Review: Five Summers

Four best friends, five summers of camp memories.

The summer we were nine: Emma was branded “Skylar’s friend Emma” by the infamous Adam Loring...
The summer we were ten: Maddie realized she was too far into her lies to think about telling the truth...
The summer we were eleven: Johanna totally freaked out during her first game of Spin the Bottle...
The summer we were twelve: Skylar’s love letters from her boyfriend back home were exciting to all of us—except Skylar...
Our last summer together: Emma and Adam almost kissed. Jo found out Maddie’s secret. Skylar did something unthinkable... and whether we knew it then or not, five summers of friendship began to fall apart.

Three years after the fateful last night of camp, the four of us are coming back to camp for reunion weekend—and for a second chance. Bittersweet, funny, and achingly honest, Five Summers is a story of friendship, love, and growing up that is perfect for fans of Anne Brashares and Judy Blume's Summer Sisters.

Starting my summer reading pile, picking up this story is the best way to start.

1. Plot. This story is told between 4 best friends. There are enough point of view switches for the reader to gather all of the information needed with out feeling lost. It’s paced nicely and pulls you in quickly within the first few chapters.

2. Characters. Each girl is defined nicely. You have the innocent girl, the quite girl, the party girl and the shy girl. The author did a great job in creating a different voice for each character, each of them facing their own share of battles and life questions.

3. Drama. OMG! I totally loved the drama in the book. The build to secrets revealed, the hurt and lies that the girls thought they knew each other and they didn’t. Not to mention some of the lines made me want to grab some popcorn! CAT FIGHT!!!

4. Boys. There are several boys that get involved with the girls lives.  The boys changed their lives forever in both good and bad ways.

5. Ending. I did not like how it ended. Okay wait, let me backtrack here. It ended fine, but what disappointed me was having the story build up to such a big girl fight for it to all come together so quickly, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER! (insert sarcasm here). Yeah, I would have much rather have girls leave on a bitter, sad note then come back a few years later and then make up. Know what I’m sayin’?

Overall, this is a great summer read. The feel of the summer camp fire, the splash of water and the summer games. It takes me back when I went to camp. Perfect for those who want a summer read to start off with a bang, Five Summers is great.

I give it 4 BITES!

Happy Reading!