Reviews - Sunkissed | The StoryGraph

875 reviews for:

Sunkissed

Kasie West

3.7 AVERAGE

wingsandfables's review against another edition

4.0

inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

*I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in collaboration with TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review*

My stop of the Sunkissed tour is May 6th! Check out my blog that day for a playlist inspired by this book curated by me!

Lighthearted, swoony, and filled with relatable characters, Sunkissed is the perfect young adult contemporary romance for this summer. Dirty Dancing vibes are all over this book and I was absolutely here for it. I had so much fun living vicariously through Avery, our main character, as she spent her summer before senior year at a swanky resort cabin with her parents and little sister, far away from the Internet and any hope of phone service. The various activities Avery got to participate in within the pages really brought such a fun summer camp vibe to the story and really immersed me in the writing. It was so refreshing considering that resorts like this aren't possible to attend right now.

I loved going on Avery's journey of self-discovery with her after her father's comment about her predictable, easygoing nature to another guest. Her realization of how her parents and therefore the world sees her is something I think a lot of us can relate to. I've certainly felt differently about myself compared to how others see me before! Her struggle to find something she's truly passionate about rings true for a lot of us in this generation as well. And Avery's growth throughout the story and the way she conquers her fear in so many ways brings a lot of inspiration to her character. I also loved her corny, dry jokes!

And then Brooks, our main love interest. I really felt for him and his family situation. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of readers who will be able to relate to the poor cards he's been dealt in life and the way he's trying to find his way through. His charisma and determination was one of my favorite parts of the book and I loved the sweetness to the romance. Seeing the two of them together made my heart speed up more than once and I definitely had a giddy smile on my face multiple times while reading this.

The supporting characters also added so much fun to the book. Getting to see Avery's little sister Lauren work on making a documentary of the band headlining the resort brought so many fun pop culture references and I loved the contrast between Lauren's go-getter attitude and determination for her passions compared to Avery's uncertainty. Their sister relationship is portrayed so accurately and it was really nice to see an actual functional family in young adult fiction. I also loved Maricela and Tia, two of the other camp workers who made friends with Avery. It was so nice to read about healthy friendships in a book instead of the typical cattiness between women you often see.

Although not the fastest paced book, Sunkissed definitely kept me interested while reading and gave me tons of warm fuzzies inside. And the ending made me long for an epilogue so badly that I'm still wondering what happened to the characters even now, days after finishing it. West is known as one of the best clean teen romance writers and this book continues her cornerstone of that market. I'm eager to read more of her books in the future!

lgmelcher's review against another edition

4.0

I love books set at summer camp! And this is a great one. Avery is on a relatable teenage journey -- trying to figure out who she is, what she is passionate about, and what she wants to pursue in life. Her parents have taken their teenage daughters to an off-the-grid family camp for two months, which stretches both sisters in different ways. Through new friendships and trials, Avery learns how to speak up for herself. I am not sure if the author intended this, but I enjoyed reading it through the lens of the Enneagram personality types. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC -- I can't wait until this book's publish date!

spearly's review against another edition

3.0

lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you NetGalley, and Caitlin at RHCB for the e-arc for review!

“Sometimes staying in the box we’ve made for ourselves is so easy. It’s comfortable and familiar in there. And a lot of times, the people around us want us to stay in there, too, because that’s how they’ve always known us: in that box.”

Sunkissed follows Avery Young as she spends her summer before senior year at an activity camp with her family, flirts with a (very cute) off-limits staff member, and makes it her summer goal to get out of her comfort zone.

West has a way with cute teen romance. Her novels always leave me feeling warm and fuzzy. I think my reading experience of Sunkissed, however, might be a little coloured because, y'all, I LOVED Kasie's last book, Moment of Truth. I'm a sucker for romance with history behind it (whether it be childhood rivals, falling-for-your-best-friend, secret pen-pals, boy-next-door...) so it has been a long while since I've read a YA romance that just... happens.

Avery meets Brooks, the lead guitarist of the dinner band who performs every night at camp, and they arrange a deal: Avery will help Brooks with lyrics for his music, and he will help her find new experiences. Seems pretty straight forward, and it was. It was cute. The tension and conflicts were quickly resolved, the stakes never felt too high, and the pair just sort of fell together over the summer. The quick pace of the novel made the relationship feel a bit fast, but I think an entire summer in reality is a fair amount of time for a romance to bloom.

Still, everything just felt a little surface level to me. And don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. I've read many YA novels that are pure fluff, no stakes, and sometimes, it works. I think I just expected something a little deeper from West after Moment of Truth (which, if you haven't read it, READ IT!!)

Personally, I would have liked to see a bit more inner dialogue from Avery, to really show her struggling with coming out of her shell, meeting new people, trying new things. We got a taste of it, and then the story shifted almost entirely to the music contest plot, and we lost all the other exciting things Avery could have tried. And I know that stage-fright was a massive hurdle to overcome, but with the laser focus on the band (and her budding romance), everything else that I was enjoying about the novel sort of fell away.

The characters were cute. I would have liked to see Avery spend some time with some of the other people at camp, whether it be some other staff, her sister, or her parents. Most of the chapters we did get with her family were sped through for the sake of pacing, but I think there were moments we could have lingered a bit more on, particularly in regards to Avery and her dad.

Still, West always manages to paint a pretty picture. I loved the atmosphere of the camp. It made me nostalgic for summer and sun and lake-views and everything that was so wonderful about those glorious months off from school. Sunkissed is probably a great novel to get you out of reading slump, and is the perfect length to boost your number on your Goodreads challenge. Not my favourite from West (from whom, obviously, I will STILL read ANYTHING), but about as inoffensive and breezy as you can get!

Content Warnings