September 21, 2010

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Twenty Boy SummerOnce, Anna made a happy threesome with her two best friends - brother and sister- Matt and Frankie. But in the year since Matt's sudden death, things have been off. Yet, Anna finds herself planning for the Absolute Best Summer Ever with Frankie, for their stay in Zanzibar Beach.

Wild and boy crazy Frankie comes up with a plan so Anna can have the perfect summer fling while at the beach. What Frankie doesn't know is that Anna already had that perfect fling, that it happened the year before with none other than Matt. But that's a secret Matt took with him to the grave thanks to the promise he extracted from Anna that he would be the one to tell Frankie.

But, at a beach haunted by Matt's presence, Anna and Frankie might just find the courage to let go and move on.

Okay, I have very mixed feelings about this book. I never grew to like Frankie and I ended up thinking that Matt was a bit cruel in making Anna keep this secret, cruel and kind of cowardly because he not only robbed them of time together but he also sort of robbed Anna of her right to grieve him as she needed to.

Anna I liked and I liked Sam and I liked the setting, but my anger toward Frankie and Matt sort of seeped into the rest of the story. That being said, Twenty Boy Summer is a beautifully crafted story, the language feels lovely, rich and evocative and that's something I really liked about the book.

Also loved the cover, it suits the book perfectly.
starstarstar3/4
Alex

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the honest review. I've never actually read this book-- I always meant to-- but I've been hearing so much about it lately. No one has mentioned disliking Frankie and Matt but you made an interesting point about Matt robbing Anna of her right to mourn. Thanks for the review!

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  2. Thanks for the fab review! I bought this for myself a while back and keep telling myself to read it but I haven't managed it yet!

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  3. Twenty Boy Summer had me crying within the first few chapters. The cover and title were misleading at first because you think it will be a light, summer read but then it totally isn't, but the book is still sooo good. I wouldn't want it any other way. Great review!

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