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It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list.
On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?
Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough.
Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not?
Kiss a stranger? Um…
Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane’s list. Who knows what she’ll find?
Go skinny-dipping? Wait…what?

This wasn’t my favourite Morgan Matson book (Amy and Roger definitely still holds that title!), but I did still really enjoy it. I loved a lot about this book – but some things did disappoint me. For one, I kind of knew everything that was happening. Nothing shocked me or made me think Matson had written outside of her comfort zone – but I did find it very comforting to read.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it was a great contemporary summer read, but I did unfortunately have a few issues with it.

“Real friends are the ones you can count on no matter what.”

So let’s start with the good stuff! The whole friendship and mystery I really loved. I don’t think I’ve read a book with a list to complete like this one did, and it definitelty made for good plot development.

I also loved the friendship between Dawn, Collins, Frank and Em. It felt really cute and real. I also think Em’s family offered something we don’t often see in YA, and I do love books with great relationships with family. Beckett made for such an adorable little brother!

“The ones who go into the forest to find you and bring you home.”

Unfortunately I did have a few tiny niggles about this book, as I did with The Unexpected Everything. For one, the ending! As cute as it was for two characters, what happened to the others? Without spoilers, is Em forgiven by a certain girl? Or the other friend?

Another thing I have to mention is Slaone. As close as her and Em were, I have to say she just kind of…annoyed me. Like, she literally abandoned Slaone and Em just forgives her when she manages to get new friends. I felt like the ending of the book, and the whole road trip (without giving any spoilers), should have been…more important. Bigger, somehow.

“And real friends never have to tell you that they’re your friends.”

Other than that, I really loved this book. The love interest was really good, and even though it was predictable as I mentioned before, it was also relaxed and comforting. If you love a good summery contemporary or anything by Morgan Matson, I’d definitely recommend it!

★★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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When Ben’s girlfriend, Marly, dies, he feels his life is over and the prospect of Valentine’s day without her fills him with bitterness. But then Marly arrives – or at least, her ghost does – along with three other spirits. Now Ben must take a journey through Valentines past, present and future – and what he learns will change him forever.

I have to say, this book really shocked me. I’m not the biggest fan of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens or even David Levithan, but I was a fan of this book.

For a start, I started this book last night, and finished it this morning. I wanted quick read to finish before the end of the month, but I didn’t expect to read half of it in an hour. This book just flew past!

“When the heart stops, you die. Love is everywhere that life is, and if there is no love for life, you die.”

I actually thought the whole Valentine’s themed retelling of A Christmas Carol was really clever. It had a familiarity to it I liked, but the Valentine’s theme kept it really fresh and interesting.

I adored Ben and the other characters – I felt like his grief and how it affected him was explained really well. He was really bitter over the death of Marly, but that’s not how he was like inside nor how he wanted to be. I really felt like I had a close connection with him.

There was also an adorable gay couple called Tiny and Tim who I loved! They gave a whole new element to the story and I like how they were included. I also loved Ben’s group of friends and how sweet they were in trying to support him.

“Giving up on love is the same thing as giving up on life itself.”

However, I can’t lie when I say I didn’t have issues with this book. It felt a little…weird in places. Some of it felt very wintery, some summery, which kind of reflected Ben’s mood but in a strange way! Also, the voices of Ben and his friends were definitely not teenage. In fact, I just felt like they fitted more in A Christmas Carol itself than in this modern day retelling. Another problem I had is just that this book isn’t really my thing. But that’s just personal, and I still enjoyed it!

★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

With this one being a collection of stories, I honestly don’t know how to review it. I think I’m just going to have to go one by one – because this book is so diverse!

Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail by Leigh Bardugo – 4 out of 5 stars

“The person she liked best didn’t like her enough to want more of her, and she didn’t want to pretend that wasn’t awful.”

I really enjoyed this start to the book, and it genuinly surprised me! Leigh Bardugo has a great way of interspersing romance and fantasy, and I honestly didn’t expect it to work as well as it did.

The End of Love by Nina Lacour – 5 out of 5 stars

“As much as people want to look on the bright side, skip straight to the future when everything will be okay, the truth is that there is this time, where you sometimes have trouble breathing, and you feel powerless.”

I would say that The End of Love was possibly my favourite of all the 12 stories. It had a great summery feel and the love was adorable. I totally related to the main characters love for school and I liked the way it included difficult topics such as her parents divorce. The camping off summer vibes perfectly.

Last Stand At the Cinegore by Libba Bray – 3 out of 5 stars

In Ninety Minutes Turn North by Stephanie Perkins – 5 out of 5 stars

“The person she liked best didn’t like her enough to want more of her, and she didn’t want to pretend that wasn’t awful.”

I have a feeling that Stephanie Perkins has this amazing secret ability where she can just put anyone under a spell that makes us fall in love with her writing. Because this story is just so goddamn cute, and I love it so much. The whole location gave it a unique feel, the speech was adorable and omg, even the title is so cute. Yes, it may not be the most summery story, but I don’t even care.

Souvenirs by Tim Federle – 2.5 out of 5 stars

“What is life, it comes to me, without the occasional risk of pizza?”

I didn’t dislike this story – I just had…issues with it. Keith for a start was not the best love interest, and I felt like he was quite inconsiderate of Matt’s feelings. However, I did like the setting being in a theme park and it gave off a summery vibe! The narrative was pretty unique as well – it reminded me of David Levithan actually.

Inertia by Veronica Roth – 2 out of 5 stars

“Some people might leave you,’ he said, for once ignoring a joke in favor of something real. ‘But it doesn’t mean you’re worth leaving. It doesn’t mean that at all.”

The first thing that stood out about this one is that the technology they use is so damn similar to that in Divergent. Like come on, I want something new. This story also had nothing to do with summer, but I guess the concept was pretty cool and I felt for the characters.

Love is the Last Resort by Jon Skovron – 4 out of 5 stars

“Because if we are all fools, then perhaps there is some wisdom in falling in love.”

I actually really liked this one – it shocked me quite a lot! The whole summer resort gave the right vibes and I loved the varying characters. I definitely thought Skovron pulled off having a number of characters in a short story, and even though it was pretty predictable and unrealistic, I enjoyed watching this story play out. It even made me laugh out loud at points!

Good Luck and Farewell by Brandy Colbert – 3 out of 5 stars

“I think maybe saying good-bye isn’t bad at all. Maybe it meabs I’m making room for someone new.”

I remember enjoying this one a lot at the time, but the reason I’m giving it such a low rating is because I really can’t remember it very well. And what I do remember, I don’t really think much actually happened. However, I did like the representation, LGBTQIA+ relationship and the fact this story tackled grief.

Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare – 2 out of 5 stars

“I snuggled into his arms as the last of the fireworks faded, and high above, Mephit flapped across the sky, his wings silhouetted against the moon.”

This story was just weird. I’m not one for demons or dark magic etc, so I honestly found it quite hard to grasp. I don’t think that’s just me though – going in depth about magic and demons might be a little too much for such a short story. I also didn’t get the summery vibes I was hoping for, and I actually had a problem with…incest. Like, I know the people aren’t actually family..but they are by marriage. I just found that a bit weird.

A Thousand Ways this Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E. Smith – 5 out of 5 stars

“He was a mystery that—for reasons I didn’t quite understand—I felt desperate to solve.”

Oh my, here we go. This is exactly what I was looking for. For one, the love interest is goddamn sweet and has a love of kids. The main character works in a summer camp, giving off the perfect vibe for summer. Also, back to the love interest again – he is on the autism spectrum! And it doesn’t change the way she feels for him! Just yes, omg. This one was so good. Maybe my favourite?

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman – 5 out of 5 stars

“Probably falling in love is always a little like that: You discover that one other person who understands what no one else seems to, which is that the world is broken and can never, ever be fixed. You can stop pretending, at least for a little while. You can both admit it, if only to each other.”

Okay so I actually really liked this one and I actually thought the concept was pretty original compared to some of the other stories. It gave a different vibe, but I still found it pretty summery. Also, the love interests were both interesting and had good character depth. The plot was interesting, and left some intruige for the reader.

So overall, I did enjoy this book. There were plenty of stories I didn’t like, but the ones I did really brought my rating back up and made me love this novel a lot!

★★★★

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Fifteen-year-old Frankie Landau-Banks has grown up a lot over the summer. She’s no longer daddy’s little girl – and almost immediately after starting the new semester at her highly prestigious school, she bags goofy-but-gorgeous Matthew Livingston as her boyfriend. They get along great but then Frankie discovers that Matthew is a member of a boys-only secret society that specialise in ‘hilarious’ pranks. Which hardly seems fair… especially when Frankie knows she’s smarter than any of its members. And to prove this, she’s going to teach them a lesson.

I unfortunately didn’t really enjoy this one as much as I’d have liked. As mentioned in my previous review, E. Lockhart has a very unique style, and it shone through once again in this novel.

Unfortunately, the first word that comes to mind when I think of this novel is slow. I just feel like for a book of over 300 pages, not much happens in this book at all. Frankie spends a while at school. She gets a boyfriend. She uncovers secrets, and she pulls some clever pranks. She ends up pretty much back where she started.

“It is better to be alone, she figures, than to be with someone who can’t see who you are. It is better to lead than to follow”

Her relationship with Matthew bothered me a lot. She talks about loving him – but never actually explained why she loves him. In fact, she seemed angry at him for most of the book, and there doesn’t actually seem to be that much of a relationship between the two.

So what did I actually enjoy about this book? A lot of what I liked about it was the cleverness of E. Lockhart. The whole complicated plot and pranks and basset club were just so imaginative and clever. I really admire her for creating something refreshing and different from so many other YA novels. This is just so…unique, which lives up to my expectations of E. Lockhart.

“It is better to speak up than stay silent. It is better to open doors than to shut them on people.”

The plot development reminded me a lot of Fly On the Wall, also by E. Lockhart. It seemed we spent a lot of time reading this slow story for not much of a reward at the end. I felt so different about Fly On the Wall, simply just because I think we got a reward for finishing the story.

Let’s talk about this book being a feminist novel. Sure, I understand this. But I don’t actually think Frankie portrays a great role model. She’s a very jealous person who manipulates people to get what she wants. I felt her ‘love’ for Matthew was a complete lie and for once, I wish there was more focus on the romance and development of it.

“She will not be simple and sweet. She will not be what people tell her to be. That Bunny Rabbit is dead.”

Overall, I have really mixed opinions of this book. It left me confused and I definitely feel like maybe I didn’t understand the full message it was trying to portray. But what I do understand and can analyze, I unfortunately cannot bring myself to love.

★★★ (2.5 stars)

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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