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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Sad, yet uplifting. A little repetitve maybe. But hits a lot of right notes. Definitely worthy.
“nothing ever really goes away — it just changes into something else. something beautiful.”
i love that quote. i wasn't expecting much coming into this book so it was a really nice surprise(?). just from the ages of the characters, well when a sixteen year old says she's in love, i assume it's normal to be a little bit wary. like hold on little sis, you haven't seen much yet, don't just throw around big words, you know? by the end of the book though, ockler had me convinced; yeah matt and anna were young, and even if it wasn't the ultimate stage of love, due to the short time spam of their /romantic/ relationship, it was definitely something beautiful and tragic. it was also a bit strange reading 'twenty boy summer' because i was reminded of how shallow coming-of-age girls can be (I WAS/AM ONE), but i didn't hate ockler for making frankie and anna this way...sixteen is just such a hard age to navigate...it was, instead, like looking at little sisters thinking "one day, it won't be so much work guys...you'll mold into your skin"...so i guess what i'm saying is, is that ockler took the regular quo we associate with shallowness and made them endearing. i felt for frankie and anna and their nit-picky, girlish insecurities - i didnt hate how ockler had them cope with it, i just felt for them and in turn grew onto them like any group of girls who spend a decent amount of time together. sisterhood is just really natural, you know? even fictional ones. and lastly, i loved how ockler handled anna and frankie moving on from their loss. it wasn't anything life-changing or hugely dramatic, just a gradual transition to a new phase or chapter of their lives; very relatable and nice to be reminded of. overall, a great book with a quality message to leave its readers' with; highly commendable.
i love that quote. i wasn't expecting much coming into this book so it was a really nice surprise(?). just from the ages of the characters, well when a sixteen year old says she's in love, i assume it's normal to be a little bit wary. like hold on little sis, you haven't seen much yet, don't just throw around big words, you know? by the end of the book though, ockler had me convinced; yeah matt and anna were young, and even if it wasn't the ultimate stage of love, due to the short time spam of their /romantic/ relationship, it was definitely something beautiful and tragic. it was also a bit strange reading 'twenty boy summer' because i was reminded of how shallow coming-of-age girls can be (I WAS/AM ONE), but i didn't hate ockler for making frankie and anna this way...sixteen is just such a hard age to navigate...it was, instead, like looking at little sisters thinking "one day, it won't be so much work guys...you'll mold into your skin"...so i guess what i'm saying is, is that ockler took the regular quo we associate with shallowness and made them endearing. i felt for frankie and anna and their nit-picky, girlish insecurities - i didnt hate how ockler had them cope with it, i just felt for them and in turn grew onto them like any group of girls who spend a decent amount of time together. sisterhood is just really natural, you know? even fictional ones. and lastly, i loved how ockler handled anna and frankie moving on from their loss. it wasn't anything life-changing or hugely dramatic, just a gradual transition to a new phase or chapter of their lives; very relatable and nice to be reminded of. overall, a great book with a quality message to leave its readers' with; highly commendable.
Rating: vegan cheese
Vegan cheese would not be my first or even second or third choice when it comes to cheese, but if I really wanted cheese I would eat it.
This book was very meh for me. I would rather read it than not read at all, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to people.
Vegan cheese would not be my first or even second or third choice when it comes to cheese, but if I really wanted cheese I would eat it.
This book was very meh for me. I would rather read it than not read at all, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to people.
fast-paced
I very much enjoyed this book, however the emotion of it all didn't quite get to me as much as I wanted to feel it. I liked the way it handled grief and, at moments, the aspects of changing friendships too, but honestly I wanted this book to end with Anna ending her friendship with Frankie (I sort of expected it after the 'maybe she doesn't need me' moment) since I found their relationship to be both quite unlikely, and damaging. Frankie behaves very unfairly, and I can't understand why she makes such a big deal out of Anna 'needing' to lose her virginity when she herself actually hasn't. I can understand the lie considering the sort of character she is, but I don't see why she would want to pressure her best friend like that. It's a downright awful thing to do and as a reader, I cannot sympathise with it.
The story finishes feeling unresolved, which sort of works and sort of doesn't. Most importantly, Anna does come to terms with Matt's death, but her friendship with Frankie is left up in the air, as is Frankie's situation with her parents. Anna's relationship with Sam is similar, however this does work, as it leaves us able to speculate about the possibility of them meeting in the future.
Speaking of Sam, however, I didn't particularly enjoy him as a character. There seemed to be little to bring him and Anna together, and his character remained very underdeveloped, relying on telling rather than showing.
On to focus on the good though, the writing was enjoyable and mostly flowed nicely, although the beach seemed to be described so often it was becoming a bit superfluous. Anna was a likeable main character and the plot remained interesting, and I enjoy the direction it took. So, while this book was nothing special for me, I still liked it and would recommend it to teenage readers who enjoy some romance but don't mind the heavier themes of death and grief.
The story finishes feeling unresolved, which sort of works and sort of doesn't. Most importantly, Anna does come to terms with Matt's death, but her friendship with Frankie is left up in the air, as is Frankie's situation with her parents. Anna's relationship with Sam is similar, however this does work, as it leaves us able to speculate about the possibility of them meeting in the future.
Speaking of Sam, however, I didn't particularly enjoy him as a character. There seemed to be little to bring him and Anna together, and his character remained very underdeveloped, relying on telling rather than showing.
On to focus on the good though, the writing was enjoyable and mostly flowed nicely, although the beach seemed to be described so often it was becoming a bit superfluous. Anna was a likeable main character and the plot remained interesting, and I enjoy the direction it took. So, while this book was nothing special for me, I still liked it and would recommend it to teenage readers who enjoy some romance but don't mind the heavier themes of death and grief.
Good book, though some of the content placed in it was a little advanced, in my opinion, for 16-year-olds.
so this book was an okay read but meaningful i guess. it didnt really focus on the romance but more on the friendship which was quite different compared to the usual books that i read. i did really like that aspect of the book however, i didnt exactly like the main friend too much. frankie was just not likable enough to me while anna was okay and strangely relatable. also, many of the side characters weren't developed at all which totally made me sad (literallt knew nothing about sam) i guess i just feel like the book itself had an interesting premise but the execution wasn't too good. the book had too many scenes that didnt seem to matter at all and bored me but not enough scenes that actually were relevant to the plot. (literally a whole convo about this kid and his cleaning maid, like why) this made me feel like the book was too long and dragging (bc of the useless scenes) and that the book wasn't long enough (bc there wasnt enough development, not enough scenes that were relevant, and bc the book felt like it ended quite abruptly) anyway, this was a decent enough book but dont put ur expectations too high.
Let me start by saying that I was really looking forward to this book. I wanted to read it since it first came out. But, unfortunately I just didn't love this one. It was just blah! for me.
The plot is very interesting and the writing is brilliant in parts but i just didn't connected with the book at all and I hated some characters.
The Good:
I liked Anna as a character and I somewhat connected to her.
The story was interesting.
The writing was good and the only reason I finished the book.
The cover is gorgeous.
The Bad:
The plot was ruined because the book seemed so long and draggy.
I simply hated the character of Frankie. I hated it so much that I didn't even sympathized with her.
It didn't get Anna and Sam's relationship at all.
The grown up aspect of the book seemed childish and immature.
Overall: 2/5 and a thumbs down
Writing: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Romance: 2/5
LoL Moments: 2/5
Cover: 4/5
Favorite Quote: “Weeping is not the same thing as crying, It takes your whole body to weep, and when it`s over, you feel like you don`t have any bones left to hold you up.”
Favorite Character: Anna
This was a surprisingly deep book compared to what I was expecting. Although the description mentions the death of the MC's first love, I assumed the focus would be on a summer of whirlwind romances. This book had romance, but it was also filled with more deep contemplation about grief and the nature of human relationships. It was like the best icecream: so delicious that you eat it faster than you should, suffer the pain for doing so, and keep going anyway. This was definitely a bittersweet romance.
When I picked up this 2009 debut, I expected a fun beach read (apparently, I'm not very good at reading the synopses of the books that I purchase). Well, I was surprised when I realized what the subject matter of the book was (dealing with grief, death, and first love). The story is told by Anna, and really begins after the death of Matt, the older brother of her best friend, Frankie. What's even more traumatizing, is the fact that Anna has been in love with him for years, and they had just recently started a relationship (secretly, of course).
Most of the book takes place in California, where the girls are vacationing (which is where the twenty boy game begins). They spend time traveling to see the sights (San Francisco), spending the rest of the time, where else, on the beach. I've vacationed in California, and it was surprisingly different from the chaotic lifestyle that I'm used to on the East Coast. Granted, it was a vacation, but Palo Alto and La Selva Beach had a different atmosphere. Plus, I completely geeked out that I was in the city where the Stanford Prison Experiments took place (have I mentioned I'm a psych major?). But I digress, it was really nice to see that the laid back atmosphere I had experienced was able to translate to the book. I also loved how Ocklwer was able to capture how it feelts to be a teenager, particularly how everything seems like it's the end of the world.
The great thing about this novel is that isn't just a beach read. It's got something special that makes people look forward to, or reminisce about their first love. I can't wait for more from this author. On a different note, is it just me or are the debut authors this year amazing?
Most of the book takes place in California, where the girls are vacationing (which is where the twenty boy game begins). They spend time traveling to see the sights (San Francisco), spending the rest of the time, where else, on the beach. I've vacationed in California, and it was surprisingly different from the chaotic lifestyle that I'm used to on the East Coast. Granted, it was a vacation, but Palo Alto and La Selva Beach had a different atmosphere. Plus, I completely geeked out that I was in the city where the Stanford Prison Experiments took place (have I mentioned I'm a psych major?). But I digress, it was really nice to see that the laid back atmosphere I had experienced was able to translate to the book. I also loved how Ocklwer was able to capture how it feelts to be a teenager, particularly how everything seems like it's the end of the world.
The great thing about this novel is that isn't just a beach read. It's got something special that makes people look forward to, or reminisce about their first love. I can't wait for more from this author. On a different note, is it just me or are the debut authors this year amazing?