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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
one of my favorite childhood books, i read it so many times when i was in middle school and wanted to relive it. it’s still just so good
"Reading this book felt like diving underwater and emerging with wise little gems about friendship, grieving, and love."
-Laura Resau, author of Red Glass
This review sums up what I feel about this book.
-Laura Resau, author of Red Glass
This review sums up what I feel about this book.
4/5 Stars
This was so good! It was super sad at times, and super happy at others. I really enjoyed this!
This was so good! It was super sad at times, and super happy at others. I really enjoyed this!
this book was the perfect summer read. it was so cute and so fun. my favorite books are the ones that take place at the beach in the summer and this one delivered. I enjoyed it. the characters, settings and everything were super cute. Anna was a great lead who I enjoyed reading about and I loved her and Frankie's friendship. it reminds me of one I have with one of my friends. Sam was super cute and I loved his relationship with Anna. I wish we saw more!!!! the saddest part was when Frankie & Anna had the fight. that was so hard to read about. they needed each other and it was hard to see them fight. All in all, a cute summer read!!
This book was such a good book. from the very start, i fell in love with this book.
Ahh. Now, this was a book that I definitely enjoyed. It was quirky and real and just wonderful.
The plot detailed Anna and her best friend Frankie's vacation in Zanzibar Bay. Beforehand, Frankie comes up with an idea that they should shoot for meeting twenty boys during their vacation in the hopes of having A.B.S.E.- The Absolute Best Summer and possibly obtaining a summer fling to remember. While agreeing to the idea, Anna can't help but think of her love for Frankie's recently deceased brother, and how hollow she still feels because of it. While everybody is feeling the same way about Matt's death, they decide to press on with the trip in order for some "normalcy" and to finally have some fun. What Anna and Frankie don't expect is to finally come to terms with themselves and this tragic death, and learn how to move on.
Personally, I really enjoyed the plot and the story as a whole. Ockler really brought a lot of quirkiness and reality to her story, that I couldn't put the book down at all. Touching on the reality portion, do you know those books where you read it and most of the things that happen just seem so impossible and outlandish that it seems more like fiction than realistic fiction? Does that make any sense? This book was so full of intensity and love that it's almost overwhelming. There was just something about this book that struck me.
Perhaps it was the characters. I could emphasize with nearly all of them, and I genuinely cared what happened to whom. I especially loved Anna, our main character, (which rarely occurs with most books) because she was so grounded and had depth. We witnessed her confusion and feelings and also how she dealt with everything. I find it really awesome when we get a main character who isn't all over the place and ridiculously oblivious. There were also many layers to Frankie, as well as Sam. I honestly have no negative comments as far as characters go.
The writing was nice and quirky. I know, how many times can I possibly use that word in one review. Challenge accepted. Just the way that Ockler had Anna describe things and situations left me chucking aloud, because they were phrased in such a way that felt relaxing and just cool. Twenty Boy Summer really isn't a difficult book to read. In fact, I almost guarantee that you'll finish it in one sitting. With that point, I didn't find the pacing of the story to be slow at all. Therefore, it's not too hard to charge through and still feel satisfied with all that you've read.
Other thoughts:
* It's refreshing when the male characters aren't bigoted or the ever-typical "tall, dark, and broody."
* I really adored the cover of the book and how well it tied in with the story. The sea glass aspect was really cool, and I'm glad that the designer arranged it so well with the story. Rather then having the typical mysterious girl or boy on the cover, we have something that actually had relevance in the book.
☆☆☆☆☆/5
Recommend?: If you want a fantastic and enthralling summer read.
If you want something cute and quirky.
The plot detailed Anna and her best friend Frankie's vacation in Zanzibar Bay. Beforehand, Frankie comes up with an idea that they should shoot for meeting twenty boys during their vacation in the hopes of having A.B.S.E.- The Absolute Best Summer and possibly obtaining a summer fling to remember. While agreeing to the idea, Anna can't help but think of her love for Frankie's recently deceased brother, and how hollow she still feels because of it. While everybody is feeling the same way about Matt's death, they decide to press on with the trip in order for some "normalcy" and to finally have some fun. What Anna and Frankie don't expect is to finally come to terms with themselves and this tragic death, and learn how to move on.
Personally, I really enjoyed the plot and the story as a whole. Ockler really brought a lot of quirkiness and reality to her story, that I couldn't put the book down at all. Touching on the reality portion, do you know those books where you read it and most of the things that happen just seem so impossible and outlandish that it seems more like fiction than realistic fiction? Does that make any sense? This book was so full of intensity and love that it's almost overwhelming. There was just something about this book that struck me.
Perhaps it was the characters. I could emphasize with nearly all of them, and I genuinely cared what happened to whom. I especially loved Anna, our main character, (which rarely occurs with most books) because she was so grounded and had depth. We witnessed her confusion and feelings and also how she dealt with everything. I find it really awesome when we get a main character who isn't all over the place and ridiculously oblivious. There were also many layers to Frankie, as well as Sam. I honestly have no negative comments as far as characters go.
The writing was nice and quirky. I know, how many times can I possibly use that word in one review. Challenge accepted. Just the way that Ockler had Anna describe things and situations left me chucking aloud, because they were phrased in such a way that felt relaxing and just cool. Twenty Boy Summer really isn't a difficult book to read. In fact, I almost guarantee that you'll finish it in one sitting. With that point, I didn't find the pacing of the story to be slow at all. Therefore, it's not too hard to charge through and still feel satisfied with all that you've read.
Other thoughts:
* It's refreshing when the male characters aren't bigoted or the ever-typical "tall, dark, and broody."
* I really adored the cover of the book and how well it tied in with the story. The sea glass aspect was really cool, and I'm glad that the designer arranged it so well with the story. Rather then having the typical mysterious girl or boy on the cover, we have something that actually had relevance in the book.
☆☆☆☆☆/5
Recommend?: If you want a fantastic and enthralling summer read.
If you want something cute and quirky.
Five dragons for the way it made me feel. Four for the actual story. Averaged out gives me 4.5 dragons. For this and other reviews visit https://www.literarydragonreviews.website/
I really wish Sarah Ockler had picked a different title than Twenty Boy Summer. First, it nearly made me skip over this book. This title sounds like… like…well:
“’Twenty days for what?’
‘Twenty boys.’
I think she’s joking, but her eyes are set. I must stop this madness before she has us buying the family pack of condoms at the pharmacy.”
Yeah it sounds like that. And I was not interested in reading that book so I would have skipped this and I would have missed out.
You may be wondering why I did choose to read this book. There’s a person on Goodreads whose opinion I greatly admire and she read this book and her review was intensely personal. It told about her loss and how this book touched her and I couldn’t turn away from that.
But there’s another reason the title should be different. This book really isn’t about a “Twenty Boy Summer.” It’s about heartbreak and finding out if you can move forward. It’s about grief and how we hold on to it and don’t share it with anyone because that would feel too much like letting it go. This book is about how we can become strangers to those we love because we are just too damn sad and it’s about coming back together for a chance at healing.
The basic idea is Anna is taking a vacation with her best friend Frankie’s family with a competition to meet twenty boys in twenty days. The depth comes from the fact that Anna had a secret relationship with Frankie’s brother just before he died one year ago. She has kept her promise to keep it a secret for the last year no matter how much it has hurt her and now she’s trying to figure out if she’s ready to move on and what it will mean if she does.
“I’ll never know exactly what I lost, how much it should hurt, how long I should keep thinking about him.”
The writing is beautifully poetic without being experimental or overdone. I found myself tearing up more than once and not just because of my personal connection to the subject matter. It was written well enough and originally enough to draw me in and keep me reading to find out how Anna grows.
The cover technically fits as it is a heart made of broken pieces of memory. But paired with the title it gives the vibe that this is a simple beach read that’ll make you feel light and fuzzy. It is not. If you’ve ever lost someone this will remind you of all the grief and the day you realized you weren’t going to weep at the mention of their name.
There isn’t much more I can say about this to recommend it. You either know why this book is worth it or you don’t and hopefully never will. This book is the literary form of a thestral.
For Hannah.
I really wish Sarah Ockler had picked a different title than Twenty Boy Summer. First, it nearly made me skip over this book. This title sounds like… like…well:
“’Twenty days for what?’
‘Twenty boys.’
I think she’s joking, but her eyes are set. I must stop this madness before she has us buying the family pack of condoms at the pharmacy.”
Yeah it sounds like that. And I was not interested in reading that book so I would have skipped this and I would have missed out.
You may be wondering why I did choose to read this book. There’s a person on Goodreads whose opinion I greatly admire and she read this book and her review was intensely personal. It told about her loss and how this book touched her and I couldn’t turn away from that.
But there’s another reason the title should be different. This book really isn’t about a “Twenty Boy Summer.” It’s about heartbreak and finding out if you can move forward. It’s about grief and how we hold on to it and don’t share it with anyone because that would feel too much like letting it go. This book is about how we can become strangers to those we love because we are just too damn sad and it’s about coming back together for a chance at healing.
The basic idea is Anna is taking a vacation with her best friend Frankie’s family with a competition to meet twenty boys in twenty days. The depth comes from the fact that Anna had a secret relationship with Frankie’s brother just before he died one year ago. She has kept her promise to keep it a secret for the last year no matter how much it has hurt her and now she’s trying to figure out if she’s ready to move on and what it will mean if she does.
“I’ll never know exactly what I lost, how much it should hurt, how long I should keep thinking about him.”
The writing is beautifully poetic without being experimental or overdone. I found myself tearing up more than once and not just because of my personal connection to the subject matter. It was written well enough and originally enough to draw me in and keep me reading to find out how Anna grows.
The cover technically fits as it is a heart made of broken pieces of memory. But paired with the title it gives the vibe that this is a simple beach read that’ll make you feel light and fuzzy. It is not. If you’ve ever lost someone this will remind you of all the grief and the day you realized you weren’t going to weep at the mention of their name.
There isn’t much more I can say about this to recommend it. You either know why this book is worth it or you don’t and hopefully never will. This book is the literary form of a thestral.
For Hannah.
Read June 27th 2014
Read: April 8th 2013
THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT!I read this once a year. It is one of my favourite books! Sarah Ockler put all she had in her into he debut novel and it certainly paid off.
Read: April 8th 2013
THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT!I read this once a year. It is one of my favourite books! Sarah Ockler put all she had in her into he debut novel and it certainly paid off.
Rating:
Characters: 20/20
Setting: 9/10
Plot: 19/20
Originality: 20/20
Writing: 18/20
Recommendation: 10/10
Overall: 96/100 or A
Anna is going on a trip with her best friend, Frankie to Zanzibar Bay. Frankie thinks that it will be the perfect time and place for a summer romance, a quick and harmless fling. During swimsuit shopping, Anna and Frankie come up with a plan for the Absolute Best Summer Ever. The plan is to see who can get the most guys in twenty days. The problem is that Anna, isn't over Frankie's Brother, Matt, who died suddenly in a car crash. So, Anna is holding on to that time with Matt and hiding the secret from Frankie.
Twenty Boy Summer had an amazing setting. I felt like I was in California and feeling the sunshine, when I read it in March. Anna was true to herself. Her relationship with Matt appeared to be honest and sincere. There were a few things that I didn't like about Frankie in the beginning, but she seemed to grow up and be more honest. Oakler does and amazing job creating a well woven story that digs in to your heart. You will cry, laugh, and fall in love with the characters and the storyline. Oakler has an amazing debut of love lost and living every moment of your life to the best you can. I loved this book and could fangirl it for quite bit longer. Anyways, I recommend this book.
Twenty Boy Summer comes out on June 1st.
Characters: 20/20
Setting: 9/10
Plot: 19/20
Originality: 20/20
Writing: 18/20
Recommendation: 10/10
Overall: 96/100 or A
Anna is going on a trip with her best friend, Frankie to Zanzibar Bay. Frankie thinks that it will be the perfect time and place for a summer romance, a quick and harmless fling. During swimsuit shopping, Anna and Frankie come up with a plan for the Absolute Best Summer Ever. The plan is to see who can get the most guys in twenty days. The problem is that Anna, isn't over Frankie's Brother, Matt, who died suddenly in a car crash. So, Anna is holding on to that time with Matt and hiding the secret from Frankie.
Twenty Boy Summer had an amazing setting. I felt like I was in California and feeling the sunshine, when I read it in March. Anna was true to herself. Her relationship with Matt appeared to be honest and sincere. There were a few things that I didn't like about Frankie in the beginning, but she seemed to grow up and be more honest. Oakler does and amazing job creating a well woven story that digs in to your heart. You will cry, laugh, and fall in love with the characters and the storyline. Oakler has an amazing debut of love lost and living every moment of your life to the best you can. I loved this book and could fangirl it for quite bit longer. Anyways, I recommend this book.
Twenty Boy Summer comes out on June 1st.