Series: None
Author: Sarah Dessen
Published June 4th 2019 by HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks
Goodreads Synopsis
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl—and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer.
Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.
Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family—her grandmother and cousins she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.
When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.
Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.
For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her will win out?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
I was quite late to the Sarah Dessen party, but since I first started reading some of her books last year, I've found them all really enjoyable. When this one became available on NetGalley, I knew I needed to request, and I'm so glad I did, because this one is my favourite of all of her books that I've read so far. Emma Saylor - she has two names, remember it - has lived with her dad ever since her mam died when she was 10, and she hasn't really seen any of her maternal family since before then. When her dad remarries - and she does like her new step-mam, that's not an issue - she ends up going to her grandma's for the first time in years to allow her dad to have a honeymoon. The problem is, she doesn't really know her family on that side, all of the cousins and family friends, and everyone she should know, so the summer in North Lake is difficult. Being a town that is split into two, along class lines - North Lake and the more upper-class Lake North - she's treated as a princess who should be on the other side of the lake, but wants to learn more about her history. Rediscovering her family, and her old friends, including once best friend, Roo, Emma finds herself become Saylor again, and realises that the summer will change everything she knows about her history, and her future.
Emma/Saylor was a character I really liked, though the whole name changing thing did get on my nerves a bit. That's just me, I haven't seen anyone else comment on that, but Saylor sounded too much like sailor for me, and I sort of found myself cringing whenever she was called that. Other than the name thing, she was someone I found myself getting to know, and appreciating how difficult it must be to be thrown into a situation like this, not knowing anyone - not really - and rediscovering a whole part of your life that you forgot about. All of her family, from her nan, to her cousins (especially Trinity), were fantastic, and so real, it was as if you were at their hotel with them. Although a romance book, the whole concept of found family, and rediscovery played a crucial role to the plot, and helped it move in pace.
The romance between Saylor and Roo was swoony, and I loved the idea of them once being the best of friends, never being apart, and having to rediscover their friendship and then their romantic feelings. The moments between them were never forced, and, honestly, when they were apart, I wanted them to be together again asap!
Considering I was expecting this book to be a fast read, it was over 400 pages long, but didn't feel long. The plot had so many different elements and tangents to it, right until the last page, that I sort of felt like it was in two halves perhaps, which helped the book not be too long. I know that whenever Dessen has another book out, I'll be reading it.
Dates Read:
Rating
5 Stars
