Anise Sawyer plans to spend every minute of summer with her friends: surfing, chowing down on fish tacos drizzled with wasabi balsamic vinegar, and throwing bonfires that blaze until dawn. But when a serious car wreck leaves her aunt, a single mother of three, with two broken legs, it forces Anise to say goodbye for the first time to Santa Cruz, the waves, her friends, and even a kindling romance, and fly with her dad to Nebraska for the entire summer. Living in Nebraska isn’t easy. Anise spends her days caring for her three younger cousins in the childhood home of her runaway mom, a wild figure who’s been flickering in and out of her life since birth, appearing for weeks at a time and then disappearing again for months, or even years, without a word.
Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home – leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves.
My Review: First off, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book for an honest review.
This book was amazing. From the second I started reading it I was in love with the book. I couldn't put it down. (I know I don't like realistic fiction) But this book is another exemption from my fantasy mind. Unlike a lot of realistic books I've read this one didn't make me cry. Although some parts were emotional, it was mostly a fun upbeat book. Something I've been dearly missing. The book didn't really have a closure ending, not everything was "fixed" at the end, but it was still a happy ending. I love these kinds of realistic fiction because most of the time in real life there is no solution, you just have to deal with it and move on (but it still seems like everything will be okay!
The pacing of the book was excellent. It didn't go to fast, I didn't feel like I was being rushed through the book. And it didn't go to slow, I didn't feel like I was groggily walking through it one word at a time.
The characters are so much fun to read about and they're so well developed, especially Anise. It's clear the struggle she's going through. Then there's Lincoln, who makes you smile whenever you read about him because he can always make the best of the situation. The twins, Parker and Nash, have to be one of my favorite parts of the book. They're always getting into trouble (for Percy Jackson fans- these two remind me of Connor and Travis Stoll.)
My favorite thing about this book is that it talks about a lot of real life issues. Family problems, moving, identity, boy confusion (I can vouch for that one), college, friend drama. Sometimes I feel like realistic fiction could happen but no one can really relate to it. Like Everything, Everything. I love that book, don't get me wrong, but not a whole lot of people can relate to it. In this book there's a little bit for everyone.
I highly recommend this book!
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