Published: May 3rd 2016
Pages: 519
Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Synopsis
Now since I'm writing this review with an ARC, I won't be writing the synopsis from the book jacket. Instead I will be writing out my own synopsis.
The book is set in the town of Stanwich, Connecticut (which is where her books are mainly set in) and it focuses on a girl named Andie Walker, whose father is a big Congressmen in the U.S. So, because of this, her relationship with her farther has deteriorated; and it's now all awkward between them because he's always working. This results in Andie being left to her own devices. With Andie coming from a political family, she has always planned everything about her life. But with this summer, when things do not go according to plan, Andie has to learn how to live in the present and not worry about what the future holds. On top of this, she meets adorable and nerdy Clark (they have a romance), and she has her solid group of friends to help her out through her journey. Oh, and she takes on the job of being a dog walker for the summer!
Thoughts
There are so many things that I have to say about this book, and they are all positive. But before I get into my initial thoughts about the book, I just want to say that Morgan Matson is literally one of my favourite authors of all time, and in the contemporary genre. She write amazing books about summer romances and family, friendship and self-discovery. So if you have not yet read anything by her, I strongly suggest you do.
I loved every single thing about this book, even going as far as saying that this is one of my favourite books so far this year. It was so amazing I could not put it down. Well actually, it was slow getting into the book, but once everything was set into motion, the pages flew by and I really could not put it down for a good few hours. I pretty much spent all of yesterday reading this book, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I adored the romance between Andie and Clark, the solid friendship between Andie, Palmer, Toby, and Bri, and even the family relationship/dynamic between Andie and her dad. All of this was so enjoyable to read and it was very relatable to read about.
The first thing I want to talk about is Andie herself. She is the main protagonist in this novel (obviously) and it was interesting to read about her thoughts and feelings on everything that happened in the book. At first when your read her perspective you kind of don't understand her actions and why she did them; but once it is further explained, you can understand more of why she did a certain thing and it is clear that she did it for the right reason. I really liked Andie as a character a lot, and she didn't irritate me too much, as I felt like I could relate to her on a certain level (like I can with most of the author's main characters). There was a strong character development with Andie and it was awesome to see her grow into a completely different person from the beginning of the book to the end.
Another character that I want to mainly talk about more is Clark. He was the most adorable and loving character that I have ever read in a book. Clark was so nerdy and awkward, and he was super sweet towards Andie and her friends. To be honest, I think Clark is one of my favourite male love interests because of everything I just mentioned. He was just normal guy with an interesting back story (read the book and you'll know). But what was nice about Clark is that he must have felt included in Andie's group of friends as he never had a group of his own, so I felt that it was nice that he was included and everyone accepted him in the group. He was normal, and just overall a nice guy. I really loved him as the male love interest.
Now briefly mentioning the romance, I loved their romance so much and how it developed a little slowly towards the beginning of the book. I just loved how it was just a normal type romance with all the awkward beginning stages of a relationship, then as the book continues they get more comfortable with each other. I think that is wonderful to read about because that's (I assume) how most romantic relationships start, and so in that sense it was very realistic. It was not 'insta-lovey' like in the some books. I also loved how this book was not so focused on the romance, but it also deals with other situations like Andie's group of friends and her farther; and those played a big role in the book as well.
Speaking and Andie and her dad, I feel awful for saying this, but I kind of expected their relationship to be less prominent and less developed as it actually was in the book. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that it played a huge role in this book, and it was significant to Andie's character development and her growth throughout the novel. I loved how the dad got more involved in Andie's life and they both made the effort to spend time together after so long of not doing so. Their family dynamic was so amazing to read about, and throughout the novel it is shown that the dad really cares for his daughter despite his career. And it appears that he is a really good guy despite what people have said about him in the scandal. So this proves to not judge a book by its cover.
The final thing I want to talk about is the friendship between the 4 girls Andie, Palmer, Toby, and Bri. I loved their friendship so much, that it actually reminds me of my 4 best friends. We all have different personalities but we balance each other out, and it's the same thing with the four friends in the book. Of course in most friendships, there is going to be some sort of falling out between all or some of the friends; but that's life, it happens (and it happens in the book as well). It was interesting to see how 2 girls were closer to each other than the other 2 girls, and I believe that's how it is with most friendships. For example Toby and Bri were closer to one another than they were with Andie and Palmer and vice versa. In some books the friendships is usually equal, so it was interesting to see a different approach on it in this book.
And of course I knew that there was going to be drama between Toby and Bri, because they are really close to one another; almost like twins. I knew it was going to happen when I realized that Wyatt was rejecting Toby, and it showed that he was more interested in Bri; and of course that put a rift in their friendship. It kind of sucks how things don't really stay the same between them in the end. Hopefully there's a novel that focuses more on Toby and her relationships, and to see if "Tobri" will ever reconcile their friendship.
This is the last time I will be saying this, but I would like to thank (once again) Simon and Schuster Canada for giving me an ARC copy for this book, in order for me give an honest review. I greatly appreciate it. Anyways, that is all I have to say on my thoughts about this book, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it (the post). So, (obviously based off my thoughts previously mentioned) I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this book for you guys to read. If you want an amazing contemporary with romance, family, friendships and heartbreak then this is the book for you. So until my next post, good bye for now.
Rating
5/5
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