Review : A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Summary (from Goodreads)

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

Personal Thoughts

Kody Keplinger's books are like guilty pleasure for me. I've read and loved both The Duff and Shut Out. It's not really surprising that I immediately dived into A Midsummer's Nightmare when I finally got a copy and ended up reading it in a single seating. Thankfully, Kody Keplinger's latest novel did not disappoint.

After the divorce of her parents, Whitley continues her life with her mom, who appears at first not to care too much about her since she's still upset from her broken relationship. All Whitley wants is to spend her summer before college at her dad's condo. She soon realizes that things won't be going as she hoped they would since her dad has a new fiancee and turns out, her soon-to-be stepbrother is actually a guy she had a one-night stand with.

One thing I love about her books is that the main character is never perfect. Instead, they are so flawed, but they do seem genuine. Now, I have to admit that Whitley isn't a character that most people will love. In fact, I have a strong feeling that many readers won't be a huge fan of her. The thing is she had a very bitter personality. With everything going on around her, she was furious at the world and she had a lot of hatred inside of her. Friendless, she was the kind of person who didn't care about what people thought about her. All she did was party hard and flirt a little too much with every guy she comes across. Her reputation was something she wasn't concerned about. She also complained. A lot.  From all that, I came to the conclusion that she had a very tough exterior. However, as the story progressed, I realized that she was ,in truth, a vulnerable girl. Deep down, all she wanted was to spend a great summer with her dad, but it seemed like he wouldn't make time for her since he was too occupied in his wedding preparations. Whitley is hurt and devastated when she learns that he'd rather spend time with his future step-children than have a talk with her. I have to admit, that must have been a really painful experience for Whitley and it's no wonder she decided to drown her problems in drinking and flirting. She was only a girl who wanted to feel loved and wanted some attention on her. Over the course of the story, she grew a lot. With the help of her friends and new family, she began to become more mature. At the end of the book, she wasn't the person she initially was. Whitley might not have been a character that I related to because I'm nothing like her, but her voice was genuine, raw and fresh.

In some books, the secondary characters are brushed off and are basically only mentioned now and then. In A Midsummer's Nightmare, the secondary characters were pivotal to the growth and development of the main character. I think I loved every single one of them. My favorite, however, was Harrison, the new friend she made.  He was an adorable character and I loved how he indirectly helped Whitley. He was also a really supportive guy. Nathan, the love interest, was pretty hot in a nerdy kind of way. At first, I wasn't so sure about how I felt of his character, but he grew on me as the story progressed. I liked his honesty when it came to Whitley. He might have said some mean things to her, but those very things helped her clear up the mess her life had become. I'm still not sure how I feel about their relationship, but considering the fact that they weren't really related, I wasn't really bugged by it.

There's nothing special or unique with the plot-line in A Midsummer's Nightmare, but the way the author dealt with it was enthralling. She turned it into something exciting and easy to read with her brilliant writing skills. I, also, loved the fact that she didn't make her heroine a typical one. It's almost like we got to see the common 'mean' girl's side of the story with A Midsummer's Nightmare. Honestly, Kody Keplinger is a young and extremely talented author. She did a fabulous job at portraying the woes of certain teenagers and I commend her for being so honest in her book.

A Midsummer's Nightmare was a charming read with a fascinating blend of delectable characters. At the core, this was story about growing up ,learning to cope with your problems and finding a way out of the mazes you come across in life. This is a book that you don't want to miss out!

Rating

Cover : 4/5

Plot : 4/5

Characters : 4/5

Writing : 4/5