Series: None
Author: Nicole Williams
Published June 20th 2017 by Crown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads Synopsis
USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Nicole Williams delivers a seductive summer romance worth swooning over. Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Stephanie Perkins.
Phoenix can't imagine anything worse than being shipped off to family summer camp. Her parents have been fighting for the past two years—do they seriously think being crammed in a cabin with Phoenix and her little brother, Harry, will make things better?
On top of that, Phoenix is stuck training with Callum—the head counselor who is seriously cute but a complete know-it-all. His hot-cold attitude means he's impossible to figure out—and even harder to rely on. But despite her better judgement, Phoenix is attracted to Callum. And he's promising Phoenix a summer she'll never forget. Can she trust him? Or is this just another lie?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Phoenix's home life is dreadful. All her parents do is argue, they're at risk of losing their home because her dad won't work, and both parents emotionally neglect Phoenix and little brother, Harry. The prospect of spending the whole summer with her parents at the camp, in a tiny little cabin, sounds like absolute hell on earth, but that's what's happening. After winning a free trip to Camp Kismet, this could be the time for the family to reconnect - if possible - and for Phoenix to try and be a teenager again. While there, she meets head counsellor, Callum, who pushes her buttons, but is dead cute, and Phoenix finds herself at risk of falling for him, though he doesn't strike her as the most reliable person. Can this summer be perfect, or will all her worst nightmares come true.
I read this book so long ago that most of the main plot points have escaped me, but I can remember that this was a fast and easy read. Phoenix felt as if she had the world on her shoulders, but at times she got on my nerves. Now I can understand she would feel pressured if her family were in bad situations, but she never had had a close relationship with her parents, so why was she acting as if she was the one in charge, the parent whereas her actual parents were the children, there to be told what to do and just listen. She acted like a parent to Harry, too, which was a bit more realistic, as she wanted him to have a better childhood, with greater boundaries and more love, than she had had, but her interactions with her parents just read wrong at times.
She also got on my nerves with how much pressure she put on her 'love interest' Callum to go to college. Now, I went to university, have two degrees, and it was the right thing for me, but some of my family went and dropped out because it just wasn't for them. When I was 17/18, it was kind of expected that you would go to uni, and that was it, but it really shouldn't be like that. As a teacher, I'm so glad that the pressure has now gone from our sixth formers that they don't have to go to university if it isn't for them. Going into apprenticeships, other forms of education, or into work, can be better for some, and the pressure of debt, etc. can be difficult for some people. So to have Phoenix think that not wanting to go to college is a bad thing, really turned me off her.
The romantic scenes, on the most part, I did enjoy, but still, there was other things in the background niggling at my head that just meant I couldn't give this book more than a 3 star rating.
Dates Read:
Rating
3 Stars
