Published: May 10th, 2012
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 250
Rating: 3/5
A great summer beach read filled with sunshine, cooking, and—of course—romance!
Elizabeth Margaret--better known as Em--has always known what her life would contain: an internship at her father's firm, a degree from Harvard, and a career as a lawyer. The only problem is, it's not what she wants. So when she gets the opportunity to get away and spend a month with the aunt she never knew, she jumps at the chance. While there, Em learns that her family has some pretty significant secrets. And then there's Cade, the laid-back local surfer boy who seems to be everything Em isn't. Naturally, she can't resist him, and as their romance blossoms, Em feels that for the first time ever, she is really living life on her own terms. [Description from Goodreads]
Elizabeth Margaret--better known as Em--has always known what her life would contain: an internship at her father's firm, a degree from Harvard, and a career as a lawyer. The only problem is, it's not what she wants. So when she gets the opportunity to get away and spend a month with the aunt she never knew, she jumps at the chance. While there, Em learns that her family has some pretty significant secrets. And then there's Cade, the laid-back local surfer boy who seems to be everything Em isn't. Naturally, she can't resist him, and as their romance blossoms, Em feels that for the first time ever, she is really living life on her own terms. [Description from Goodreads]
Review:
Em has conformed to her parents’ perfect life and standards all her seventeen long years, so when she gets an exciting invitation to join her eccentric aunt on an island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for the summer, she’s beyond thrilled. But why has no one told her she even had an aunt until now? Why is her family so nervous about her staying with this not-so-close relative of hers? The Summer My Life Began follows the story of how Em’s life was changed in one summer.
I’ll be blunt: I wasn’t wowed by this book, but it wasn’t all that bad, either. It was predictable, yes, and ridiculous at some parts, and it seemed like all the characters in it were just super-duper nice and dandy and everything, but it wasn’t awful. I wasn’t expecting too much out of it- just a delightful summer read, and that’s what it turned out to be.
In The Summer My Life Began, Em finally gets her chance at freedom- freedom from her parents’ strict rules, freedom from her boring life, freedom from a summer of being an intern at a law firm. But what she discovers in the Outer Banks is not what she expected- an eccentric aunt, a long-lost cousin, and a hot island boy named Cade. This isn’t all though- Em finds out life-changing secrets that will rock her world.
Em wasn’t the best main character ever, mostly because she was hard to connect with, but I still enjoyed seeing her develop as she watches her life change right before her eyes. Cade was a great love interest- though I got tired of hearing about his “sexy half grin.” Couldn’t we have mentioned some other physical attribute, or at least come up with a different way of describing it besides “sexy half grin?” Honestly. It felt like I was being reminded about it every time he was mentioned. All the other characters were ok. Not fabulous. Just ok. That’s kind of how the whole book felt- mediocre. Predictable. Just ok. And while that might not be what you’re looking to read, The Summer My Life Began was definitely a fun beach read full of sun, sand, and romance.
Quick Content Review: *may contain spoilers*
Language: None (maybe one word…I can’t recall anything too bad, though)
Violence: None
Sexual: Mild (A couple kissing scenes, all very innocent. Mention of going to a topless beach.)
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