Book Review: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Book: Second Chance Summer
Series: N/A
Author: Morgan Matson
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 468 pages
Published: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Summary:

It's the summer before senior year, and Taylor has received devastating news that shatters her family. Her family decides that they will spend their last summer together at their lake house, which they haven't been to for 5 years. Taylor now has to deal with the consequences of what she did to her former best and boyfriend.

My Thoughts:

I took this book with me on vacation to the lake me and my family go to so I thought I was going to love this! I mean I liked it but not as much as everyone else did. 

An aspect I loved was the family element in this. Not a lot of YA books contain this and there was a huge development in the family and they got very close to one another by the end.

I also liked Henry, he's the nice cute boy-next-door type but that's about it.

I related so much to Taylor. It's hard to keep up with siblings who seem to be so much more academically/physically better than you are and get constantly praised for it. I also could relate to the struggles of starting a new job which is hard to navigate. I feel a lot better about reading about a teen who was dealing with the same thing as me.

Taylor and her dad's relationship crushed me. It hit me so hard and I know a lot of people can feel for her and her family. 

I personally need plot for me to really get attached to a story and there just wasn't much of one in this. There is huge character development in this, it was like reading about a whole different person by the end. It's definetly character driven and sometimes dragged.

This was a bittersweet story that did make me cry at the end (which is inevitable). But I just thought it was too slow for me at the time.

I gave this book a 3/5 stars!

★★★☆☆