Author: Melissa Walker
Release Date: May 22nd, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Pages: 272
Format: Electronic Copy
Acquired: ARC; Netgalley
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 3 Stars
Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?
I use to really enjoy books like these; really life situations that just get out of control. But as I first started reading Clem's story, all I could think was, Girl, stop crying! I mean, okay, I get it; she made the mistake with her best friend's boyfriend, it happens, or in some cases even a best friend's husband. She's not the only girl that's probably done this and she won't be the last one either. I kept wanting to slap her and tell her to just get over it. In the beginning I kept thinking, "Obviously the guy isn't worth it, and obviously Amanda isn't a good friend, if she can pick her man over her friend."
But as the story continued it got a little better. And when I say a little, I do mean a little. At the very least Clem had been able to pick herself up and a lot of it is with the people around her; especially James. He at least was some sort of voice of reasoning and trying to remind Clem that what she did does not constitute a life-sentence for a person. If something as simple as that could, I have lost all hope for humanity.
As much as I liked it, there were just a lot of things wrong with it. Clem's voice, for one, was not as strong as I expected her to be. She was whiny and always looking down at everything.
There's nothing much I can say, except I was seriously let down in some ways, but kind of glad in other ways. I guess this book depends: If you are a reader that can sit through good complaining for the first few chapters, this book is for you. If you are a reader that wants to see actual character development and a character trying to move on instead of dwelling, I would not recommend it.
Maybe if this was a little longer or had some substance to it I would probably give this book higher ratings.
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