Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: YA Contemporary
Length: 368 pages
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Simon Teen
Release Date: February 11th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From acclaimed and #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a romantic coming-of-age novel about an unassuming girl who learns to stand on her own while falling in love during a life-changing summer.

Finley has always felt most comfortable in someone else’s shadow. Fortunately, she’s got Colin, her magnetic boyfriend, who sweeps her along for activities, friendships, and future plans. Then she goes on a last-minute trip with her distant mom to a family vacation house that Finley didn’t know existed and is now about to be sold.

Her mom was estranged from her own parents and siblings since leaving home for college, and it’s a novelty for Finley to see her aunts and cousins, and to meet the handful of teens who work at the Egg, her aunt’s diner, and make up a found family of their own—including undeniably handsome guitarist Ben.

Then her relationship with Colin goes into freefall, and Finley’s roadmap for life after high school is gone. She has no choice but to live, for the first time, without plans. The longer Finley stays, the closer she gets to the truth about why her mother stayed away—and why she’s brought Finley here now.

And the closer she grows to new friends at the Egg, the more she starts to fall for charmingly awkward, soulful Ben and to realize how much of herself she’s been missing. By the end of the summer, nothing will be the same—for this community or for Finley herself.

Thank you Simon Teen for the gifted ARC.

DIFFERENT BUT GOOD.

It was a lot of fun to dive back into a Sarah Dessen book. I’ve read multiple of them and can appreciate what themes this story held. While I know I gave it 3.5 stars I can say that I think it’s a genuine young adult book that I would be comfortable with my [future] teens reading. And that is so hard to find these days so credit is due on that fact alone.

What I struggled with was the ending. I felt like one critical scene was skipped over and would have done wonders in showing how far Finley had come over the summer. And then within the closing pages it was just abrupt. There were multiple other threads that weren’t wrapped up and I wanted more from the closing pages.

I thought this held a lot of good moments around cell phone use and being present. I liked seeing Finley adapt and self reflect over her time out in a small town with family. I adored all of the side characters and how much everyone added to the plot. I loved the progression of Finley’s relationship with her mom. The vibes of this book were genuinely solid. The romance is much more in the background and I think added a soft element that was sweet too.

Overall audience notes:

• YA Contemporary
• Language: none
• Romance: kisses
• Content warnings: a parent with cancer

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