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kweerkitten's review
3.0
britta hates her mom's boyfriend, all she wants is to get away from his sleazy comments. meredith is the good girl with the perfect gpa but she's tired of it, if only she could take a break. kate is the gorgeous daughter of a politician who's gotten into a bit of trouble, and she needs to hide away from the mess of her life. and the perfect opportunity presents itself when spider and her grandmother, ruthie, are renting out three rooms in the adirondacks for the whole month of july. the book follows the story of these four girls, britta, meredith, kate and spider as they find themselves in the summer that will change them forever.
to start off, it was a heartwarming story and a refreshing change of pace for me after all the searing thrills of fantasy books i was consuming. it captured the essence of ya perfectly: good friends, good music, perfect atmosphere. i found myself envious of the girls exploring the mountains and lakes of the adirondacks, myself being boxed up in my room. the characters and their relationships were endearing and wholesome. i found it predictable but what can be expected from a lighthearted ya novel with no magic and queens and poisons?
addressing the writing, it was sub-par. no big showy paragraphs and nothing over-the-top. the book had no business being in third person and the switching povs got confusing midway. at one point, i felt like all the povs read the same. i was also expecting some queer romance content between two characters (you'll know it if you read it) but i was sorely disappointed.
while i enjoyed the concept of the novel, i felt like it could've been executed better. maybe it would be better suited for a movie? the picturesque scenes and sometimes beautiful words would have been the perfect montage/voice-over material for some ever-hungry netflix director.
in any case, it's a fun, short read if you're looking for something lighthearted with a cute romance subplot.
rating — 6/10
to start off, it was a heartwarming story and a refreshing change of pace for me after all the searing thrills of fantasy books i was consuming. it captured the essence of ya perfectly: good friends, good music, perfect atmosphere. i found myself envious of the girls exploring the mountains and lakes of the adirondacks, myself being boxed up in my room. the characters and their relationships were endearing and wholesome. i found it predictable but what can be expected from a lighthearted ya novel with no magic and queens and poisons?
addressing the writing, it was sub-par. no big showy paragraphs and nothing over-the-top. the book had no business being in third person and the switching povs got confusing midway. at one point, i felt like all the povs read the same. i was also expecting some queer romance content between two characters (you'll know it if you read it) but i was sorely disappointed.
while i enjoyed the concept of the novel, i felt like it could've been executed better. maybe it would be better suited for a movie? the picturesque scenes and sometimes beautiful words would have been the perfect montage/voice-over material for some ever-hungry netflix director.
in any case, it's a fun, short read if you're looking for something lighthearted with a cute romance subplot.
rating — 6/10
lookingforamandaa's review
5.0
Alex Flinn has been an auto-buy author for me for years. She’s one of Antonia’s absolute favorite authors. So, when I saw she was coming out with a new contemporary novel, you could say I was excited. This was the first book I picked up for the Litha Witch-A-Thon because I just had to get into it as soon as possible.
In Girls of July, we follow four girls that are growing up and trying to figure out who they are and what they really want from life. They find themselves together in a cabin in the mountains. At first, they were all pretty unlikable characters except for Ruthie, the grandmother. The four girls, Britta, Kate, Meredith, and Spider, are all at points in their lives where they need change, even if they don’t know that they need it.
I really enjoyed seeing the four of them figure out how to live together and be around each other 24 hours a day. As the story progressed, they learned more about one another and became more likable characters. I really liked that they all had their own distinct voices. There was no confusion when going between the four perspectives.
We have Meredith, the Brainiac who’s not sure if she’s chasing her own dreams or her parent’s dreams. She finds romance and a new appreciation for nature. She learns that the things she thought she wanted may not have been her own dreams. The only thing I didn’t like about Meredith was that she gets a little lost in her romance. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the romance. But I thought it was going to be more of the girls being friends together.
Then there’s Kate. Southern belle, comes from a wealthy family, just trying to live up to her parents’ expectations. Except, she doesn’t want to live the future that they have planned for her. Instead, she spends the summer babysitting a little boy, giving help to someone that doesn’t want to accept it. Kate learns that sometimes asking for help is okay. I think Kate was the most likable at the beginning. She has a big heart and loves pretty freely. She struggles with family issues but comes out on top. I think she really learned the most this summer.
Britta, our Cuban firecracker. I loved that her culture was included in this story. We see her trying to teach the other girls (Spider) how to cook. She doesn’t shy away from who she is even if that is a loud and enthusiastic girl that not everyone likes. She grew the least I think. She learns that she needs to be honest with her mother. As much as I liked Britta, I was a little disappointed with the ending of her story. I would have liked a little more resolution with her mom.
Finally, Spider. She was the most unlikable. She’s the one that put the ad for roommates at her family’s cabin. But she was so grumpy and negative the first chunk of the book I wondered why she even bothered. But that question was answered. Spider is an aspiring filmmaker which is incorporated into the story. Her and Britta spend most of their time working on a short movie project and the two really bond. Spider lives with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. I think her story was such a good one. It really showed how strong she was and that she wasn’t just her illness. Spider has goals and dreams and I really grew to like her.
Overall, I liked this book just as much as I thought I would. Four girls that don’t know each other go into a cabin for a month and come out as lifelong friends. I think this story was so good. There were a diverse group of characters some rich, some not, some of color, some not, and one struggling with a lifelong illness. I also want to vaguely mention that there is talk of a female/female relationship but I can’t give too many details without spoiling anything. I love that these girls had adventures and learned things. I enjoyed reading this story so much. It’s almost five hundred pages and I read it all in one day. I would certainly recommend this to anyone that loves contemporary books. Plus, it has an absolutely stunning cover.
In Girls of July, we follow four girls that are growing up and trying to figure out who they are and what they really want from life. They find themselves together in a cabin in the mountains. At first, they were all pretty unlikable characters except for Ruthie, the grandmother. The four girls, Britta, Kate, Meredith, and Spider, are all at points in their lives where they need change, even if they don’t know that they need it.
I really enjoyed seeing the four of them figure out how to live together and be around each other 24 hours a day. As the story progressed, they learned more about one another and became more likable characters. I really liked that they all had their own distinct voices. There was no confusion when going between the four perspectives.
We have Meredith, the Brainiac who’s not sure if she’s chasing her own dreams or her parent’s dreams. She finds romance and a new appreciation for nature. She learns that the things she thought she wanted may not have been her own dreams. The only thing I didn’t like about Meredith was that she gets a little lost in her romance. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the romance. But I thought it was going to be more of the girls being friends together.
Then there’s Kate. Southern belle, comes from a wealthy family, just trying to live up to her parents’ expectations. Except, she doesn’t want to live the future that they have planned for her. Instead, she spends the summer babysitting a little boy, giving help to someone that doesn’t want to accept it. Kate learns that sometimes asking for help is okay. I think Kate was the most likable at the beginning. She has a big heart and loves pretty freely. She struggles with family issues but comes out on top. I think she really learned the most this summer.
Britta, our Cuban firecracker. I loved that her culture was included in this story. We see her trying to teach the other girls (Spider) how to cook. She doesn’t shy away from who she is even if that is a loud and enthusiastic girl that not everyone likes. She grew the least I think. She learns that she needs to be honest with her mother. As much as I liked Britta, I was a little disappointed with the ending of her story. I would have liked a little more resolution with her mom.
Finally, Spider. She was the most unlikable. She’s the one that put the ad for roommates at her family’s cabin. But she was so grumpy and negative the first chunk of the book I wondered why she even bothered. But that question was answered. Spider is an aspiring filmmaker which is incorporated into the story. Her and Britta spend most of their time working on a short movie project and the two really bond. Spider lives with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. I think her story was such a good one. It really showed how strong she was and that she wasn’t just her illness. Spider has goals and dreams and I really grew to like her.
Overall, I liked this book just as much as I thought I would. Four girls that don’t know each other go into a cabin for a month and come out as lifelong friends. I think this story was so good. There were a diverse group of characters some rich, some not, some of color, some not, and one struggling with a lifelong illness. I also want to vaguely mention that there is talk of a female/female relationship but I can’t give too many details without spoiling anything. I love that these girls had adventures and learned things. I enjoyed reading this story so much. It’s almost five hundred pages and I read it all in one day. I would certainly recommend this to anyone that loves contemporary books. Plus, it has an absolutely stunning cover.
chelsbethbaute's review
2.0
This book was incredibly boring and dull. There was no real plot, no real connection. Also it needed to be about 200 pages (at least) shorter.
paradeoflaughter's review
4.0
Cute summer YA read about friendship, lost love, overcoming expectations, and finding out who you truly are.
marshmallowbooks's review
4.0
This is a great YA summer read. It's compared to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which I completely agree with. I listened to the audio, which had different narrators for each of the 4 girls. If you go in wanting a story that feels like summer is different than the rest of the year, you'll get what you're looking for.
basketballtf25's review
4.0
this book was no doubt, really cute. a great story of love and friendship! but my problem is that this book was slow and hard to read at times but at other times; impossible to put down! i also like the small plot twists!
cebaute's review
2.0
This book was incredibly boring and dull. There was no real plot, no real connection. Also it needed to be about 200 pages (at least) shorter.
jutdwaehugs's review
5.0
A wonderful book about following your own dreams instead of someone else's.
emya06's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75