Genre: Summer

200 Word Review: That Summer

Posted September 24, 2014 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
200 Word Review: That Summer

I don’t want to say I was disappointed, because that seems a bit harsh, but it definitely didn’t exceed my expectations. Why? The characters – ALL of them – were so selfish. I get that there was (kind of?) a reason for it in terms of the book’s moral, but I just found myself SO sick of their shit. Nothing. Happened. At. All. The book took place over the course of a month or two and literally Haven worked, ran into her sister’s ex, complained about her life, and spent time with her friend. Oh, and there was a random supermodel show that pretty much added nothing to the plot. I’m okay with the fact that this book was only about family issues, but it was just missing the spark of something else. ANYTHING to get some more action. The moral/message of the book was pretty clear and I liked the way it ended. The narrator had the most childish voice. I get that the MC was 15, but holy shit it felt like a 12 year old. Overall, I did like the book. It didn’t blow me away and it certainly isn’t one of Dessen’s best, but I can’t say I regret listening to it.  

Review: Second Chance Summer

Posted September 22, 2014 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Review: Second Chance Summer

Okay I finished this book less than two minutes ago and am making sure to write this review immeditely. Holy shit. Morgan Matson. Why and how are you so good? I don’t think I can express how much I loved this story. It was so many different things, all amazing and sad and happy at the same time. This is most likely not going to be a very long review because I kind of just only want to sit here and cry. Very few books have actually made me cry out loud, but this book was one of them. OKAY so Taylor and her family head to their lake house, where they haven’t been in five years, because their father only has a few months left to live. Their relationships at the beginning of the book are so strained and everyone is totally separate from one another. Watching their family grow and develop over the summer was just so perfect. Instead of a nice slow burn romance, this was a slow burn family-rekindling. Meanwhile, Taylor is faced with all of the people she left behind five summers earlier. This included her best friend Lucy and boyfriend Henry. Taylor has to make amends for what she did to them when she left. It was nice to see that those aspects were vital to the story, but still felt more in the background. Above everything else, this book was about family. I’m tempted to text my dad that I love him right […]

Review: Open Road Summer

Posted September 14, 2014 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Review: Open Road Summer

Let me get this out of the way quickly: I’m not a huge music person. That sounds weird or stupid, but I’m just not. I don’t mean that I don’t like music or don’t listen to music, because I DO. I really do. I prefer classic rock to the popular stuff on the radio now; I tend to only listen to music that’s from the 60s, 70s, or 90s. Some people have to be plugged into music all day every day, but there are some days I even go without listening to music at all. (That sounds weird because I used to never be that way; I’m pretty sure I can blame audiobooks for that one). That being said, I generally don’t gravitate towards books with music or musicians as a central part of the plot line. It’s not that I can’t relate to it or won’t like it, it’s just a topic that doesn’t jump out to me. Open Road Summer clearly is a book based around music, but it was not what I was expecting – in a very good way. Reagan heads out on tour for the summer with her best friend Lilah, who is a country music star. When some drama unfolds and Lilah’s image is in jeopardy, a child star singer named Matt joins the tour. To me, this was a story much more about friendship than about relationships. Sure, there is PLENTY going on with romantic relationships, breakups, and make-ups, but I think the central […]

Review: Twenty Boy Summer

Posted September 12, 2014 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
Review: Twenty Boy Summer

This book has been on my radar for a while. The plot of the book follows Frankie and Anna as they embark on Frankie’s family vacation. The girls have been close for their entire lives and Anna is pretty much considered a part of her family. A year before, Frankie’s older brother Matt passes away. The last month of his life, Anna and Matt were secretly seeing each other. Anna’s relationship with him is unfinished when he unexpectedly dies and she is unsure about how to tell Frankie. Frankie comes up with the idea of the Twenty Boy Summer to occupy them during their vacation. This was obviously a somewhat large part of the plot (I mean, it’s the title of the book and everything!) but I didn’t think it was that necessary or relevant. They end up meeting some boys soon after they arrive and the competition sort of fades away. Overall, the story of this book was really amazing. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and exploring how they each worked through their grief. I really liked that it wasn’t as predictable as I expected. I’ve been falling into that trap lately with contemporary YA, where the book happens exactly as you’d think and there’s no mystery to it. The “climax” of the book was really the only part I saw coming. However, I liked the way it was developed and dealt with. Without giving too much away, the issues that normally would be “resolved” in a […]

200 Word Review: Since Last Summer

Posted September 6, 2014 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment
200 Word Review: Since Last Summer

Review: DAMMIT why wasn’t the first book in this series a standalone? And is there going to be ANOTHER book after this one? Because I don’t think I can deal with that. Things I liked: It was a light, summery, easy, and fast read. Things I didn’t like: The DRAMA and typical YA conflicts/misunderstandings. I could literally predict every single decision the characters were going to make…and I groaned every time because they, of course, managed to make the wrong choice. Utterly predictable. The recurring characters all seemed very different. Obviously the book takes place a year later but seriously? People don’t change that much in a year. It seemed like a lot of the problems were invented or all in their heads. The relationships just didn’t make sense to me, while at the same time being completely expected. I guess they just weren’t developed enough for me. I finished this book pretty quickly and it left such a minimal impression on me. I was so happy after the first book ended and thoroughly enjoyed the story, despite some traditional predictability. After finishing the second book, I couldn’t even remember what happened in half of the story. Oh well. *sigh*