Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014Leave a comment

Genre:

Young Adult, cost Contemporary, Science Fiction (I know, its weird)

Pages:

448

Part of a Series?:

Release Date:

May 14th, 2013

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby’s senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby’s never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn’t choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that’s finally within reach.

My Review:

As soon as I finished Lauren Miller’s Free to Fall, I knew I had to get my hands on Parallel. I had no idea what it was about but that doesn’t even matter. Free to Fall was creepy and futuristic and incredible and I didn’t have to be worried about being attached to multiple books. I like that. I had to wait until the Girls Gone Sci-Fi event in Redondo though, so I could support the bookstore and all that.

A couple days ago, I was stuck in bed, and usually when that happens, I read. I read Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo because it was its release day and I was dying to find out what happened next in Leigh’s epic fantasy monstrosity of a great trilogy. I finished that fairly quickly (more on that later) and decided to pick up Parallel.

I fully intended to read some of it and then go to sleep like a completely normal person but I didn’t. I broke that intention so quickly because I literally could not put down this book. I finished it at 3 a.m.

Abby is living her life, making a movie in Los Angeles, and she’s wondering how on earth she got to this point, when two parallel worlds collide, and she’s in an alternate reality of her life. There was an earthquake a year previously, the collision, which caused her parallel self to take over her life. Each day that Abby wakes up could be a completely different story because of the decisions and paths that her parallel self takes in the path. It sounds a little confusing and it was for me at first, but you quickly understand as you watch it unfold. It reminded me a bit of Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall, where one decision could change the course of events in the future.

And that’s what gets you so tied into it. You honestly have no idea what is going to happen next. Younger, parallel Abby is making such different decisions from the ones that Abby originally made and its putting her into very confusing situations. She’s both happy and unhappy with the different life that she’s living. Its addicting. Each move that her parallel self makes could create a completely different reality the next day. You literally cannot guess where the future is going. You literally cannot predict how the story is going to go and that is incredibly addicting.

I want Abby to be with this guy, but parallel Abby is with another guy and I love him too, and Abby misses cross country and acting but parallel Abby has become part of a crew team and its just crazy. You’re so torn between these two characters, and they are the same person. You want them to work toward the same goal and its not happening. Its so frustrating and I thought about closing the book, and finishing it the next day. But I could not stop it. I had to keep reading.

And the ending! It was beautiful and crazy and I wanted to throw the book across the room and I tweeted that to Lauren because I couldn’t believe she could end the book that way, and then she tweeted me, made me feel better about it. Now that I’ve thought about what Lauren said, and reread the last chapter, I am very happy with the ending. Its one of those ones that are utterly frustrating but absolutely beautiful at the same time. It reminded me of the sort of ending that Gayle Forman’s Just One Year. Hopeful, sad, cliffhanger, but so many good things. You come crashing to the end and you hope for more but I love that she leaves me waiting. I will always sort of wonder what is going to happen next and I love that.

Its a nice blend of science fiction (which makes my head spin at times) and contemporary. Its a story about trying to figure out what you want in your life, and how sometimes life just unfolds the way its supposed to and sometimes even the best plans don’t work. Abby has her Plan and it doesn’t go as planned, and she gets a second chance to see another way it could and I love that at the end, she knows she’s going the right way and that she’ll end up where she’s supposed to. I love it. Great job once again, Lauren, for making my head spin and leaving me wanting more once again. New book soon?

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014Leave a comment

Genre:

Young Adult, approved Dystopian, Futuristic

Pages:

469

Part of a Series?:

Release Date:

May 13th, 2012

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

What if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness? What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice?

What if you never had to fall?

Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most life-changing technology to ever hit the market: Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision making for the best personal results. Just like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to the elite boarding school Theden Academy, her future happiness seems all the more assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong beneath the polished surface of her prestigious dream school. Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him and his outsider way of life. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore — a choice that leads her to uncover a truth neither she nor the world ever saw coming.

My Review:

I was really excited when I received Free to Fall for review. I had heard good things about Lauren Miller from her novel “Parallel” and she was going to be a guest author at the Ontario Teen Book Fest so I was high in anticipation when reading this book. I was roughly half way through the book when I met Lauren, and she was so smart and so fun to talk to that I went home almost immediately to finish it.

I think what really gets me about all of this is that it felt so real to me. While Lauren’s novel takes place in the future, its not that far into the future and it is almost sort of warning of what is to come. Lux, the app that everyone uses on their phone, is like Siri on crack. I have Siri on my own phone but I must admit, I barely use it. Lux literally determines every movement of your day. It speaks in your own voices, tells you which bus to take when, what path is the wrong one, what coffee drink you should order, everything. It literally decides everything for you, and everyone trusts it blindly. I am getting shivers just thinking about it. For me, it felt so incredibly real.

I love that it was more than that though. The story could have been shallow, just a commentary on technology but it was so much more than that. Without going into too many spoilers, the more that we learn about Lux and the company behind it, the more that I felt the need to keep turning the pages. The mystery behind that and the mystery behind Rory herself was addicting. First, we’re on a roller coaster, trying to figure Rory out, and the next, we’re in the passenger seat while she unwinds the mystery of Lux. Its completely thrilling and terrifying. Everything that happens in this book seems so real, and terrifying and that’s what makes this SO good.

I also highly applaud Lauren Miller for accomplishing such a story in one novel. I honestly wish that other authors, myself, included could do that more often. It takes a lot to accomplish building up a story, and wrapping it up, in one book, especially in the sort of complicated story that she writes. Plus it makes it so much easier to move on to my ever growing list of books to read without having to worry about a sequel! I loved that! I think it takes a lot of talent to tell a complete story like in such a quick and perfect way.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Favorite and Least Favorite City of Heavenly Fire Moments! (Spoilers!)

May 31, 201422 Comments

I don’t really think I need to warn you but I’m going to do it anyway because I know people just don’t pay attention.

This entire post is literally spoilers for City of Heavenly Fire. If you havent’ finished the book, buy more about or don’t want to be spoiled, sildenafil please turn back now!

Okay, buy information pills jumping in. With both of my spoiler filled vlog and my spoiler free review here on the blog, I tried to be as vague as possible, to talk about as much as I could in a short amount of time and space. So I wasn’t really able to get into all my favorite and least favorite parts. That’s the purpose of this post, to share exactly what I loved and what I didn’t.

I hope you’ll share yours as well!

FAVORITE:

Isabelle’s Vision

When Jace, Clary, Alec, Isabelle and Simon enter into the demon realm to rescue Luke, Jocelyn, Magnus and Raphael, and find Sebastian, they are immediately stopped by a demon that force them to see sort of visions. Clary sees the family that she could have had: Jocelyn married to Luke, a real brother in Jonathan, a little sister. Alec sees himself as loved by everyone that he’s wanted to love him, to be appreciated and praised, and to be the person that is the center of attention. Isabelle’s is the most heartbreaking because its the one that you honestly wish was real. Its her birthday and Simon has thrown her a party, and at her party is Max. Max, frozen at 9 years old, when he died. And I lost it. I couldn’t stop crying. I was so heartbroken. Max’s death has been the most hard hitting in all six books for me, and it hurts when you know how much he is missed and how responsible Isabelle feels for his death. It was beautiful.

Simon’s Band Name

Simon’s memories have been taken from Magnus’ father, as payment for them returning to their world. Its heartbreaking (until you read the epilogue), but when you see the flyer for Simon’s band’s show…I just had this half laugh, half sob thing going on, because I thought it was SO funny and so awesome. His band name? The Mortal Instruments. It was too perfect. It’s been a fan theory for so long and its one of those things that I was actually kind of glad made it into the book.

Jace and Clary-Cave Scene

Um, can we say about time? I mean, I know, they’re like 17 years old, and that’s not exactly old or anything but we’ve all been hoping for some steamy Clace sex for six books now and I’m glad it finally happened and IN A CAVE. The first thing I thought of when they had sex in the cave was…did they really just have sex in a cave like the way Will and Tessa did in Clockwork Princess. Plus it was just beautiful. It was the right moment for it to happen. The world was falling apart around them, and they could die at any moment, and they truly love each other, and it was perfect. I could never write a scene like that, and that’s okay. My sex scenes are going to be a bit rougher, realistic, but Cassie’s are beautiful and I loved every detail of it.

Sebastian’s Redemption

I didn’t expect that, and while it was cheesy, I actually liked it. When Clary stabs Sebastian with the sword that contains the heavenly fire, and Sebastian momentarily becomes Jonathan Morgenstern, complete with green eyes. He expresses his grief, his wish that he hadn’t been born with the demon blood and his hope that there would be another dimension where he was the good son and brother. It was SO cheesy but I actually kind of liked it. It was sweet, and sad, and it was another blow of loss to Jocelyn and to Clary, of what could have been. It was both expected and unexpected and I enjoyed it.

Jem and Jace Talking For the First Time

I LOVED THIS. I had to stop and breathe in and out about this. I loved hearing Jem talk about his past, the people in his life, and all of that. If I had thought for even a moment that I was okay with the feels that Clockwork Princess had brought me, I was so very wrong. All the feelings from just the CP2 epilogue alone came rushing back, and it was beautiful to see him again. I loved his reuniting with Tessa and their appearance and Luke and Jocelyn’s wedding. Just all those feels from Clockwork Princess. I couldn’t handle it.

Maia’s Transformation

I was talking to a few people and they weren’t happy with the Maia thing in the book. I do admit, her relationship with Jordan was weird, especially since he died, and she appeared to be making something happening with Bat, but I was just proud of her as a character. Having the guts to take over the NY wolf pack, and to lead it, and to inform the Shadowhunters of the plans going down. I was really proud of her, and the way she stepped up and became a force to be reckoned with. I think Maia has always been sort of a background character but she really proved herself in this book and I honestly really loved it.

Jem Stealing Church

You don’t really need to go further than that. I honestly just couldn’t stop laughing. It was such perfection.

Clary and Jace Fighting Side by Side

I LOVE THIS. Before this, Clary and Jace had an inequality about them. Jace was an amazing Shadowhunter, Clary had her rune powers but there was always something kind of separating them in the Shadowhunter world. But watching them fight side by side, was just truly beautiful. I really felt like…its not about Jace protecting Clary physically or Clary using her powers to save Jace…they’re equals and fighting together and taking on the world together. They can protect each other. They recognize the strengths in each other and I think its awesome. There no angst, none of that struggle. They had finally reached a balance in their relationship and it was all about keeping themselves safe while taking Sebastian down.

Simon’s Sacrifice

I really liked this part, until the epilogue, which you’ll see later. By the time we had gotten to this part, I was kind of disappointed that no one had died. Again, see later. But when Simon steps up to sacrifice not only his immortality as a vampire, and his memories of everything of the shadow world, I was heartbroken. This, to me, was even worse than death. Simon had found his confidence in being part of that world. He would never remember his absolute best friend, Clary. He wouldn’t remember the girl he loved, Isabelle. That would be all gone. What a fate to fall upon one of the best characters in this series.

Anytime Emma is On the Page

OHMYGOD. I am absolutely adoring of Emma. I have been excited for so long for The Dark Artifices. This is the Shadowhunter world in Los Angeles, the place that I love. This is my home. Of course, I am so excited about it. But now after reading CoHF, I’m even more excited about it. We got to see so much of Emma, Julian and the Blackthorn children and so many hints at what to expect in TDA. I adore Emma. She’s a little spitfire and she’s going to be a great Shadowhunter and I want to see her climb rooftops again…haha. I can’t wait to see her grown up in TDA. I eagerly await it.

LEAST FAVORITE:

Lack of Deaths

Seriously? Who dies? WHO DIES? No one really. Jordan. Maureen. Amatis. Raphael. Andrew Blackthorn. Sebastian. All sad deaths, to be honest. Well, not Maureen. She was just insane. But none that hit me. None that made me feel heartbroken. I felt…like Cassie went way too safe with this ending. They were in the demons realms, there was Endarkened EVERYWHERE, and no one hugely important died? That bothered me. A really good author knows when to make a good sacrifice. Look at JK Rowling. Its war, and the deaths that she did: Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevy, Hedwig. All important deaths that make cringe just typing them.

But Cassie went super safe and that made me sad. I wanted to feel the heartbreak, I wanted to feel the true loss of war. People lose friends, family members, lovers when there is war, and no one really had that. I honestly felt that Jocelyn, Luke, Jace, Clary, Alec, Magnus, Simon, Isabelle…one or two of those people should have died. It would have made the story that much better.

Simon’s Memories Coming Back

Which brings me back to Simon. I was feeling the disappointment in the lack of sacrifice in this book, when Simon decides to give up his memories and I almost felt like that was worse than death. Simon is one of the VERY first characters you meet, right after Clary. He’s important, and to have him lost to them, and have him lose all memories…it was heartbreaking. It was perfect. Then I read the epilogue, and I was disappointed again. I could see Simon having some memories buried deep, look what happened with Clary and her memories. But the idea of Simon ascending and suddenly remembering a good amount of Clary, Jace and Isabelle just kind of bothered me. It was TOO happy. It was a great sacrifice that was wasted by being wrapped up too quickly.

Magnus’ Dad

Did anyone expect way more than what he was? I expected this big scary guy that was mean, someone that Magnus didn’t want to claim himself to, someone that he was afraid of but it didn’t really turn out that way. He was just kind of silly, and Magnus seemed more annoyed with him than frightened. So that was a slight letdown.

* * * * * * * * * * *

So what do you guys think? Share your favorite and least favorite moments in the comments! I love to hear from you but BE NICE. No hating on anyone for anything. Remember rule #1!

Book Review: Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend

May 29, 20144 Comments

This review is based an advanced reader’s copy given to me by Macteen Books as part of the Fierce Reads Street Team in exchange for an honest review and promotion. This in no way had any influence on my review.

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Summer, here boys, price and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, site her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma’s plan is working (she’s finding it hard to resist Josh), but she’s finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?

Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.

My Review:

I had no idea Katie Finn was Morgan Matson when I first got this book. I was SO excited, and am still VERY excited to be a part of the Fierce Reads Tour. Fierce Reads has a ton of amazing authors like Jessica Brody and Leigh Bardugo and Ava Dellaira and all kinds of authors. Being a part of their team has been awesome so far, and I was glad to be a part of it. When I became part of Katie Finn’s team, I was like, okay, I don’t know her, but that’s okay because I’m always up for learning about new authors.

I felt sort of silly when I went to go download my review copy and realized that she was Morgan Matson, one of my favorite authors ever. I urged my computer to download faster, and then cuddled up with my Nook to read this book.

I read it in about 2 hours. I sped through it so fast, because it was so much fun! It was really awesome to see a different writing side to Morgan. As Morgan, she writes sort of serious, dramatic YA, and as Katie Finn, it was a lot of fun, laughs, sort of unbelievable hijinks and I really truly enjoyed it. Whenever summer hits, I’m always looking for some good contemporary books to read, something involving road trips or trips to the beach and Broken Hearts is absolutely perfect in that.

Gemma is a real relatable character. She makes a mistake when she is younger, and she’s constantly feeling guilty about it. When she arrives to spend the summer with her father, and runs into the best friend she had so many years ago, the one she wronged, she genuinely wants to make things better. Of course, she goes about the wrong way, but she really is a genuine person and I think she’s hurt by her ex-boyfriend and just kind of making the mistakes that people make sometimes when they don’t quite know what to do with themselves. Plus, she makes some silly mistakes along the way too, and it makes me laugh. She gets herself into some of the craziest situations and I found myself laughing out loud at many of the parts.

I also love Josh. Josh is the brother of the girl Hallie that Gemma had wronged so many years before, and she has a vague memory of him, but when she returns, of course he’s totally cute and totally sweet, and crush-worthy. I totally developed a crush on him. Despite the train wreck of silliness that Gemma can sometimes be, he obviously cares a lot about her, and they are very cute together. Its a fun, summer romance and I love being along for that ride.

Getting down to it, without spoiling the book…its just fun. Its a really fun book. This is a perfect summer time read because its got the pool parties and the ice cream and the summer dates and all of that, the summer fun and, of course, the summer drama. I wanted to be a part of that world, and it reminded me of the summers I used to have before having jobs and responsibilities. It was juicy and racy and just straight up fun. I found myself laughing over and over and over again.

I will say this too, I wasn’t aware that it was a trilogy at first, because normally with contemporary, there is very little times, a sequel. So when the book ended, I was like “WHAT!” I never knew a contemporary book could leave me with such a delicious and infuriating cliffhanger. I wanted to throw the book across the room because I HAD to know what happened next. I turned the page and saw that there would be more books and felt a slight sense of relief that I would eventually find out what happened next, but I’m not a patient girl and I’m already ready for it!

All in all, fun book, full of everything you’d want in a perfect summer book…or even a book that you’re reading in winter, while dreaming of summer. It has the friendship and romance and pool parties and delicious treats and the rule breaking and all of that. Its a feel good, fun book and its one that I so HIGHLY recommend.

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

May 25, 2014May 21, 20144 Comments

Genre:

New Adult, buy more about Romance

Pages:

320

Part of a Series?:

I believe it is the first of the Rusk University series.

Release Date:

May 13th, viagra 60mg 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack follows up her trio of hits—Losing It, Faking It, and Finding It—with this thrilling first novel in an explosive series bursting with the Texas flavor, edge, and steamy romance of Friday Night Lights.

In Texas, two things are cherished above all else—football and gossip. My life has always been ruled by both.

Dallas Cole loathes football. That’s what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.

But life doesn’t always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.

Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It’s obliterated.

Dallas doesn’t know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn’t know that Dallas is his new coach’s daughter.

And neither of them know how to walk away from the attraction they feel.

My Review:

One thing that I always want to accomplish when writing my book reviews is absolute honesty. I don’t write reviews to please, or to make people happy or any of that sort of thing. So I’m not going to lie when I say that I haven’t been overly impressed with Cora Carmack yet. I ADORE her. I follow her on everything and I think she’s an absolute doll and I think that she’s fantastic with her fans. I’ve read her previous books and have enjoyed them, but not hugely impressed.

However, with All Lined Up, I was really really excited. VERY excited. Its about romance and football. I LOVE it. There aren’t a lot of books with sports in it and so I was very highly excited about it. I’m also writing a NA/YA contemporary romance that centers around a baseball centered town (once The Awakened is done being written) so I was also excited to get some inspiration. Which I have. Which is bad because I need to finish my YA sci-fi first.

Moving on though, I said in a Jenny Han review earlier this week that even though one book of an author may not impress you, you should never just write off that author and I’m very glad I did that in the case of Cora Carmack. While her previous books haven’t made a deep impression on me, this one most definitely did.

From page one to the last page, I was hooked. I was addicted to the romance, and I was highly addicted to the story of the football team and whether they’d win or not. Cora does an absolutely fantastic job of balancing the romance and the sports in the story. She also does a great job of doing justice to the sport, while also making sure that its accessible to those who may not be into sports. I think that’s a hard thing to do but she manages it so easily and I think that comes a lot from balancing the point of view between both Dallas and Carson. We get the romance on both sides and the football on both sides, but very different views of each and it plays out quite nicely.

Which brings me to the characters themselves. I love Dallas because she is so real. Her feelings toward love, and trusting people are so real, and her animosity toward football makes so much sense and I start hating football too. And I love football! She just feels so real and her emotions are raw and genuine and you can’t help but feel them with her.

And Carson! Thank you Cora Carmack for giving me yet another book boyfriend to be massively in love with. I have a weakness for hot athletic boys and you bring this one into my life like a hurricane and I just couldn’t handle it. I love a struggling athlete, and that is exactly what Alex is going to be in my own sports novel. I love that Carson feels so deeply, about everything. I love that he works so hard too. He wants to succeed so badly and he works everyday in order to make that happen. It’s not easy for him and its not handed to him. He genuinely has to work really hard to make it happen, and I love that. It makes you love him even more.

Basically, this book made a Cora fan. She had a great story, perfectly balanced with romance and sports and excitement and sexy steamy scenes. She creates memorable, real characters in both Dallas and Carson and everyone that surrounds them. I literally sped through this book so fast that when I reached the end, I was so sad that it was the end. Cora has a real voice for romance and I hope there are more in this series because I’m ready for more football and sexy boys!

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

May 19, 2014May 19, 2014Leave a comment

Genre:

Young Adult, this site Contemporary

Part of a Series?:

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

The Pre-Sloane Emily didn’t go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn’t do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just… disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try… unless they could lead back to her best friend. Apple Picking at Night? Ok, easy enough.Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a Stranger? Wait… what?

Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go Skinny Dipping? Um..

My Review:

Putting aside the fact that I would read anything Morgan Matson writes, even a takeout menu, I immediately felt a connection to Emily just by reading the synopsis alone. For most of my life, I’ve attached myself to best friends who have been so…out there, so unique and outgoing and wild and memorable. Everyone always knew my best friend, everyone always loved her, no matter who she was at the time and I followed in the adventures that were her life, and got used to being “Amanda’s best friend” or “Vanessa’s best friend” or “Allison’s best friend”. It was something I sort of got used to until none of them were there anymore. They didn’t disappear in the way that Sloane does with Emily, but the feelings were incredibly familiar to me and this was a huge part of my desire to read the book.

And the fact that Morgan had written it. Did I mention that part? I would read anything and everything by her.

Moving on though, I fell in love with this book. It’s not short, just about 450 pages and yet I managed to stay up until about 2 am, reading it. I tweeted about it, because I was so overwhelmed with how fast I read it and the emotions that I was so full of, and she had the perfect solution to it all.

Everything about this books feel so real and that’s why its so easy to get caught up in them. She’s such a beautiful writer, and an incredible storyteller but she’s also such a familiar writer too. All of her characters are memorable and real and genuine and they feel like they could be your best friend. That’s the way Amy felt in Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and Taylor in Second Chance Summer and Emily felt such the same way. Whether you’re an Emily or a Sloane or just a you, you can feel so connected with Emily. Its fantastic to go on this journey with her, from where she starts as this incredibly shy and unsure girl and transforms into someone very different.

What really gets me about this book is the connections and the friendships. It starts off with just the friendship between Emily and Frank as they work their way through Sloane’s list but you also get Dawn and Matthew and Emily’s family and its all incredibly beautiful. I love that Emily is able to find friendships in the most unexpected places and I love that summer brings them all together. I love the possibility of summer and how its this vast empty space to fill with adventures and its perfect for Emily’s changes and the friendships she makes. I love the weird way she meets Dawn and how they become friends. I love that the friendship with Frank is incredibly unexpected to Emily but her friendship with Frank’s friend Matthew is even weirder. The story is about friendship and you get so many examples of different friendships and its beautiful.

Plus, I mean, come on. Frank. Frank Porter. One, the name Frank? Not sexy, but totally manages to be so in this book. Also, I knew a boy named Frank Porter in…middle school? Maybe high school? Also, not a very sexy guy. But Morgan manages to get past the name thing and the boy I knew in middle school thing to make another boy that I’m falling ridiculously in love with.

Morgan also brings back something that she did in her first novel that I absolutely loved and that was music playlists. In Amy and Roger’s, there were playlists scattered throughout the book because they were on a road trip and it made sense. Playlists were probably harder to integrate into Second Chance Summer so the return of the playlists in this novel made me incredibly happy. The first time I saw the name “Andrew McMahon” on a playlist, I almost cried in happiness. Andrew McMahon (known for Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin and most recently, himself as a solo artist) is my musical spirit animal. I have a Something Corporate tattoo on my ankle and so I found a connection even in just the selection of music.

Lastly, I cried. It was two a.m. and I was overwhelmed with emotions and I just let it all out in sobs. It was not a sad book, not the way that Second Chance Summer was or even Amy and Roger’s but it reaches and grabs your emotions so tightly. I felt so filled up with so many emotions that I can’t even begin to name and I cried. This book makes you feel so much and I absolutely loved it.

I’ve talked enough but the bottom line is this: Morgan Matson is a terrific writer and her third novel does not disappoint. She makes you laugh and cry and want to go skinny dipping on the beach and work in an ice cream parlor and drive a car with a broken sunroof. She writes a memorable, beautiful book and its one that you most DEFINITELY need to go and pick up.

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars