Title: Five Summers
Author: Una LaMarche
Publisher: Razorbill
Publishing Date: May 16, 2013
Source: Netgalley
Summary (from Goodreads): Four best friends, five summers of camp memories.
The summer we were nine: Emma was branded “Skylar’s friend Emma” by the infamous Adam Loring…
The summer we were ten: Maddie realized she was too far into her lies to think about telling the truth…
The summer we were eleven: Johanna totally freaked out during her first game of Spin the Bottle…
The summer we were twelve: Skylar’s love letters from her boyfriend back home were exciting to all of us—except Skylar…
Our last summer together: Emma and Adam almost kissed. Jo found out Maddie’s secret. Skylar did something unthinkable… and whether we knew it then or not, five summers of friendship began to fall apart.
Three years after the fateful last night of camp, the four of us are coming back to camp for reunion weekend—and for a second chance. Bittersweet, funny, and achingly honest, Five Summers is a story of friendship, love, and growing up that is perfect for fans of Anne Brashares and Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters.
Review: This is a good beach read or as like to call them “bubble bath book” (since I haven’t made it out to the beach this summer). It’s a cute story about four friends who are changing and learning that they don’t know who they are as individuals let alone know each other. It’s filled with drama, heartbreak and love. I never went to summer camp but I’m sure if you have you will be whisked back to those days of fun. While I found the plot to be pretty predictable, it did remind me of my own drama with friends back in the day. I did enjoy the fact that the story is told from all the girls’ perspectives switching between the past and the present. That aspect made the book a little more interesting. I might be dating myself but… as a I read Five Summers, I couldn’t help but think of the similarities to the movie Indian Summer, which is one is one of my favorite movies. Five Summers just happens to be about reflecting at a younger age. However, I have to admit that I had a difficult time staying interested in the story. Despite my struggles with the book, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light summer read about coming of age.
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