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sarahk24's review
4.0
Glad I finally got to this, it's been sitting on my TBR for years. It was cute, what I expected. Not sure why the underage drinking and drugs were just the norm for these kids, yet that did nothing for the plot. So, why include it?
thelasagna's review against another edition
5.0
Summertime perfection
I've never been so satisfied by book in my entire life. A perfect book for anyone who's looking for the best middle parts of life.
I've never been so satisfied by book in my entire life. A perfect book for anyone who's looking for the best middle parts of life.
hellomadalyn's review
4.0
This review originally appeared on Novel Ink.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Small Town Hearts is a sweet, realistic coming-of-age story that’s impossible not to love. We follow our protagonist, Babe Vogel, during a summer that does not go at all as she planned. With both of her childhood best friends preparing to leave for college come fall, Babe is ready to spend the summer making one last batch of memories with them before everything changes. However, things quickly go awry after a reckless kiss, and are complicated even further when Babe’s ex-girlfriend reappears in Oars Rest for the summer. Oh, and then there’s Levi, the summer boy Babe is desperately pretending she’s not falling for. ALL THE SMALL-TOWN DRAMA, BASICALLY.
Small Town Hearts shines in its portrayal of small town life. I’m a sucker for small town settings (bonus points if it’s also a beach!), and Oars Rest can hang with the best of them. The town of Oars Rest, its residents, and its eccentricities jump straight off the pages. It’s the type of town where you can’t walk down the street without seeing a familiar face (or ten), and the residents are always willing to lend a helping hand. I also wanted to visit every single local business mentioned in this book, seriously. ESPECIALLY the food places. Speaking of, a large portion of Small Town Hearts is set in The Busy Bean, the coffee shop where Babe is the manager. As someone who worked for years in a coffee shop, this setting felt so comforting and realistic to me. And I loved that Busy’s kind of served as a microcosm for the town of Oars Rest generally.
I love that Babe is someone who’s content where she is. So often in these small-town books, we follow main characters who want desperately to get out– and, as someone who grew up in a very small town, I can say this was true for me, but it certainly isn’t true for everyone. There’s a misconception that if you stay in the town where you grew up, you’re “settling” in some way or that you lack larger aspirations. But, newsflash! College isn’t for everyone, and leaving also isn’t for everyone. Small Town Hearts challenged this idea in a way that was so refreshing. Babe might choose to stay in Oars Rest and manage Busy’s over going off to college, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have bigger dreams. Her dreams just happen to lie within the place she was born and the place she loves.
I also loved this book’s focus on the way friendships shift and change as we get older. Babe goes through a pretty rough friend breakup with her best friends of 10+ years in this book, and all three of them have to face hard truths about the way they treat each other and the expectations they have of themselves and one another. We also see Babe learn that she can make new friends and widen her circle while still maintaining her lifelong friendships. Overall, I really appreciated the nuanced portrayal of what friendship is like as an adult.
Of course, I can’t talk about Small Town Hearts without talking about the romance. Levi Keller, a city boy in Oars Rest for a summer art program, immediately grabs Babe’s attention when he becomes a regular at Busy’s. The cutest friends-to-lovers romance ensues. I think this book captured the sweetness and the exhilaration of a summer romance PERFECTLY. Having a crush on someone is thrilling, but also terrifying, and Babe definitely went through all of this. I also loved the way Babe’s bisexuality was never used for shock value and never belittled by the people she loves. Speaking of, I appreciated the way Babe respected her ex-girlfriend’s own journey with her sexuality and took care to never out her to other people, even when it would have made things easier. The casual bi rep was refreshing and much-needed. Anyway, Babe and Levi are the cutest. Levi is the definition of a soft boy, and I loved seeing him not only fall in love with Babe, but also fall in love with Oars Rest. I also love that, even in the midst of a whirlwind summer romance, Babe takes time to think about what *she* wants out of her future and whether or not her budding relationship with Levi fits into those plans. Their relationship felt sweet and swoony, while still going through all of the natural ups-and-downs of a real summer romance. It struck the perfect balance between realistic and cinematic.
If you’re looking for the perfect cozy summer book that stills deals with real-world problems, I can’t recommend Small Town Hearts highly enough!
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Small Town Hearts is a sweet, realistic coming-of-age story that’s impossible not to love. We follow our protagonist, Babe Vogel, during a summer that does not go at all as she planned. With both of her childhood best friends preparing to leave for college come fall, Babe is ready to spend the summer making one last batch of memories with them before everything changes. However, things quickly go awry after a reckless kiss, and are complicated even further when Babe’s ex-girlfriend reappears in Oars Rest for the summer. Oh, and then there’s Levi, the summer boy Babe is desperately pretending she’s not falling for. ALL THE SMALL-TOWN DRAMA, BASICALLY.
Small Town Hearts shines in its portrayal of small town life. I’m a sucker for small town settings (bonus points if it’s also a beach!), and Oars Rest can hang with the best of them. The town of Oars Rest, its residents, and its eccentricities jump straight off the pages. It’s the type of town where you can’t walk down the street without seeing a familiar face (or ten), and the residents are always willing to lend a helping hand. I also wanted to visit every single local business mentioned in this book, seriously. ESPECIALLY the food places. Speaking of, a large portion of Small Town Hearts is set in The Busy Bean, the coffee shop where Babe is the manager. As someone who worked for years in a coffee shop, this setting felt so comforting and realistic to me. And I loved that Busy’s kind of served as a microcosm for the town of Oars Rest generally.
I love that Babe is someone who’s content where she is. So often in these small-town books, we follow main characters who want desperately to get out– and, as someone who grew up in a very small town, I can say this was true for me, but it certainly isn’t true for everyone. There’s a misconception that if you stay in the town where you grew up, you’re “settling” in some way or that you lack larger aspirations. But, newsflash! College isn’t for everyone, and leaving also isn’t for everyone. Small Town Hearts challenged this idea in a way that was so refreshing. Babe might choose to stay in Oars Rest and manage Busy’s over going off to college, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have bigger dreams. Her dreams just happen to lie within the place she was born and the place she loves.
I also loved this book’s focus on the way friendships shift and change as we get older. Babe goes through a pretty rough friend breakup with her best friends of 10+ years in this book, and all three of them have to face hard truths about the way they treat each other and the expectations they have of themselves and one another. We also see Babe learn that she can make new friends and widen her circle while still maintaining her lifelong friendships. Overall, I really appreciated the nuanced portrayal of what friendship is like as an adult.
Of course, I can’t talk about Small Town Hearts without talking about the romance. Levi Keller, a city boy in Oars Rest for a summer art program, immediately grabs Babe’s attention when he becomes a regular at Busy’s. The cutest friends-to-lovers romance ensues. I think this book captured the sweetness and the exhilaration of a summer romance PERFECTLY. Having a crush on someone is thrilling, but also terrifying, and Babe definitely went through all of this. I also loved the way Babe’s bisexuality was never used for shock value and never belittled by the people she loves. Speaking of, I appreciated the way Babe respected her ex-girlfriend’s own journey with her sexuality and took care to never out her to other people, even when it would have made things easier. The casual bi rep was refreshing and much-needed. Anyway, Babe and Levi are the cutest. Levi is the definition of a soft boy, and I loved seeing him not only fall in love with Babe, but also fall in love with Oars Rest. I also love that, even in the midst of a whirlwind summer romance, Babe takes time to think about what *she* wants out of her future and whether or not her budding relationship with Levi fits into those plans. Their relationship felt sweet and swoony, while still going through all of the natural ups-and-downs of a real summer romance. It struck the perfect balance between realistic and cinematic.
If you’re looking for the perfect cozy summer book that stills deals with real-world problems, I can’t recommend Small Town Hearts highly enough!
lyndajdickson's review against another edition
4.0
It’s the summer after high school graduation in the small beachside holiday town of Oar’s Rest. Babe has been looking forward to spending it with her best friend Penny and Penny’s boyfriend Chad. Babe knows things will change when they start college, she just wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly. First, a misunderstanding leads to her losing both of her friends. Then Levi, the cute customer at the coffee shop where she works, catches her attention - but she knows better than to date a summer boy after what happened to her mother. And, finally, her ex shows up and starts making waves. It’s not quite the summer Babe was expecting. But it might just turn out to be even better.
It took a while to get the drift of this book, as I couldn’t tell who the narrator was or even what sex they were for half of the first chapter. In addition, it felt like I had missed a previous book, as we are thrown into the story and given very little background information. For example, it’s not explained how two recent high school graduates have their own homes (Babe the lighthouse and Penny the houseboat) until about a quarter of the way in. The chapters are very long, and the book is extremely long overall for a young adult novel, although it’s probably technically new adult (but without the explicit sex). There’s a lot of unnecessary detail throughout, but it all adds to the atmosphere. The book is extremely well-written, with near-perfect editing, and littered with gorgeous seaside similes and metaphors. Sights, sounds, tastes, and smells are evocatively portrayed, and I loved the descriptions of the food, so much so that I was disappointed there was no recipe at the end. Perhaps an accompanying cookbook is in order?
By the end, you’ll want to visit this town and meet all of its inhabitants. An impressive debut.
Warnings: coarse language, underage drinking, sexual references, LGBT themes, drug use.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (22 March): https://www.booksdirectonline.com/2019/03/small-town-hearts-by-lillie-vale.html
It took a while to get the drift of this book, as I couldn’t tell who the narrator was or even what sex they were for half of the first chapter. In addition, it felt like I had missed a previous book, as we are thrown into the story and given very little background information. For example, it’s not explained how two recent high school graduates have their own homes (Babe the lighthouse and Penny the houseboat) until about a quarter of the way in. The chapters are very long, and the book is extremely long overall for a young adult novel, although it’s probably technically new adult (but without the explicit sex). There’s a lot of unnecessary detail throughout, but it all adds to the atmosphere. The book is extremely well-written, with near-perfect editing, and littered with gorgeous seaside similes and metaphors. Sights, sounds, tastes, and smells are evocatively portrayed, and I loved the descriptions of the food, so much so that I was disappointed there was no recipe at the end. Perhaps an accompanying cookbook is in order?
By the end, you’ll want to visit this town and meet all of its inhabitants. An impressive debut.
Warnings: coarse language, underage drinking, sexual references, LGBT themes, drug use.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (22 March): https://www.booksdirectonline.com/2019/03/small-town-hearts-by-lillie-vale.html
thenatureofpages's review
3.0
This book was cute! That’s the main word that pops into my head when I think about it.
The plot line felt a little repetitive as if the main cast of characters ran in circles while trying to figure their lives out. It still held my attention enough to enjoy the light read to the end.
The characters were lovable but I never felt like we really got to know them enough to fall utterly in love. Sure, as a reader I related to some of the issues (like going to college in the fall) but not much deeper. It felt like standing at the edge of the beach, the water just reaching me. I wanted more depth.
The one thing I didn’t like is that there were toxic friendships that never really got resolved and, to me, felt ignored.
Ultimately, this was a great read while I was on a long airplane ride and I wish there was more weight, but overall enjoyable!
The plot line felt a little repetitive as if the main cast of characters ran in circles while trying to figure their lives out. It still held my attention enough to enjoy the light read to the end.
The characters were lovable but I never felt like we really got to know them enough to fall utterly in love. Sure, as a reader I related to some of the issues (like going to college in the fall) but not much deeper. It felt like standing at the edge of the beach, the water just reaching me. I wanted more depth.
The one thing I didn’t like is that there were toxic friendships that never really got resolved and, to me, felt ignored.
Ultimately, this was a great read while I was on a long airplane ride and I wish there was more weight, but overall enjoyable!
tbr_withmaya's review
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mila0104's review
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
girlreading's review
4.0
There is so much to love about this book:
* The small town, where everybody knows your name, that's why neighbours become good friends, Gilmore Girls vibe.
* THE FOOD. I swear, I was hungry 99% of the time whilst reading this.
* The exploration into the complexities of friendships.
* The fact that the MC wasn't going to college and that, not only was totally okay with it, it was her choice!
* The uncomplicated discussions and general acceptance surrounding sexuality (the MC is bi).
* The love interested is understanding and soft and entirely adorable.
* The realistic outlook on relationships and the fact that no one changed their lives around the other.
* IT IS JUST SO FREAKING CUTE.
* The wonderfully descriptive writing style that didn't feel heavy or exhausting to get through, it simply painted a beautiful, picture of summertime.
* Upper YA (the MC was 19, love interested 18 and friends 18-19)
* Did I mention the food?
Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable, warm, summertime contemporary and the perfect read to distract me from the painfully cold, rainy British winter.
* The small town, where everybody knows your name, that's why neighbours become good friends, Gilmore Girls vibe.
* THE FOOD. I swear, I was hungry 99% of the time whilst reading this.
* The exploration into the complexities of friendships.
* The fact that the MC wasn't going to college and that, not only was totally okay with it, it was her choice!
* The uncomplicated discussions and general acceptance surrounding sexuality (the MC is bi).
* The love interested is understanding and soft and entirely adorable.
* The realistic outlook on relationships and the fact that no one changed their lives around the other.
* IT IS JUST SO FREAKING CUTE.
* The wonderfully descriptive writing style that didn't feel heavy or exhausting to get through, it simply painted a beautiful, picture of summertime.
* Upper YA (the MC was 19, love interested 18 and friends 18-19)
* Did I mention the food?
Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable, warm, summertime contemporary and the perfect read to distract me from the painfully cold, rainy British winter.
renel's review
3.0
3.5 stars
Another very generic ya novel that I’d give 3 stars but at least it had a protagonist that was 19 so .5 star extra for that
Another very generic ya novel that I’d give 3 stars but at least it had a protagonist that was 19 so .5 star extra for that
jayysmileyy's review
3.0
3.5/5 stars. I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. Felt like certain parts drug on a bit. I felt it to be a little dramatic at times. But it captured summer pretty perfectly. Dealt with a few topics pretty well. . A bit predictable but overall a good read. A good summer read.