Review: Second Chance Summer

Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Published: May 8th, 2012
Paperback, 468 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Taylor Edwards' family might not be the closest knit - everyone is a little too busy and over-scheduled - but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor's dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains. 

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven't actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend... and he's much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they're more aware than ever that they're battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance - with family, with friends, and with love.

There's no beating around the bush on this one - it's a tearjerker. Taylor's family hasn't really been that close, but when her dad is diagnosed with cancer, suddenly everything is going to change. One last summer at the lake house will bring the family together like never before. It was an amazing summer full of family, friendship and love and I was in love every step of the way. Taylor's last time at the lake house was memorable for all the wrong reasons. She left without saying goodbye to her first "boyfriend" (they were twelve) Henry, and her best friend, Lucy. Back after so many years, she's not surprised with the hostility they both show her once they realize she's there for the summer. But this is a summer for second chances, and throughout the book, we watch Taylor redeem herself and find out how she became so good at running away. This is a typical summer book with a dash of grief mixed in. The more Taylor learns to live, the more she realizes her father won't be able to anymore. The hope and loss is strong and every chapter brought me closer to an ending I would never be prepared for.

Every character in this book was great and well-rounded. Taylor was very typical for a seventeen year old girl, she liked to run away from problems and I won't lie when I say I've done the same. Her and Henry are awkward at first, but you can tell right away that he cares about her and wants them to be friends again. Lucy is not so easily persuaded and Taylor works really hard over the summer to earn her friendship back. They work together at a concession booth on the beach and the close quarters certainly made for great tension while their friendship was on the rocks. I was very happy when they became friends again as strong female friendships are so fun to read in books. I love when an author makes it as important as the romance because a seventeen-year-old girl would tell her friends everything. I remember how important friendship was at that age, and even now I don't know what I'd do without my best friends. Taylor's family was very realistic as well. Her older brother is an awkward brainiac who also finds love over the summer and it's the cutest damn thing. Her little sister, Gelsey, is a talented ballerina who takes after her mom and is constantly the center of attention. My favourite part with her is when Lucy and Taylor teach her how to have a proper sleepover, something every little girl needs to know!

Throughout the book, there are flashbacks to Taylor's twelve summer, a time when things were easier and everything was happy. It played really well into the story and made Taylor's redemption that much stronger. The closer I got to the end, I knew the summer was coming to an end. As Taylor grew closer to Lucy and spent romantic moments with Henry, her father's death longed in the back of her mind. Matson certainly knows how to tug those heartstrings. Taylor grew closer to her family, spent time with her father and made new memories over the summer. Family is the main focus of this book and even though Taylor spent her days with her friends, the times with her family were more important than anything. Summer stories hold a certain place in my heart. They are always hopeful and fun and nights spent looking out at the lake as the sunsets is what dreams are made of. Matson has weaved together a tale of summer love, summer friendship and moments that will forever be captured in my heart. You'll want to hug your dad and your family after this book. You'll want to say "I love you" to everyone you love before it's too late. This one is a keeper, and sometimes you need a good cry, right?

"A thousand moments that I had just taken for granted - mostly because I assumed that there would be a thousand more."

"And I've realized that the Beatles got it wrong. Love isn't all we need - love is all there is."

Review: The Sky is Everywhere

The Sky is Everywhere
Author: Jandy Nelson
Published: March 2, 2011
Paperback, 277 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. While Toby can't see her without seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for herself, each offers Lennie something she desperately needs. But ultimately, it's up to Lennie to find her own way toward what she really needs-without Bailey.

Grief steals you. It engulfs you and won't let go no matter how hard you try. It is a character in your life, following you around wherever you go with no means of escape. Grief is hard to write properly. It needs to be a character in itself, it needs to fill the pages with its darkness in order to feel real. I haven't experienced real grief, I have not lost any beloved family members, but I know how it eats away one's soul. I know that there is no real escape from it. Writers write about grief a lot, trying to capture just how soul sucking it really is. I have no read another who captures it quite like Nelson does and it is beautiful in its darkness. Lennie's older sister Bailey died suddenly one day while at college and life hasn't been the same since. Without much family left, Lennie feels completely alone, drowning in her sorrow and killing those around her. She shuts out what's left of her family and takes her grief out on random pages or coffee cups or trees, leaving notes and poems scrawled for Bailey. The only person she feels knows what she's going through is Bailey's (ex)boyfriend, Toby, whom she find comforting and just what she needs. Toby knows everything about Bailey and she knows she can talk to him about anything, remember Bailey through him. The new guy at school, Joe, is the exact opposite. He never knew Bailey and Lennie feels completely different around him, living in a world without Bailey isn't so hard when she isn't constantly reminded of her. Lennie has different feeling for each boy, and each boy brings out something different in Lennie. Processing grief isn't easy, but with the help of the people around her, maybe Lennie will make it through.

Lennie's reactions to her sister's death are so realistic, I can't believe this isn't a true story. She shuts people out, including her grandma and uncle, and tries to reach out to her dead sister through writing, in some small hope that it will make her better. She leans towards Toby because it is the comfortable thing to do. They can talk about Bailey freely, their grief the same, and the can hold each other under it stops hurting. But Toby also brings out the worse in her grief, as he sees Lennie as Bailey and not as herself. Joe on the other hand, is a healthy way of her dealing with it. She can be herself around him, no Bailey to be compared to. In him, she finds her love for music reinstated and a new outlook on life. It's not easy for her to choose who to go to, which is completely realistic. As we know, I'm not a fan of love triangles, but this one made so much sense. Toby represents a life with Bailey and Joe represents a future without her. It's hard watching Lennie try to become who she has to be without Bailey, but it's also amazing and heartbreaking. Nelson has a way with words to make something simple and routine feel like it's coming off the pages. Comparing Lennie to a houseplant and using her grandma's garden as the centrepiece to the whole story rounded this story out and separated it from others. The poems and miscellaneous writings that Lennie leaves all over the town are endearing and heart wrenching, words of a broken girl trying to piece herself back together. They broke up the novel nicely and worked well with each chapter to reveal more of the story as it went along. Everything came full circle at the end, making this book unforgettable and perfect. I was rooting for these characters from the beginning and I was hoping that Lennie would finally get to a point where she knew she could continue living without Bailey, no matter how hard it would be. We are intrepid, we carry on, no matter how badly we want to give up. This is a wonderful representation of family, love, loss, and eventually - acceptance. 

“Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes part of you, step for step, breath for breath.” 

“Remember how it was when we kissed? Armfuls and armfuls of light thrown right at us. A rope dropping down from the sky. How can the word love and the word life even fit in the mouth?”

Review: My Life In Black And White

My Life In Black And White
Author: Natasha Friend
Published: June 28, 2012
294 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

What if you lost the thing that made you who you are?

Lexi has always been stunning. Her butter-colored hair and perfect features have helped her attract friends, a boyfriend, and the attention of a modeling scout. But everything changes the night Lexi's face goes through a windshield. Now she's not sure what's worse: the scars she'll have to live with forever, or what she saw going on between her best friend and her boyfriend right before the accident. With the help of her trombone-playing, defiantly uncool older sister and a guy at school recovering from his own recent trauma, Lexi learns she's much more than just a pretty face.

The concept of this book pulled me in. A girl who has grown up being cherished for her looks, being told she's beautiful, and than losing the one thing she though defined her. Yes, it may be hard to relate to Lexi, since she seems to have it all: beauty, popularity and a hot boyfriend. But even before she goes through the windshield of a car, we get a glimpse into a life that isn't as perfect as it seems. She learns that both her best friend and her boyfriend have betrayed her so she makes the mistake of getting into a car with a guy who just wants to hook up with her. Even if you aren't the girl with the pretty face, you'll be able to relate to Lexi with the feelings and thoughts that run through her after the accident.

For the first time in Lexi's life, people look at her differently. She looks at herself differently. She doesn't want to leave the house, she doesn't want anyone to see her new face, and she certainly doesn't want to see the people who put the whole thing into effect. So she throws herself a little pity party, and you certainly can't blame the kid. Ruth, her older sister, will have none of it and she is the voice that gets Lexi out of her rut. This book is about finding out who you are when what used to define you is gone. Lexi thinks all her friends have betrayed her, but most people just don't know how to act around her anymore. While trying to avoid everyone she used to know, she finds peace with Theo, a senior who looks past her face and sees who she really is. But it seems everyone can look past her face but Lexi, and as the novel progresses, we see how she finally comes to terms with the way she now looks.

The writing in this book is perfect. Lexi's voice is young and naive, but not in a sense that makes you cringe. Friend does not use slang very often, but we never forget that a fifteen year old is talking. The way she deals with things are childish and she has a lot to learn. This makes Lexi a believable and loveable character. Most of the secondary characters don't have much depth, but Ruth is there to make up for it. She is Lexi's polar opposite but she's the only one who ends up getting though to her. Lexi and Theo's relationship doesn't seem forced or rushed, though Friend does spring some things into it that don't really add much to the story. I wish I had seen more interaction between Lexi and Ryan, as Lexi claimed she was in love with him, but they never really showed why. 

I think Friend captured trauma perfectly. Each stage of grief is there, but it's not point out directly. We see Lexi evolve throughout the story, progressing as she becomes the girl she needs to be in order to keep going. I devoured these pages and wanted more when I finished the last one. Emotions run high in this one, and they don't stop until the very last sentence. 

“Well, you're not [fat]. You have, like, the ideal balance of fat and muscle. ...If I were a cannibal, I'd eat you.” 

29. Where She Went

Book #29: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Published: April 5, 2011
264 Pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other. 


Adam's Promise: If you stay, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll quit the band; go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I’ll do that too. .. And that would suck, but I’ll do it. I can lose you like that, if I don’t lose you today. I’ll let you go. If you stay.


This book achieved what I thought the first one, If I Stay, was lacking. Picking up three years since the events in the first novel, Mia is now recovered and living on her own - without Adam. Their lives changed drastically the summer after the accident and by Christmas, they were no longer in contact with each other. Told from Adam's point of view, we get to see how he's been living with the horrible aftermath. Now a world famous rock star, his life in on the brink of cracking. He's tired of being in the band and is spending one last night in New York before starting a three month long tour. He is heavily medicated, smokes all the time, and is pretty much an emotional wreck. He has not gotten over the fact that Mia left without saying goodbye, even though he knows he has to make good on his promise to stay away from her. But a chance encounter makes him rethink everything and may just be the chance for him to ask the questions that have been haunting him for so long.


Mia is quite different than what I would have expected her to be after such a heartbreaking accident. She lost her whole family, but she pushed through it. She's done very well in her career and keeps her family close to her heart at all times. She has accepted the fact that she cannot bring them back, and her strength keeps Adam on his feet. Adam seems to take the accident harder than Mia does and his thoughts and actions throughout the novel show us that he's still having a hard time dealing with everything. The tortured rock star can be an easy ploy, but Adam's torture rings true. We've all felt abandoned and alone even in a room full of people. There is only one person he wants in the world but he can't have her. You know he would give up everything just to be with her and it's endearing, heart wrenching, and tragic. 


Emotions swirl around this novel like bees at a beehive. Forman captures the reunion of old lovers flawlessly. There is anger, hurt, sadness, and happiness. Memories fill the page just as they did in If I Stay, showing the reader parts of the world they weren't a part of. And suddenly Mia's and Adam's lives become our own and all we can do is root for them, hope for them to have their happy ending. Forman includes lyrics to Adam's songs at the beginning of every other chapter. The songs are all from the album he wrote after Mia left him. They are raw, brutal, and totally honest. You can feel his hurt and rage burning off the page. We watch as Adam struggles to escape the life he's chosen for himself and witness Mia realizing her mistakes and trying to make amends. 


This novel just proves that true love can prevail. Reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks, with just a tad bit more Rock 'N' Roll, this book will take you on a roller coaster ride that, when you finally get off, will make you want to jump right back on again. 


“You were so busy trying to be my savior that you left me all alone.”