DNF at 13%

I didn't know this book exists until today.
If I did, it would have tripled and squared my disappointment.

This book is such a let down. It's doubly disappointing because her first book was so strong. ("My Life Next Door" lured me like a siren towards YA books. Countless re-reads and still my favourite!)

But THIS? I have no words. None at all. Speechless. Mute with shock. Stunned.

This book feels drawn out and juvenile. The flashbacks idea was executed terribly - they made the story disjointed. The ending is completely unrealistic.

What I liked: Mrs. E. Ladies, Grandpa Ben.

FINAL VERDICT : SKIP ( )

DNF @25%

I'm just disappointed beyond belief :(

It started off as a slow read for me & I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it or not, but, I did! This is another one I am glad I stuck with. I really liked it. Her books seem like the ones I might have to have audio to finish. The narrator for this book, Erin Spencer, took me some getting used to, but once I did, it became easier to get through listening to her and this book. I gave the book a 4/5 because of the slow start. I liked the characters a lot. Of course, there were some things that got on my nerves, but I guess that's to be expected in many books. Some things that ended up happening that I kind of saw coming. Maybe she intentionally let it be seen? *shrugs* But, that still doesn't mean I had to totally like it, but, I guess it happens! :-) ( )

3.5 stars.

I wanted to love this book because My Life Next Door is one of my favorite contemporaries, but this one was a little more "meh" for me. I definitely enjoyed it overall and I loved that the family relationships were still very prevalent and important.

However while very very sweet and cute at some points, there was also a little too much angst at times, and a few parts were a bit predictable.

Overall though, definitely enjoyable and worth a read! ( )

All the elements I loved about "My Life Next Door" were there (beach, summer, interesting family), but for me this novel dragged. Gwen and Cass (and Gwen and other guys in the book) have a history, but that history was slow to be revealed. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it had been New Adult instead of YA. (edit: to clarify: from my perspective, the characters had a lot of adult responsibility to be high school students. For me, it would have worked better if this had been a summer between college instead of high school. I could have better believed the maturity and bitterness). ( )