A review by kthornette
Last Chance Summer by Shannon Klare

4.0

“If I could survive a car accident and the aftermath that followed, I could survive a handful of bratty teenagers with chips on their shoulders. I was one of them. Whether they wanted me or not.”

I’m a bitch for summer camp settings. And for plots involving troubled teen establishments.

I adored Grant and Alex’s version of enemies-to-lovers since they were more snarky with each other and called the other person out for their crap rather than loathed the other person for petty reasons. I enjoyed their dynamic. I won’t lie. I wanted Grant more for myself as the book progressed. Still rooted for him and Alex. As someone who doesn’t like opening up, I appreciated his whole “I never mentioned it because we weren’t talking about anything related to it” and how he didn’t force Alex to share her story.

My only real issue with the book, avoiding spoilers, was that I wish we had more context involving events in the prologue. It would’ve been more impactful and easier to empathize with Alex if we could see and feel more of her grief, guilt, and struggle. I feel as if a lot of it was shown/told in fragments or a single sentence here and there. We learn more eventually but a build-up would’ve been better.

A lot of the dialogue felt forced and cringey, but this is a gem: “Snitches get stitches.” “Hit me and you’ll get some too.”

If you want a short and simple read for one sitting, I recommend this one.