Review for Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

""Don't worry, Anna. I'll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it." "Okay." "Promise me? Promise you won't say anything?" "Don't worry." I laughed. "It's our secret, right?" According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in ZanzibarBay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever day, there's a pretty good chance 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. Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer." I bought this book back when it very first came out in 2009 before I’d even heard any reviews for it purely because the synopsis sounded so freakin’ good! It’s rare that I’ll buy a book before reading some reviews on it first but for Twenty Boy Summer I didn’t need to, I knew it would be the kind of book I enjoy. I love coming of age stories especially if the coming of age takes place during a summer vacation with lots of sun, tans and boys! I’m a big fan of Sarah Dessen and the synopsis reminded me of the kind of book she would write and so I’ve been saving this for the perfect summer’s day and that day finally came along last week. I expected this book to be a lot sadder than it was, I expected to cry and get angry and throw things like I do when a book really moves me but I didn’t. Whilst this is the story of a girl whose boyfriend died the twenty boy summer takes place a year after Matt’s death so although the characters are still grieving they’re not in the first heart wrenching all-consuming grips of bereavement, so although this book has it’s sad parts when Anna’s reflecting on Matt, his death and their relationship the majority of the book reads like a fun summer novel. I really enjoyed Sarah Ockler’s style of writing mixing the past with the present, sunny days and friendship with ghosts and salt water tears. It was a light, quick, fun, summer read which was exactly what I was after mixed in with change, growing up, moving on and letting go. The plot was original and thought provoking reminding me of other summer authors I love like Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen. The only thing that let this book down for me was the characters. I didn’t not like them exactly but I just found them to be a little undeveloped. They aren’t the most memorable characters in the world and if I had to pick a favourite it would be Matt-who was dead- yeah… So although the characters weren’t the most accomplished it didn’t really effect my enjoyment of the book as I got what I was after – a quick, fun, coming of age summer story. I’ve always wondered what was with the cover for this book and why there was only one piece of red sea glass (I get curious about these kinds of things) and it *is* relevant to the book and is actually a nice touch to the story when you find out how it fits together. All in all Twenty Boy Summer was exactly what I was looking for. It’s the perfect book to take with you to the beach or to read on a hot summer’s day in the garden like I did. It’s not too demanding and the plots compulsive enough to keep you turning the pages in a haze of sun, sea and sand. Overall I would recommend this as a summer read and am excited to read Sarah Ockler’s second novel Fixing Delilah later this summer. My Rating 4/5 stars **** Synopsis taken from goodreads