face was blown up and plastered on the huge advertisement, everyone wants to be her friend, even Holly, the most popular girl in school. It’s like all Sib needed for people to see her was her face enlarged and shoved in their faces. Mesmerized by her newfound popularity, Sib happily accepts all the attention and the friendship of Holly (because we all know the most popular people at school are the best at being friends). Lou is the new kid at school and is not looking for new friends. After suffering the death of her boyfriend, Lou never fully recovered even with all the not-so-subtle hints of everyone around her to move on, push past, and forget about it. Through the trials and tribulations of first love, betrayal, and camp activities, Sib and Lou find their way into each other’s live with the help of Sib’s hopeless admirer and mutual friend, Michael. Hiking, canoeing, and general teenage rambunctiousness are accompanied by vital life lessons about friendship and love in this endearing tale of growing up.

The cover really should have two girls on it because there really is not a romance in Wildlife. Okay, fine, there is romance, but it’s not the whole story. The real story is the unlikely friendship between two girls with completely different backgrounds. Does the cover reveal that? No, not so much.

If I were to compare this book with a Melina Marchetta or E. Lockhart book, I would consider this book 50 times lighter than anything Marchetta or Lockhart could come up with it. Don’t get me wrong, I like it that way. Marchetta and Lockhart are more serious and heavy. Wildlife was a light summer read with a couple dark undertones streaked throughout.

The writing was simple and pleasing. Nothing too hard core. It didn’t leave me with a feeling of absolute wonder, nor did it leave me with a feeling of bewilderment or disgust. I appreciated the sincerity and honesty of the stories Wood brought to the table. Betrayal of friends, bad friendships, disappointment, and first loves are things almost everyone lives through. I could relate with both Sib and Lou and their dynamics.

While good in an easy, vanilla sort of way, this book wasn’t really anything extraordinarily special. It was forgettable, yet enjoyable. 

We Were Liars Review

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars

Author: E. Lockhart

Series: None

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: May 13, 2014

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Mystery; Young Adult

Pages: 227

Format: Hardback

goodreads

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
 
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

The epitome of class and style. The personification of erudition and grace. That is how I would describe Lockhart’s books. I haven’t read one of her books that I didn’t end up loving. Well…all two of them.

Cadence Sinclair Eastman can’t remember the last summer she was in Beechwood. All she remembers is waking up alone on the beach, cold and wet from the sea. Her mother won’t tell her what happened. Everyone, including her cousins and her beloved Gat, is tiptoeing around her like she is an explosion with mass casualties waiting to happen. When she finally returns to the beach house on her grandfather’s private island, she is determine to remember. What she finds is nothing like what she thought, and will change her life in ways she’s not sure she’s ready for.

Ambiguity is one of my favorite ways authors start a book. When they just drop you in the middle of the story and it’s up to you to figure out the beginning and the end. Keeps me intrigued. It also exercises the mind, and that’s always fun. And let me tell you, did this book keep me entertained! There wasn’t a dull moment in We Were Liars. And I was always guessing. Constantly working out what exactly happened those two summers ago. And I was way, way, way off. I could not have been more wrong. And the twist! The oh-so-infamous twist! Oh, my God! It was so weird, but in the way that makes you go, “Holy-mother-of-everything good-in-the-world, I can’t believe that just happened!” It was so genius and yet so tragic; I honestly did not know whether I loathed or loved the author in that moment. I’m still on the fence, actually. My feelings change day by day.

The lyrical prose and elegant language that Lockhart used was to die for. It was so beautiful. You could feel and touch the emotions of the characters, fully understand the frustration and sadness of Cadence (mostly because you were just as frustrated and depressed from not understanding anything in those first few pages). While this book was in no way a poetry book, there were moments it seemed like it was. Lockhart effortlessly combined all the splendor of poetry with the fullness of an everyday novel. It added some spice and flavor, and, I have to say, it was delicious and supremely satisfying.

I would recommend this to all readers of Melina Marchetta (especially to the lovers of Jellicoe Road). I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Marchetta’s and Lockhart’s writing are so similar. I love both, and I think others should make it a point to read them. This book was exquisite and one of my favorites. Plus, John Green read it, so who was I to say no?

What I Thought Was True Review

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: What I Thought Was True

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Series: None

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: April 15 2014

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 422

Format: Hardback

goodreads

Gwen Castle has never so badly wanted to say good-bye to her island home till now: the summer her Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, takes a job there as the local yard boy. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

A magnetic, push-you-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.

It’s hard to be a fan of authors like Sarah Dessen or Jenny Han, or even Huntley Fitzpatrick if you don’t on some degree love summer romances. My Life Next Door, another romance by Fitzpatrick, detailed what it was like to love a life you could never have. What I Thought Was True explains the difference between what we think are facts, and what things are really like.

Both are incredibly intriguing romances worth finishing in one sitting.

Gwen Castle doesn’t live in a million dollar mansion. She doesn’t go to a posh private school or drive a sports car. No. She works at her dad’s burger shop. She helps her mom pay the bills when it’s a little too hard to make ends meet. In other words, she is nothing like Cassidy Somers a.k.a The Boy That Never Should’ve Happened. He comes from a life of Harvard and bottomless bank accounts, while she comes from Portuguese fishermen and housekeepers. They come from different worlds. They don’t belong together. But if that’s true, why is it so hard to keep away from him? When Cassidy gets hired as a lawn boy in the same neighborhood Gwen takes a job taking care of the rich Mrs. Ellington, she runs into him more than she would like. A lot more than she would like.

One thing that is hard to find in other books that this one seems to capture perfectly is the relationships. You can’t really find another summer romance with the intense, truthful, and incredibly accurate relationships this one has. The connection between the friends in the story was perfect. The romance was topsy turvy and real. The thing most book authors seem to forget is that no relationship ever happens smoothly and without kinks. And, even if they did, they would be boring and would go nowhere. I mean, who wants a boring relationship?  The story itself also brought something worth having. The subplots, minor romances, and minor characters were almost as interesting as the main ones. Em, Gwen’s little, not-quite-autistic, different-than-everyone-else brother was my favorite character, and not to mention, essential to this book’s charm. And let’s not forget Cass. Cassidy Somers. Ahh….Don’t you just love the characters that remind you that the boy you are looking for in real life doesn’t actually exist? I mean, really. Reading books has caused my standards in men to skyrocket. I really don’t think anyone will compare.

What I didn’t like was Fitzpatrick doesn’t seem to have an understanding on the emotional turmoil that relationships and love brings. You’d think boys and girls bounce back from relationships like they were made from rubber. And that just doesn’t happen.

In the end, I liked this book. It was nothing like the light summer read that I was expecting, but it was still good. One thing I learned: we don’t always have a smooth ride on the road of love, and we don’t always travel it with Prince himself, but, then again, why would you want it any other way? Besides, what fun are relationships without a little drama?

The Summer I Turned Pretty Review

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Series: Summer #1

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: May 5, 2009

Genre: Romance; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Young Adult

Pages: 276

Format: Hardback

goodreads

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Summers are what Belly waits all year for. Summer means swimming. Summer means tans and beaches and bikinis. And most of all, summer means Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. Spending summer at her mother’s best friend’s beach house is what Belly looks forward to all year. But this year is going to be different. With her everlasting crush on Conrad spiraling out of control and new summer loves blooming, Belly must figure out how to hold her life together, even when it’s falling apart at the seams.  

First off, what is with the name Belly? Belly is a weird name, isn’t it? I mean, you have to read half the book just so you can finally learn that Belly is not her actual name. (It’s Isabel, by the way. Just thought I would save you the trouble.) Secondly, the boys. Conrad is, shall we say, a jerk. He’s moody and dark, and in the book they play that up to be a good thing. Maybe it’s just me, but I would like my boys to be a bit nicer. Like Jeremiah is in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Just a note to the author, if you want one love interest to be the one all your readers are rooting for, don’t make the secondary love interest so much more likable! I was rooting for Jeremiah the whole entire time. I wanted him to win. Not Conrad the Jerkish. Jeremiah was perfect, and I mean perfect, boyfriend material.

The main problems that I had with this book mainly involved the characters. Belly was, throughout the entire book, immature. As in, spoiled little kid immature. And she was constantly complaining about how she was treated like she was immature. Which was simply annoying. Conrad was, as previously mentioned, a huge jerk. Jeremiah was perfect, but undermined and ignored. While the characters left a lot to be wanted, the plot was okay. I liked how this was not just another summer romance. The subplot that dealt with family and devastation and real-world problems left this book with a few more degrees of realism.

I don’t count on reading the sequel, but if the opportunity presents itself and I have nothing else to do, I may. Maybe. Probably. I mean, this book wasn't absolutely horrible. Just not absolutely fabulous. 

It’s Not Summer Without You

The Moon and More Review

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Moon and More

Author: Sarah Dessen

Series: None

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Publication Date: June 4, 2013

Genre: Contemporary; Romance; Realistic Fiction; Young Adult

Pages: 435

Format: Hardback
goodreads

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

“Life is long. Just because you don't get your chance right when you want or expect it doesn't mean it won't come. Fate doesn't punch a time clock or consult a schedule.” 

Continuing the summer reading theme, I finally picked up Sarah Dessen’s latest novel–an entertaining read about a girl who wants more than her tiny beach town of Colby can offer. The Moon and More was obviously of the Dessen persuasion, and it had everything I expected it to have: unusual relationships, imperfect romance, and unique situations.

Emaline has the perfect boyfriend. Luke is kind, fun, and (most importantly) attractive. He and Emaline have been together since highschool–just another thing in her life that seems to have gone exactly as it was supposed to. And now, with the rest of her life all lined up in even rows, she should be happy right? Good college, good boyfriend, good future. Nothing else left to want. Nothing else she should want. Enter Theo, someone new and ambitious that makes Emaline think that there could be more. Even as Emaline searches for the moon and more, she must first figure out what exactly she wants for herself and her future.

Compared to other Dessen books that I have read, this one seemed considerably more light and fun. I liked the distinct questions it raised on family and relationships. I also like how the romance was all but perfect and cheesy. It gave the story line a sense of reality than many summer romance novels never seem to grasp.

The beginning was interesting, but the further I read, the more uninterested I was. The book lost some of its appeal, and at the very end, I was bordering pure boredom.  The characters weren’t very relatable. The story wasn’t very complex. In short, I loved and hated this book.

This was not my favorite Dessen book, but it is good for a not-so-short read in the summer. Definitely not the moon and more for me, but an okay book nonetheless. 

“The truth was, there was no way everything could be the Best. Sometimes, when it came to events and people, it had to be okay to just be.” 

To All The Boys I've Loved Before Review

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Title: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han

Series: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before #1

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: April 15, 2014

Genre: Romance; Contemporary; Realistic Fiction; Young Adult

Pages: 288

Format: Hardback
goodreads

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

“When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he’ll never read it. Because he never will.”

Let me just start out my saying that I loved this book far more than I thought I would and a lot more than anyone should ever love a book. I’m not saying this is the next Fault in Our Stars or Eleanor & Park. I am just saying that this book was the highest level of good that you can give a summer read.

Lara Jean is the middle sister of three, second daughter of an Ob-gyn dad, and was practically raised by her semi-aloof big sister Margot. The book starts out with Lara Jean dealing with the fact that her big sister is leaving for an overseas college, leaving behind her two sisters and a recently broken-up with ex-boyfriend Josh (who Lara Jean is not-so-fortunately hard core crushing on). When letters that Lara Jean had written to all her past crushes are mysteriously sent to all the boys they were addressed to, her love life goes from nil to chaotic and awkward.  

“This is our life; there’s no use in asking what if. No one could ever give you the answers. I try, I really do, but it’s hard for me to accept this way of thinking. I’m always wondering about the what-ifs, about the road not taken.”

While it may not a product of genius or the next mind-imploding novel, I really liked it. I liked it so much that when I turned the last page and saw the word “Acknowledgments” instead of another chapter number, I was this close to throwing my book at the wall. Thankfully, I contained myself until I figured out that there was a sequel. Even if it is coming out in 2015. (UUUHHHH!)

The relationships between the sisters was true, well written and sweet. I was about half-way through the book before I guessed what was going to happen. And I was right. Which made me unexplainably happy. I loved the romance; it fed my girly-girl, romance-obsessed heart.

The writing was awesome, the characters were interesting and the romance was spot on. The sequel cannot get here fast enough. The all-time perfect fluffy and fun book for summer.

  P.S I Still Love You

April 21, 2015

Second Chance Summer Review

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Title: Second Chance Summer

Author: Morgan Matson

Series: None

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 468

Format: Hardback
goodreads

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

I wouldn’t have even thought to pick up this book a year ago. I would’ve thought it was too cliché and ooey-gooey to be a serious read. But, for the heck of summer, I decided to read it. I mean, what other book could be more perfect for summer reading? I also read Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour and thought it was beyond cute. So I had high hopes. And I can’t say that I was disappointed.

Taylor has a habit of taking the cowardly way out of serious situation: running away. All she wants to do is leave the hard stuff in the dust. When the unthinkable happens, she is dragged to the place that she never thought she would return to. Like, ever. There she meets her former best friend and boyfriend, both of which have changed in ways that surprises her. When her past catches up to her, she must face it head on. She will finally get the second chance she needs at friendship and love. She just has to take it and not leave it stranded behind her.

I couldn’t put this book down in the beginning. What could’ve possibly have happened to have caused such a rift between her and her friends? It must’ve been horrible right? I was conjuring up all these ghastly scenarios in my head about betrayal and conspiracy and all those really bad things. When the big secret was finally revealed, I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed. Matson really played it up to be a super horrible thing, but to me, it was not as bad as she made it up to be. Maybe it was my overly-dramatic imagination, but it could’ve been way worse.

The romance was very well done if not just a tad mellow. It sent my heart thump-thump-thumping and was dreamy-sigh worthy. I don’t cry at books (except for Fault in our Stars of course– I do have just a little bit of a soul), but this was one of those books that I wanted to cry at. To anyone planning to read this book, be forewarned: it’s sad. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Second Chance Summer was a perfect pool-side read and I don’t regret reading it one bit. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a little bit of summer romance. 

Keeping The Moon Review

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Title: Keeping The Moon

Author: Sarah Dessen

Series: None

Publisher: Speak

Publication Date: May 11, 2004

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Young Adult

Pages: 228

Format: Hardback
goodreads

Colie expects the worst when she's sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast -- first for being fat and then for being "easy" -- Colie has no friends at home and doesn't expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along.

“You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.” 

When Colie visits her unexpectedly eccentric Aunt Mira, her life gets flipped around as she meets new friends, learns how to deal with the ordeals of waitressing, and discovers how to love. When you’re the daughter of a famously optimistically person, known for changing her life with her incomparable amount of self-motivation, people tend to expect the same from you. Colie, however, finds it hard to be positive about her life, even with her newly thinned physique and stare-inducing lip ring. She must learn to unconditionally love herself before she can confront her haunting past.

“It's so, so stupid what we do to ourselves because we're afraid. It's so stupid.” 

How do you do it Sarah Dessen? How do you manage to make the most perfect stories with just the right proportions of love, friendship, self-learning? How do you know so much about life and how to live it? The writing in Keeping the Moon was perfect in every sense of the world. Even when the book was finished, that warm fuzzy feeling that I only seem to get when I read really well done contemporary novels still remained. I have yet to read a Sarah Dessen book that I didn’t like. Coming-of-age journeys you simply can't not learn from, and deliciously sweet romances that are realistic in the rawest of ways, all at the same time. Who could say no? Really? 

Keeping the Moon brought up some themes about life that I whole-heartedly agree with. It’s like I’ve always known they were true, but never could put it into words the right way. Like, you have to love yourself before anyone else can. Don’t ask permission to be respected; demand it. Everyone is beautiful in one way or another. This book is so filled with brutally honest quotes, I didn’t know what to do with myself!

“Self respect, Colie. If you don't have it, the world will walk all over you.”

I can’t say that I related with Colie, because I didn’t. At all, really. And sometimes her wallowing pulled just a little bit too hard on my nerves. But one character I honest-to-God loved? Isabel. If I could have one friend from a book it would be Isabel. Pure awesomeness personified in a character from a book. Most of the really good quotes come from her. Her don’t-give-me-crap attitude was amazingly refreshing and inspiring. She expected nothing less than the best. And I admire that.

This book was just another one added to the list of Sarah Dessen successes. Perfect summer read.