“Maybe . . . it’s a kind of love where you don’t have to say it. Where they’re such a part of you and you’re such a part of them that it doesn’t need to be said. Because you already know.”
Wow. This was a really, really great book. It was a well written, fast paced contemporary with characters whom I couldn’t help falling in love with. I can’t even begin to summarize this emotional, smart, and moving story.
Our main character, Sloane, is sarcastic, intelligent, and incredibly flawed. She constantly overthinks things and has an irrational fear that if she lets herself love someone, she will love them too much. She doesn’t let her emotions show and has a harsh, blunt cover to hide her true self.
Sloane’s family moves to Florida where she falls into a group of friends—Gabe, his sister Vera, Remy, and the famous Frank Sands. The four are a hilarious, awesome, tightly-woven group.
The emotional side of this book slowly seeps in—Sloane finds out that Gabe and Vera’s mother died two years ago, Remy is pining after his ex, who dumped him without a word of explanation, and Sloane has family issues—her parents aren’t getting along and her dad, an author, hasn’t been able to write a single word lately.
“I didn’t mean what I said,” he said after a long moment. “Sometimes . . . sometimes when people are angry, they say things they don’t mean.”
I couldn’t get over how real the characters felt; they were brimming with life. I especially loved Sloane and Vera’s amazing, positive female friendship where neither girl put the other down by calling her a slut or getting jealous over some boy. Vera was absolutely hilarious, with her status as a social media celebrity. The scene where she took a bathroom selfie with Sloane made me laugh.
Sloane had a wonderful family and parents who were actually present. You know how most parents are cast aside in YA books? That wasn’t the case here. Sloane’s dad, in particular, was totally awesome with his fanfiction obsession and how he looked after Sloane.
“Is he cute?”
“Ew, Dad.”
“No, really. Not that it matters. Even a little bit. But do we think he’s cute?”
I think about it for a moment, objectively. “Society would think he’s cute.”
“And what does Sloane think?”
“Sloane thinks her dad is a creeper.”
The one thing I think this book could have done without was the romance added in right at the end—I felt like it detracted from the friendship between the two characters. I don’t understand why YA authors feel like they always have to add romance to their story, when they absolutely don’t have to.
I loved this character driven story where the characters, who could have so easily been stereotyped in another book, were dynamic, funny, unique, and smart, with tiny details that brought them to life.
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