[Review: The Summer After You And Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski]

"The Summer After You and Me"
Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Series: None
Pages: 320
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Date Published: May 1st, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for honest review

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Summary:

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?

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To The Summer After You and Me,

You are the perfect beach read. Seriously, you have a cute premise, a cute boy, and the whole "coming of age" thing going for you. I enjoyed you a lot, and I think that a lot of other people will too. Lucy and Connor where a ton of fun to read about and I also liked all of the other characters as well. So, I think what I'm trying to say is that I'll be telling people to read you.

-The White Unicorn

This book was so much fun! Doktorski has this way of weaving a lot of different things into her stories, so a simple summer romance, like this book, isn't boring. In fact The Summer After You and Me is fresh. It has some of the tropes that we all look for in "beach reads," but it also has a lot of heart behind it. 

I really liked that the book had so much to do with Hurricane Sandy. As a native California dweller, that is something that I've never needed to think about, so it was interesting to be immersed into the aftermath of that kind of natural disaster. Sandy is actually a huge part of the plot, bringing our two lovers together, and then also pulling them apart. It's an interesting setting and I'm glad that Doktorski decided to use it. 

Lucy has a lot going on in her life. A twin brother. Her best friend turned boyfriend Andrew. A job or two. The last thing that she needs is for Connor (the cute boy who lives next door) to come back into her life. He left her in lurch after they finally had all those fire-work-inducing moments that make you go "awwww!" But of course, Connor shows back up.

The interactions between all of Doktorski's characters is one of my favorite things about her writing. I can say this because I have read all of her books. There is something so natural about their interactions, that even if the plot points seem a little kitchy, you don't even notice. It's a writing style that I really look up to, and this novel is another showing of why it works. 

If you're looking for a beach read full of wanting and waiting and heartstrings being pulled, then this is it. This is a summer romance with some meat on its bones. This is the kind of book that will leave you cheering for the lead and falling in love with the rest of the cast. What more could you want from a summer read? 

Rating:

4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!