Release Date: April 26, 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
*I received this book as a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*
Summary
What if your town was sliding underwater and everyone was ordered to pack up and leave? How would you and your friends spend your last days together?
While the adults plan for the future, box up their possessions, and find new places to live, Keeley Hewitt and her friends decide to go out with a bang. There are parties in abandoned houses. Canoe races down Main Street. The goal is to make the most of every minute they still have together.
And for Keeley, that means taking one last shot at the boy she’s loved forever.
There’s a weird sort of bravery that comes from knowing there’s nothing left to lose. You might do things you normally wouldn’t. Or say things you shouldn’t. The reward almost always outweighs the risk.
Almost.
It’s the end of Aberdeen, but the beginning of Keeley’s first love story. It just might not turn out the way she thought. Because it’s not always clear what’s worth fighting for and what you should let become a memory. -Goodreads Summary
The Rundown
What an emotional roller coaster (in the best way possible)! As if facing your senior year and feeling so many last moments before everyone starts their next chapters isn't scary enough, what if you had no home base to come back to? What if your hometown was just...gone?
I grew up in a small town much like Aberdeen. Many of my classmates and I had been in school together since kindergarten (just like our parents...and our grandparents...and our great-grandparents). And the end of high school wasn't so long ago that I can't remember all the feelings of "This is the last time I'll do_______." Some friends you stay in touch with. Some friendships fade. Some high school sweethearts made it, others didn't. A few relationships actually grow with all of the changes and stick for the long haul. There was always a comfort that no matter where life took us, home would always be home. We'd all have the same place to come back to.
Keeley and her friends are losing that sense of security as fast as the rain falls. Though she's always been fun-loving and a joker, the end of her town is really the beginning of her story of finding out who she is and who is most important in her life after Aberdeen.
Readers will root for Keeley through the whole story! They'll be thrilled when she gets the courage to go for Jesse, the boy she's admired from afar since middle school. I mean, how many of us actually got kiss the boy whose initials we doodled in our notebooks? Go Keeley! They'll applaud her when she realizes that everything you thought you wanted might not be what you need, even if it hurts to say it. And what you really need may have been hidden in plain sight all along.
Keeley's friendships with Morgan and Elise may be a struggle for adult readers who have forgotten the ups and downs and drama of teenagers, girls in particular, and their ways of relating to one another. Just remember that you're dealing with teenagers who are still growing and figuring out who they are while all they've ever known is slipping away. Vivian created a cast of delightfully flawed teen characters that are real and who you genuinely want happy endings for after Aberdeen.
I also loved the way the author wrote Keeley's changing and evolving relationship with her parents. It's typically in the teen years that we realize that our parents aren't superheros and often mess things up just like everyone else. Keeley's parents love and care for her and their town, but they're human. They fight and cry and make mistakes, but they also forgive and move forward.
The story had great action and pace for the most part, but dragged quite a bit in the middle for me. However, I read an ARC and not the final copy so I'm anxious to browse the book when it gets added to my library's YA collection! I really enjoyed the characters and watching them grow through the loss of their hometown.
Rating: 4/5 Stars. A really great book & enjoyable read!
No comments:
Post a Comment