Review-Twenty Boy Summer

Title: Twenty Boy Summer

Author: Sarah Ockler

Publisher: Little Brown

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: Goodreads, Amazon

Blurb:

"Don't worry, Anna. I'll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."

"Okay."

"Promise me? Promise me you won't say anything?"

"Don't worry." I laughed. "It's our secret right?"

According to her 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 that 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 that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

My thoughts:

On the cover of the copy of the book that I bought it said that Twenty Boy Summer will tear your heart apart and then put it back together. That is exactly what it did. I was in tears by chapter two and I was having a hard time keeping it together through the first half of the book. But then everything turns around and even though it was not the perfect happy ending, it was realistic.

I really enjoyed reading the character Anna because she reminds me a lot of me. The way she keeps all her emotions and thoughts inside is a lot like me when I was growing up. But she is also kind, compassionate and selfless when it came to her best friend's happiness. I also learned a lot from Anna and the importance of moving on with life even though you've suffered a life altering loss.

Sarah Ockler's writing style is beautiful and fantastic. Although Twenty Boy Summer may seem like a lighthearted, fluffy read, it is so much deeper and inspiring than I would have imagined.