Title: Twenty Boy Summer
Author: Sarah Ockler
Release date: June 1st 2009Pages: 290
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Little Brown Books For Young Readers
My rating: 4/ 5
Source: Bought
Synopsis:
"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"
According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.
TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"
According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.
TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.
(taken from goodreads)
Review:
First of all, this tittle is misleading and does not to the book justice! When people read this tittle they'll probably think "Oh, this must be another cheesy story overflowing with some vapid, sporadical romance. Or at least that's what I expected. I know it's basically the most frowned upon thing within the book community (to judge books based on their title/ cover), but I'm sure we've all been guilty of it at some point. On the bright side, you get a pleasant surprise when you read the book and realize that it is potentially fantastic.
Twenty Boy Summer is one of those reads that you pick up not realizing what you are getting yourself into. Which is pure awesomeness (with some sadness thrown in there). I mean, this book really took me by surprise. I wasn't really expecting anything other than a cheesy summer contemporary, but what I got definitely wasn't that. It was better.
What I loved most was Anna and Frankie's friendship. It wasn't perfect; in fact, it was pretty flawed, but I guess that's what I loved about it. It really represented how, no matter how close you are to someone and how much of best friend they are to you, there will always be those thing that you are too afraid to share. It happens in real life and it happened in this book. Anna had a thing with Frankie's brother. Unfortunately, he died before things could go any further. Anna never told Frankie. But with Anna's unresolved feelings and Frankie's new idea of finding a summer romance within 20 days, the secret grows harder to hide. Both girls embark on a summer journey that involves a lot of good times as well as sad ones. And although it could feel a bit slow-ish at times, it was an amazing story nonetheless.
We get to see how loss can affect a family. How it can drive them apart. And also how damaging it can be to keep feelings bottled up inside. This book really got to me. I'm not sure if it was how broken Frankie was. Or how hard she pretended to be fine. Or maybe how Anna was broken too. Or how she really wanted to tell Frankie's the truth but felt to great of a fear to actually do it. Maybe it was all of it. Whatever the case, I really really loved this book. It's a great summer read, although NOT a light-hearted one. It's an amazing and heart-breaking story that manages to be hopeful at the same time. Sarah Ockler's always does an outstanding job at covering the perfect balance of so many important topics in just one story. You will start to care for the characters and you will start rooting for them. Because you will most likely relate to one of them in one way or another.
Twenty Boy Summer is one of those reads that you pick up not realizing what you are getting yourself into. Which is pure awesomeness (with some sadness thrown in there). I mean, this book really took me by surprise. I wasn't really expecting anything other than a cheesy summer contemporary, but what I got definitely wasn't that. It was better.
What I loved most was Anna and Frankie's friendship. It wasn't perfect; in fact, it was pretty flawed, but I guess that's what I loved about it. It really represented how, no matter how close you are to someone and how much of best friend they are to you, there will always be those thing that you are too afraid to share. It happens in real life and it happened in this book. Anna had a thing with Frankie's brother. Unfortunately, he died before things could go any further. Anna never told Frankie. But with Anna's unresolved feelings and Frankie's new idea of finding a summer romance within 20 days, the secret grows harder to hide. Both girls embark on a summer journey that involves a lot of good times as well as sad ones. And although it could feel a bit slow-ish at times, it was an amazing story nonetheless.
We get to see how loss can affect a family. How it can drive them apart. And also how damaging it can be to keep feelings bottled up inside. This book really got to me. I'm not sure if it was how broken Frankie was. Or how hard she pretended to be fine. Or maybe how Anna was broken too. Or how she really wanted to tell Frankie's the truth but felt to great of a fear to actually do it. Maybe it was all of it. Whatever the case, I really really loved this book. It's a great summer read, although NOT a light-hearted one. It's an amazing and heart-breaking story that manages to be hopeful at the same time. Sarah Ockler's always does an outstanding job at covering the perfect balance of so many important topics in just one story. You will start to care for the characters and you will start rooting for them. Because you will most likely relate to one of them in one way or another.
Hiii, I've nominated you for the Beautiful Bloggers Award :) Rules are on my blog: http://literary-lyobsessed.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/beautiful-bloggers-award.html
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad this book is not some cheesy romance. Everyone judges covers, it's not just you! ;) Whoa this book sounds really impactful and sad yet empowering at the same time. I can't wait to see what's in store for the main character! Lovely review <3
ReplyDeleteIt really is! I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it and at how much I was able to obtain from it. I hope you can get to it soon and that you enjoy it as much as I did. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Rachel!
Many thanks for placing up this post, I feel every person will thanks for that.
ReplyDelete