Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Book Review: Twenty Boy Summer by: Sarah Ockler.

Author: Sarah Ockler
Release Date: June 1 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 290
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★★ 

 "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



On her 15th birthday Anna Reilly gets everything she has ever wanted – Matt her best friend as a boy kisses her and from that moment a secret love affair is born - a secret from everyone including her best friend and Matt’s sister Frankie. The three of them have been inseparable since Anna can remember and she’s fears a secret like this might ruin everything and after Matt suddenly dies Anna is sure the secret is going to go with him.
A great
 summer read. When Anna and Matt get together in the beginning of the book I was immediately sad because we know from the summary that Matt is going to die. They are so good together. It almost seemed like a waste of a good romance. I completely understand why it takes Anna so long to get through it. Not only is she losing her best friend but her super dreamy new boyfriend. Sad right?

I developed a love/hate relationship with Frankie throughout the book. At first I didn’t really know what to think about her since she was acting out over the death of her brother. But I didn’t really like that she kept pushing Anna into doing things she thought she should be doing. Granted I know she had no idea about Anna and Matt but it still frustrated me. I also felt like she was pretty selfish when it came to grieving over Matt it was like she felt like she was the only person who should be able to be sad.

However the more I got into the book the more I liked her. Sure she’s superficial and pretends to be dumb but so do a lot of girls. She reminded me a lot of a girlfriend I had in college who was very similar around guys, but she her heart was in the right place and Frankie’s is too.

Nothing’s better than a summer romance and Anna and Sam’s is perfect. I loved falling in love with Sam just as Anna did. Slow and second-guessing at first and then finally giving in all at once. He is perfect to help her get over Matt.

I thought this book was going to be dark and intense and while it does have those moments the lightness and healing are what made this book so wonderful. Watching Anna put not only herself but her best friend back together is heartwarming.

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