Review & Giveaway : The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Title : The Summer After You and Me
Author : Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Publication Date : May 1st 2015
Publisher : Sourcebooks Fire
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Sunbathing, surfing, eating funnel cake on the boardwalk—Lucy loves living on the Jersey Shore. For her, it's not just the perfect summer escape, it is home. And as a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in over Memorial Day weekend, crowding the shore and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Lucy wants more from love than a fleeting romance, even if that means keeping her distance from her summertime neighbor and crush, Connor.
Then Superstorm Sandy tears apart her barrier island, briefly bringing together a local girl like herself and a vacationer like Connor. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm. And day after day, week after week, Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and broken home. Now with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?
Personal Thoughts
I felt compelled to read this book not only because it was set in a coastal town but also because it explores the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Bonus, it also had a sweet sounding romance, so I was all in. While the aftermath of the storm didn't play as big of a role as I expected, I still wound up really enjoying The Summer After You and Me.
The strength of The Summer After You and Me stems from the strong characterization. The author was able to capture their voices so authentically. Lucy was a character I almost immediately bonded with. She was a normal girl and I think that made her easy to connect with. Friendship, crushes and minor family problems were all part of her life and that made her seem so real to me. I also thought she was a complete sweetheart and was pretty brave with the way she faced all of her issues with her head held high. One of my favorite things about Lucy was her absolute passion for marine wildlife. In her spare time, she volunteered in helping restore oysters and she also wrote a thesis about the mating habits of marine animals and I just loved that she was this girl with interests other than boys. I also loved how devoted she was to her coastal town and you could tell just how much love she had for her hometown. It can get a little tiring with female heroines who hate where they live, so it was refreshing to have Lucy care so much about her town. Connor, Lucy's love interest, was a little hard to gauge at first. I was a bit wary because we're told that he is a manwhore and I'm honestly not a fan of those kinds of book boyfriends, but he surprised both Lucy and me throughout the book when he started to open up. By the end of the book, I was pretty much in love with him and his swoony kisses.
The Summer After You and Me is a book that's quite heavy on the relationship dynamics and if you guys know me at all, you know I love that in my YA books. The author explored the complexities of many different relationships, from family to friendship to love. Lucy's relationship with her twin brother was one that had me frustrated because I was annoyed by the way he treated her. He does eventually grow up, but it hurt to see Lucy trying her hardest to try to rekindle their sibling relationship and him just pushing her away. Lucy also didn't have the most supportive friends, but they too underwent some changes throughout the book. My favorite part of this book was definitely the romance though. I was unaware that Lucy already had a boyfriend in the book before I started reading it, but I wasn't too put off by it. It was exactly a love triangle because I knew exactly who she had feelings for and who she cared for like a brother. She and Connor had a sweet relationship and I loved those tender moments between them. They also had some pretty swoony scenes that had the romantic in me flailing. Of course, like every other teenage couple they were faced with some obstacles, but thankfully, the book never got too dramatic. If I had one complaint about The Summer After You and Me, that would be that I actually would have liked to see more of the emotional and physical damages that Hurricane Sandy had inflicted on Lucy's town, but I was still very entertained by the book.
The Summer After You and Me was a heartfelt summer romance with the gorgeous coastal setting and some lovely characters. Fans of YA contemporary will want to check this book out.
Rating
Cover : 3/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5
Connor opened the gorgeous double doors, each with half-moon stained-glass windows on the top, and motioned me inside. “After you.”
The house had that distinct yet hard-to-describe smell of a beach home that had been closed up for a while. I walked to the center of the high-ceilinged foyer and immediately pictured pine garland and twinkling white lights wrapped around the sweeping banister.
“Wow. I’d love to spend Christmas here,” I said and immediately regretted being so sappy.
Connor smiled. “You could fit a twelve-foot tree in this hallway.”
I admit, over the years I’ve had my share of Connor-centric fantasies. However the image of him watching his children pad down the stairs on Christmas morning had never been one of them…until that very second. I liked thinking about Connor that way.
“Come on. You’ve got to see the master bedroom.”
The wholesome image of a Malloy family Christmas vanished. Aha, I thought. That was the Connor I knew.
“Uh-uh,” I said. “The widow’s walk. I want to go there first.”
“Race you,” he said and took off running.
He beat me up the two flights and was waiting for me in the third-floor hallway toward the back of the house. Off the hallway was an art studio, with a drafting table and a bookcase. There was also a telescope standing near the window.
“Follow me.” He crossed the studio and unlocked the deadbolt to the narrow door leading outside.
“You’ve already been up there?”
“First thing I did when I got here,” Connor said.
“Not the master bedroom?”
“Nah, that’s the first thing I wanted to do when you got here.”
I thought it was just more flirty banter, but Connor’s flushed cheeks looked as warm as my body felt. He stared at me for a beat too long and my throat constricted. I was suddenly aware that I’d left the house with slept-on hair and no mascara. The look on Connor’s face told me he hadn’t noticed. His eyes never left mine.
Finally he said, “Come on, Luce. I’ll follow you.” The space was tight when I passed in front of him, and the closeness of his body gave me the shivers. I opened the door and stepped outside onto a small patio. I walked toward the wrought-iron spiral staircase that lead to the widow’s walk on the roof and placed my hand on the railing. My knees felt shaky as I began the climb, but I never looked back.
Author Biography
Jennifer Salvato Doktorski is the author of two YA novels and is a freelance nonfiction writer. Her first paid writing gig was at The North Jersey Herald & News, where she wrote obituaries and began her lifelong love of news and coffee. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the e-ARC of The Summer After You and Me.
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