Review: Forever Summer

Forever Summer
By Alyson Noel
Release Date: April 26, 2011

Description:
Summer. A break from the burdens of school. Deep tans, deeper thoughts. Far away from the everyday. Closer to making dreams come true . . . What does summer mean to you? For the two teenage girls in these two unforgettable novels, summer means being torn away from the familiar and finding new friends. A new place in the world. A new sense of self. And maybe even new love along the way . . .

When you’re having the time of your life, you never want it to end.

Review:
This book actually has two books in one so I will review each one seperately below.

Book 1 – Laguna Cove

This was a quick and easy read.  This is the first book by Alyson Noel I’m reading, just because I happened to find it on my shelf and decided to check it out.  It was quick easy, fun read.  Sure there are some points I liked and others I didn’t but overall a good book to wind down from reading something heavier.

We start off by meeting Anne who has recently moved to California from CT to live with her father.  Here she meets a large group of friends who have been friends forever.  But when something new is introduced anywhere it’s not always liked by everyone.  The entire story is told through all their prospective.  You have Ellie the athletic, popular smart girl who is in love with Chris, but he doesn’t seem to notice it because he only has eyes for the new girl, Anne.  Then there is Jade who is the one trying to always help people, even if they aren’t asking for it.  Lola aka Lolita who just wants to rebel from her parents and then there is the mysterious Jake who works for Anne’s dad, I wish I could have learned more about him.  There was something to that mystery that I wanted to explore more.  But he was just a background character.

We experience Anne’s first months there and how hard it is for her to adjust and deal with her parents and people who don’t particularly like her.  All the while the other characters are all going through their own little dramas.  The book was interesting and it was light and easy to read that’s why I picked it up and I wasn’t completely disappointed.  Sure the girls in it seemed to be complaining about stuff that if I had I wouldn’t complain about it but they are characters in California, part of a rich neighborhood going to Hollywood premiers’ etcetera.  So it’s understandable but still not reasonable.  Oh the grass is always greener on the other side!

Book 2 - Cruel Summer This was another fun quick and easy read. It’s about a girl whose parents are getting divorced so to keep her out of the middle of the entire ordeal is sent off to Greece to live with her Aunt Tally.


She’s reluctant for quite a bit of time, only thinking about her friends back home, the guy she recently hooked up with and what is going on with them. Staying at an Internet Café the majority of the time in the beginning she is determined to try and get home early. But then something changes. She meets someone and rekindles her friendship with someone who was way more worth her time. She starts to become happy again and excited about living in Greece. Really who wouldn’t be?

Overall the story was told through journal entries, emails, texts, and hand written letters and of course a blog. All great forms of communications and it was an interesting way to read things through. The book was good and was something fun and easy to read.