Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Review: The Last Summer (of You & Me)

Title: The Last Summer (of You & Me)
Author: Ann Brashares
ISBN/Publisher: 978-159-448917-4/Riverhead (part of Penguin)
Age Group/Genre: General Fiction

Riley is three years older than her sister, Alice and they are pretty much opposites. Riley loves to spend her time outdoors, is pretty much a tomboy, and she doesn't want to grow up. Alice on the other hand, is the beautiful tag-a-long little sister that graduated from college and is applying for NYU Law School. But besides the sisterly love for each other, they have Paul in common.

Paul was their rich neighbor at their summer beach house in Fire Island, where they always spend their summer. As children, Paul basically lived with Alice and Riley during the summertime, but three years have passed and things just might be different this summer.

The thing is, Alice has always had a thing for Paul, but never said anything because she has always been like the little sister. And Paul, well he kind of has his issues with his own past life that he can't quite get over. Then there's always Riley, Alice's sister and Paul's BFF, and she just doesn't like change.

Who falls in love with who and will Riley be okay with everything going on???

I'll admit, this book was really frustrating in the beginning. There were multiple times when I yelled at my book because I was soooooo incredibly mad at the characters. But I kept with it and boy am I happy that I did. As soon as the story started to focus on the friendship between Paul and Riley and the relationship of Alice and Riley, things did get better.

I found myself on the verge of tears and eventually the tears did come out. I may have been angry with the characters in the beginning, but in the end I wanted to protect them. I seriously wanted to warn them and hug them when the unexpected happened. This book was a total roller coaster for me, but I'm so glad I battled through the beginning because the ending was worth it.

Now, if you read The Traveling Pants series by Brashares, don't expect the same type of storyline. This one leaves you feeling the joys and pains of love for friends and family.

My Rating:

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

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