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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
It took me a while to read this book, because I’m balancing a job and college. However after a long day and I need something to help me relax and forget and unwind, this book helped me with all of that! It’s such an easy read, but it always stays interesting and makes you want to read more! This 720 page book manages to be so exciting through every page and the ending makes you think! I suggest anyone to read this, it is so great I’ll probably read it a second time!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This one was a high school favorite of mine. I really like Summer asa character and it doesnt seem unreasonable that she would make friends in Florida so easily. I would love a tarot lady spin off!
Pre-read: Going to a beach town in a few days, so figured I'd up this on my TBR pile to now - flipped to the back to read the author blurb on Applegate, and the information is clearly from the original printing and not current with the 2008 reprint - since it claims she has no children (she has at least 1, probably 2 by 2008), is wandering with her boyfriend (they've long since married - Michael Grant! - and I doubt they were still wandering in 2008), and by 2008 she was also known for the Animorphs series, as well as Everworld and Remnants. They could have at least used an updated author bio, even if it is amusing to see what it said during its original 1995 publishing.
Review
Summer Smith is trading summer in Bloomington, Minnesota for summer in Crab Claw Key, Florida, with the hopes of getting a tan and maybe her first boyfriend. What she doesn’t expect is to meet the wrong guy, a mysterious guy, and the right guy…nor all the confusion that comes from meeting so many eligible and hot guys in one place, who all notice her, when she’s used to being overlooked by all guys! Good thing she also meets Marquez, a vivacious, friendly, and artistic local, who becomes her fast friend to help sort things out. Summer’s cousin Diana just might become a friend too, if she can face her own demons first without succumbing to them.
I admit, I set my expectations very low for this – a teenage summer romance omnibus, where the big question (I thought) would be how many tropes can Applegate fit into one summer? I should never have doubted Applegate, though! Not only did she push against the tropes (at least until the very end, when they became somewhat unavoidable with the set up), but she also worked in some pretty serious topics for teens to chew on. What makes family? How do you get through when something horrible has been done to you? How do you know who you are when so much has changed around you? Do you take a chance on love even if it may break your heart – is it worth the pain? These topics and more, even when they’re just addressed with a quick nod, give this book some weight to its volume.
In it, I also saw early elements of themes that appear more and more often, and more and more evidently, in her future series, such LGBTQIA+ positive attitudes, nascent environmentalism, questions of identity when the world seems so changed, to seek justice or revenge (what are they, anyways?), the correlation between love and pain/heartbreak, what near-death experiences can bring out, and so much more. Applegate also ensures the characters are nuanced, and how even when someone seems utterly deserving of hate or worse, there’s also always room for pity, for sadness, for empathy. Diver and J.T. especially show solid intuitiveness for the ways of the world, and offer quite a bit of solid advice and framing for understanding. Naturally since this is an omnibus, each month/book has its own climax, though there are a few elements which grow throughout all three books until the final revelations and decisive actions of August. All in all, it’s definitely an eventful summer for Summer, and I’m curious to see where Summer, Marquez, Diana, J.T., Diver, and Seth are going to end up come next spring break and beyond.
Favorite quotes and things of note:
June
Page 51: Discussion about Diver, gay or not, how not a problem etc. – it’s delivered in a “it’s no big deal” kind of way
“The rules are all different here. Mostly the rule is that there aren’t any rules. […] You be what you want. Nobody here is going to care if you’re white or black or gay or straight or whatever religion you are or where you come from, all that stuff. As long as you’re cool and don’t hassle people and don’t be all judgmental, everyone’s equal.” – page 69
“I’m just saying look out for that tropical effect, that tropical rot. It eats away at everything, so that things here deteriorate faster, fall apart faster, and then it all grows back faster and wilder than before. The old stuff disappears.” [Seth] snapped his fingers. “And before you know it, something new has shot up overnight to take its place.” – page 115
Maybe he’s right, Jen [that it’s an effect of the tropics]. I don’t know. I don’t feel like I’m any different, you know? Not inside. Maybe it’s just when you take your same, normal self to a new place and are around new people that everyone else sees you differently. That’s my theory, anyway. Or is it a hypothesis?
I know, you’re thinking: typical Summer, trying to analyze everything when she should just be enjoying it. But I have to think about it, at least a little. It’s like if I’m still me, why are people acting differently toward me? And if I’m not me, then … who am I?
And if I don’t know who I am, how am I supposed to know how I feel about things? – page 130
August
“[…] See, that’s the beauty of depression, that’s why it works. Because it seduces you. You start by being a victim, and then you begin thinking of yourself as a victim, defining yourself as a victim, and pretty soon you’re a double victim, because now you’re a victim of the feeling of being a victim. It’s a spiral that sucks you further and further down.” – page 555
Then there’s the airplane flight at the end – oh, boy, how getting on flights has changed since this was published!! Was it really ever truly that quick and easy…?
Typos etc.:
Jesse/Seth moved away… page 13 – and just above it was correct, with “Jake/Seth”!
“That new Orlando Bloom movie.” – page 218 – referencing a movie Summer and Adam watched in his home theater. In 1995, though, Bloom only had a few episodes of Casualty (tv series) under his belt, according to IMDB. His first movie wasn’t until 2001, with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Did this get updated in the reprint, when so much else wasn’t?
…with a red dry marker on a white board. – page 231 – Sounds like it’s supposed to be a red dry-erase marker? Unless this is a regional usage thing?
... a real professional waitron[.]"-page 323
"Never, mind. I guess either way... - page 392 - Nevermind
Now it was if she had... - page 415 - Now it was as if she had...
All this stuff is just baloney. A big baloney sandwich. – page 467 – I always thought it was spelled bologna, like the Italian city!
“ I don’t know,” – page 495 – remove extra space after opening quotation marks
"I guess you're right," Summer said." - page 538 – no need for the quotation marks after said.
… I think it would be a good idea. – page 659 – missing closing quotation marks – guess they got moved to the above sentence instead of here, haha!
Review
Summer Smith is trading summer in Bloomington, Minnesota for summer in Crab Claw Key, Florida, with the hopes of getting a tan and maybe her first boyfriend. What she doesn’t expect is to meet the wrong guy, a mysterious guy, and the right guy…nor all the confusion that comes from meeting so many eligible and hot guys in one place, who all notice her, when she’s used to being overlooked by all guys! Good thing she also meets Marquez, a vivacious, friendly, and artistic local, who becomes her fast friend to help sort things out. Summer’s cousin Diana just might become a friend too, if she can face her own demons first without succumbing to them.
I admit, I set my expectations very low for this – a teenage summer romance omnibus, where the big question (I thought) would be how many tropes can Applegate fit into one summer? I should never have doubted Applegate, though! Not only did she push against the tropes (at least until the very end, when they became somewhat unavoidable with the set up), but she also worked in some pretty serious topics for teens to chew on. What makes family? How do you get through when something horrible has been done to you? How do you know who you are when so much has changed around you? Do you take a chance on love even if it may break your heart – is it worth the pain? These topics and more, even when they’re just addressed with a quick nod, give this book some weight to its volume.
In it, I also saw early elements of themes that appear more and more often, and more and more evidently, in her future series, such LGBTQIA+ positive attitudes, nascent environmentalism, questions of identity when the world seems so changed, to seek justice or revenge (what are they, anyways?), the correlation between love and pain/heartbreak, what near-death experiences can bring out, and so much more. Applegate also ensures the characters are nuanced, and how even when someone seems utterly deserving of hate or worse, there’s also always room for pity, for sadness, for empathy. Diver and J.T. especially show solid intuitiveness for the ways of the world, and offer quite a bit of solid advice and framing for understanding. Naturally since this is an omnibus, each month/book has its own climax, though there are a few elements which grow throughout all three books until the final revelations and decisive actions of August. All in all, it’s definitely an eventful summer for Summer, and I’m curious to see where Summer, Marquez, Diana, J.T., Diver, and Seth are going to end up come next spring break and beyond.
Favorite quotes and things of note:
June
Page 51: Discussion about Diver, gay or not, how not a problem etc. – it’s delivered in a “it’s no big deal” kind of way
“The rules are all different here. Mostly the rule is that there aren’t any rules. […] You be what you want. Nobody here is going to care if you’re white or black or gay or straight or whatever religion you are or where you come from, all that stuff. As long as you’re cool and don’t hassle people and don’t be all judgmental, everyone’s equal.” – page 69
“I’m just saying look out for that tropical effect, that tropical rot. It eats away at everything, so that things here deteriorate faster, fall apart faster, and then it all grows back faster and wilder than before. The old stuff disappears.” [Seth] snapped his fingers. “And before you know it, something new has shot up overnight to take its place.” – page 115
Maybe he’s right, Jen [that it’s an effect of the tropics]. I don’t know. I don’t feel like I’m any different, you know? Not inside. Maybe it’s just when you take your same, normal self to a new place and are around new people that everyone else sees you differently. That’s my theory, anyway. Or is it a hypothesis?
I know, you’re thinking: typical Summer, trying to analyze everything when she should just be enjoying it. But I have to think about it, at least a little. It’s like if I’m still me, why are people acting differently toward me? And if I’m not me, then … who am I?
And if I don’t know who I am, how am I supposed to know how I feel about things? – page 130
August
Spoiler
“I think that killing yourself isn’t a real end to whatever pain you have. I think … I guess I think you can’t look at life as having a neat beginning and middle and end, like a book. If you felt bad and killed yourself, those bad feelings would just go on to someone else—your mother, your friends. That’s not right. You have to take the bad things that happen to you and … I don’t know, change them. Turn them into something else.” – page 524-525“[…] See, that’s the beauty of depression, that’s why it works. Because it seduces you. You start by being a victim, and then you begin thinking of yourself as a victim, defining yourself as a victim, and pretty soon you’re a double victim, because now you’re a victim of the feeling of being a victim. It’s a spiral that sucks you further and further down.” – page 555
Then there’s the airplane flight at the end – oh, boy, how getting on flights has changed since this was published!! Was it really ever truly that quick and easy…?
Typos etc.:
Jesse/Seth moved away… page 13 – and just above it was correct, with “Jake/Seth”!
“That new Orlando Bloom movie.” – page 218 – referencing a movie Summer and Adam watched in his home theater. In 1995, though, Bloom only had a few episodes of Casualty (tv series) under his belt, according to IMDB. His first movie wasn’t until 2001, with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Did this get updated in the reprint, when so much else wasn’t?
…with a red dry marker on a white board. – page 231 – Sounds like it’s supposed to be a red dry-erase marker? Unless this is a regional usage thing?
... a real professional waitron[.]"-page 323
"Never, mind. I guess either way... - page 392 - Nevermind
Now it was if she had... - page 415 - Now it was as if she had...
All this stuff is just baloney. A big baloney sandwich. – page 467 – I always thought it was spelled bologna, like the Italian city!
“ I don’t know,” – page 495 – remove extra space after opening quotation marks
"I guess you're right," Summer said." - page 538 – no need for the quotation marks after said.
… I think it would be a good idea. – page 659 – missing closing quotation marks – guess they got moved to the above sentence instead of here, haha!
This book was great. It's not a difficult read but its a good story and leaves you hungry for more. plus its abundance of pages will leave you busy for days
This is actually 3 books in one and was a mega impulse buy for me one day at Half Price Books. Normally, the cheesy cover would have thrown me off but I am so glad I gave it a chance. I wasn't expecting so many feels with a silly summer book. Because this is way more than just "fun in the sun" and summer romances. (Although it does have that too!)
Summer Smith (yep, her name really is Summer) is hating life right now...it's February in Minnesota and her boots are full of cold, wet slush. There was no sun. There never had been a sun. It was made up by science teachers. So when her mom asks her if she wants to spend the summer in Florida at her aunt's mega-mansion, she jumps on it. Who wouldn't? On the plane ride there, the weird old lady next to her offers to read her tarot cards and tells Summer that she "will meet three young men, each very different, each very important in her life." Summer is a little weirded out but forgets all about it when she steps into the sunshine.
Diana is Summer's cousin and doesn't want to have anything to do with her relative, but when her mom goes off on a book tour (she writes romance books and has big hair lol) for a week, Diana is stuck entertaining Summer. Well, she's supposed to anyway. Doesn't mean she will. Diana's got lots of issues and her mom thought having perky Summer there would help lift her out of her funk. It doesn't.
Marquez is a local girl who takes Summer under her wing when Diana won't. Marquez wants to get out of their little town as soon as she can and pushes away from everyone who doesn't. She denies her artistic side for the practical "grownup" side that she thinks will help her succeed. Even when that means losing the guy she loves.
The book follows all 3 girls throughout the summer, weaving their individual stories together into one of friendship and healing. Each girl has something in their past that comes back to haunt them and of course, there's a guy for each girl. I can't wait to get the next books in this series (a standalone spring break story and another summer anthology).
Reviewed at Give a Hoot Read a Book!
Summer Smith (yep, her name really is Summer) is hating life right now...it's February in Minnesota and her boots are full of cold, wet slush. There was no sun. There never had been a sun. It was made up by science teachers. So when her mom asks her if she wants to spend the summer in Florida at her aunt's mega-mansion, she jumps on it. Who wouldn't? On the plane ride there, the weird old lady next to her offers to read her tarot cards and tells Summer that she "will meet three young men, each very different, each very important in her life." Summer is a little weirded out but forgets all about it when she steps into the sunshine.
Diana is Summer's cousin and doesn't want to have anything to do with her relative, but when her mom goes off on a book tour (she writes romance books and has big hair lol) for a week, Diana is stuck entertaining Summer. Well, she's supposed to anyway. Doesn't mean she will. Diana's got lots of issues and her mom thought having perky Summer there would help lift her out of her funk. It doesn't.
Marquez is a local girl who takes Summer under her wing when Diana won't. Marquez wants to get out of their little town as soon as she can and pushes away from everyone who doesn't. She denies her artistic side for the practical "grownup" side that she thinks will help her succeed. Even when that means losing the guy she loves.
The book follows all 3 girls throughout the summer, weaving their individual stories together into one of friendship and healing. Each girl has something in their past that comes back to haunt them and of course, there's a guy for each girl. I can't wait to get the next books in this series (a standalone spring break story and another summer anthology).
Reviewed at Give a Hoot Read a Book!
This is a great summer read if you don't want to really think. It did get cliché at some points but overall it was a good easy going book. if your looking for an intense read, this is not for you.
It's one of those guilty pleasure books that you don't want to admit that you like, because its so girly( I mean come on it's called beach blondes). But I could not put this down. I read it this past summer and one night I stayed up till 6 am reading it. I know, I'm a lunatic. But the story evolved into so much more than a light summer read, it ended up dealing with some heavy subjects. So if you want a story that you can love, cry over, and get attached to, then this is the book for you. But be prepared, it's long.