Open Road Summer, Emery Lord

Pages: 342

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Release Date: 3^rd March 2015

Edition: US paperback, purchased

            Other Titles by this Author: The Start of Me and You

Two best friends...

Two broken hearts...

One summer that will change everything.

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. Her best friend, country superstar Dee Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Dee’s twenty-four-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing.

But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. With miles to go before Reagan and Dee are ready to risk their hearts again, this summer will be one to remember.

I fell in love with Open Road Summer in a way that I haven’t in a very, very long time. I want to go back and read it afresh all over again.

This kind of summery, emotional US contemporary is my favourite and has been for as long as I can remember. I love the focus on the ups and downs of friendships, the slow burn or intense launch of a relationship and the hot, sprawling American summers. Novels like these give me the summers I fantasised about having as a teenager (okay, and now, as well) and I remembered that while reading Open Road Summer.

Reagan’s bitter, caustic tone sets a brilliant opening for the summer of country music and healing broken hearts. She’s a ‘bad girl’ with genuine offences, a previous community service sentence and a broken arm to show for it. Though Reagan is initially open about her tangles with the law, there are a few secrets - dark secrets – that had more of an effect on her heart and mind that her body. I loved the way her trust and affection grew with Matt, how she denied it to herself for so long and then eventually opened up her heart.

Then there’s Dee’s very different brand of heartbreak. Rising to superstardom at 17 means you miss out on a lot and it’s starting to have an effect on her. She pours her heart and soul into her song-writing (the lyrics included in the book are really brilliant!) and performing for her fans but that isn’t always quite enough. Dee has no freedom and very little control over her day to day life. I loved that Dee and Reagan took refuge in a summer of music and travelling and their friendship. They have a brilliant dynamic and I think that it was portrayed so authentically – they had ups and downs and said things they shouldn’t, but they had each other’s backs without question.

And after a scandalous rumour threatens to ruin Dee’s career, former-child star, cheeky, gorgeous Matt Finch comes to join the fun. I loved the chemistry between the three of them and I loved the scenes where they were just hanging around having fun, being teenagers during the summer of a lifetime. It was even better that it stayed intact even when Reagan and Matt started something up. Emery Lord has some serious skill.

Open Road Summer has restored my love of reading in some ways. I went back to my roots, read something for me and I was blown away by the way I felt about these characters, their relationships and their perfectly imperfect resolution.

Sophie 

Letterbox Love #84

Letterbox Love is a way to show you all of the lovely, lovely books I’ve gotten in the post, bought and everything else over the last week. Summaries are taken from the cover, or Amazon/NetGalley/Goodreads in the case of e-books, unless otherwise stated. Hosted by Narratively Speaking.

For review:

The Game of Love and Death, Martha Brockenbrough (paperback)

Love is more than a game

Love and Death chose their players in an eternal game. Death has never lost and Love will do anything to win.

Henry and Flora find each other, not knowing they are the players. Can their love be enough to keep them both alive?

Doesn’t this sound epic? Add in a setting of 1920s Chicago and you have a winner! Thanks Scholastic!

Finding Audrey, Sophie Kinsella (e-proof)

A laugh-out-loud romance from the bestselling author of the Shopaholic series.

Meet Audrey: an ordinary teenage girl with not so ordinary problems.

Aside from her completely crazy and chaotic family, she suffers from an anxiety disorder that makes talking to her brother’s hot new best friend a bit of a challenge.

But Audrey has a plan to face her fears and take on the world again. But first stop: Starbucks.

I’ve really enjoyed the few of the Sophie Kinsella’s adult novels that I’ve read so I’m curious to see her tackle YA. Thanks NetGalley and Doubleday!

Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon (e-proof)

Madeline Whittier is allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left the house in her seventeen years. But when Olly moves in next door, and wants to talk to Maddie, tiny holes start to appear in the protective bubble her mother has built around her. Olly writes his IM address on a piece of paper, shows it at her window, and suddenly, a window opens. But does Maddie dare to step outside her comfort zone?

Everything, Everything is about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love.

This sounds so unique (and reminds me of an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition where a little girl was allergic to the sun) and I can’t wait to learn more about Maddie. Thanks PRH and NetGalley!

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls, Lynn Weingarten (proof)

June and Delia used to be closer than anything. Best friends that comes in that way before everything else. They had a billion secrets, tying them together like thin silk cords. But one night everything changed. And now, a year later, Delia is dead.

June is certain she was murdered, but the truth is more complicated than she ever could have imagined…

This sounds incredible – and it came amazingly packaged! – thanks Electric Monkey!

Bought:

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, Julie Berry (e-book)

An outrageous plot villainy starring seven brilliant young girls.

At Prickwillow Place, Disgraceful Mary Jane, Smooth Kitty and their fellow students are keeping a deadly secret.

When the headmistress of St Etherelda’s School for Young Ladies drops dead at Sunday dinner, her seven pupils agree on a clever scheme: to bury their teacher in the vegetable garden, dress up Stout Alice in her place, and educate themselves. This is tricky enough in a small Victorian community, but when the girls deduce that their teacher was poisoned – (it was the veal!) – they realise there is also a murderer on the prowl…

An outrageous plot of mysterious happenings, farce and friendship.

Jim practically shoved this into my hands in Foyles, singing its praises, but I soon got distracted and forgot to buy it! Luckily, it turn out to be 98p on Kindle!

There won't be a Letterbox Love or the next couple of weeks as I'm away, but there'll be a bumper edition when I'm back!

Sophie

Under My Skin, James Dawson

Pages: 302

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Release Date: 5^th March 2015

Edition: UK paperback, review copy

Other Titles by this Author: Hollow Pike, Cruel Summer, Being a Boy, Say Her Name, This Book is Gay

‘Who’s she?’

‘That’s Molly-Sue. And she’s trouble.’

When Sally Feather walks into a tattoo parlour, she is walking into more trouble than she can imagine.

Molly-Sue offers Sally everything her heart desires – popularity, beauty, the most gorgeous guy in school – but at a very, very high price.

Because there are some things that really do get under your skin. And some that you would do anything – absolutely anything – to be rid of.

A darkly seductive and terrifying tale from Queen of Teen James Dawson.

Under My Skin was my introduction to James Dawson and what a way to start! Creepy, fun and addictive – I loved it.

Within a few pages I could see why James Dawson has already garnered a dedicated following and been crowned the Queen of Teen. He understands teenagers and the way they think; the insecurities, worries and fears and how they speak and interact with each other. It’d spot on and I believed in Sally, Stan and Jennie. They juggled difficult issues with everyday life and being part of a dedicated fandom with the same mixed reactions of teens I know now and what I remember from being 17.

Sally had it particularly tough. Shy and retiring to everyone at school but loud and confident with her friends, she was what I would call a genuine shy girl with self-doubt. Though she struggled to reconcile the two parts of herself, mostly due to the tight control of her parents. They infuriated me. The way they judged every word, every movement she made and jumped to the most extreme conclusions; they refused to let Sally be Sally.

Then came Molly Sue. What an incredible premise: the spirit of a tattoo coming to life and helping to change the path of the host forever. It’s a brilliant extension of the idea of a tattoo giving you something to draw strength from something you carry with you all the time. I have to admit that before Molly Sue started to really get her claws into Sally, it made me crave getting another tattoo so badly! And now I’m thinking that I my wait a little longer, because you know, danger.

Under My Skin is deliciously dark, twisty and fun and it blurs the lines of good, evil and the grey areas in between. I can’t wait to dig into more of James Dawson’s backlist.

Thanks to Hot Key for the review copy.

Sophie 

New York, Baby!

On Saturday, I am flying to New York City. I can’t quite get across how unbelievably excited I am: the bookshops, the food, the shopping, the hotel. GAH.

I’ll be away for two weeks so I have tried to schedule up as far as I can (I’m actually writing this on 5^th March – organisation!) so there should hopefully be a few reviews while I’m away. Thankfully, there is wifi in the hotel so I’ll be vaguely around on Twitter and email possibly and definitely posting pictures on Instagram!

I’m so going to Books of Wonder, The Strand and Barnes and Noble in Union Square. ALL OF THE BOOKS. ALL OF THE TOTE BAGS. ALL OF THE CONVERSE. I’m also probably going to freeze to death, but hey ho.

I love you all, be good while I’m gone and I’ll bring you an excessive Letterbox Love when I get back.

Sophie x

Spotlight on Sunny, Keris Stainton

Pages: 205

Publisher: Catnip

Release Date: 5^th March 2015

Edition: UK paperback, purchased

Other Titles by this Author: Della Says: OMG!, Jessie Hearts NYC, Emma Hearts LA, As Delightful As a Carrot, Calm Like a Stupid Feather, Starring Kitty

A film-making course in London with your favourite people in the world. Sunny, Kitty and Hannah are set for the Best. Summer. Ever.

But for Sunny the trip also raises questions. Is she happy just being with the funny, gorgeous boy she’s met? Has her life already been mapped out? What does she really want?

And then there’s the secret she hasn’t told Kitty and Hannah... Because is changes everything.

The second book in the Reel Friends series, Spotlight on Sunny, is just as warm and full of heart as the first. I loved it.

Spotlight on Sunny is a testament to diversity. After Kitty’s story focusing on LGBT issues, Keris moves over the what could possibly be the last taboo in YA: religion. Sunny is a Muslim. She prays, wears a hijab and won’t have a boyfriend unless it’s marriage-serious. She has to deal with the assumptions made by complete strangers, the looks and the judgements, and the lack of them too. Religion can be a difficult topic to approach but I think it was done beautifully in Spotlight on Sunny. It wasn’t made a big deal of but it was present and still seen as important to Sunny.

As well as Sunny’s religion, the novel features Will, a cute and cheeky boy with Hyper Mobility Syndrome; a scantily dressed Australian girl who causes some trouble for Sunny and a girl with bright blue hair among others. It was so good to see such a variety of teenagers represented without judgement or stereotypes adhered to. And the gang took on this message for the product of their film course. After experiencing wolf whistles on the street, judging each other on how they present themselves and realising that those snap judgements led them way off track, Sunny, Kitty, Hannah, Danielle and Will make their final piece about just that: don’t judge a book by its cover. Perfect!

Sweet, easy reading and a brilliant advocate for diversity and feminism, Spotlight on Sunny is a must for everyone.

Sophie