The first couple of chapters had me a little worried. It starts off a little slow and I wasn’t sure Greenland would be able to pull the story together and make something memorable. Thankfully, I was wrong.

This is a sweet coming of age story that deals with a lot of things teens have to face: parent expectations versus teen desires, first love, and family dynamics. Greenland managed to tackle each of these topics in a way that left everything tied up in a wonderful bow, and yet it wasn’t overly perfect. I do wish this book had gone a little deeper in exploring these topics instead of just the surface skim. The topics are addressed, but I felt like there was so much more there that could have been explored. The book was good, but if it had explored this a little bit more, it could have been great.

The characters were likable and very relatable. It was easy to see a piece of myself in Em, a bit of my high school crush in Cade, and my family members sprinkled somewhere in the book. It brought me back to the summer after I graduated and when I was thinking about taking the next step towards my future.

It’s a lighthearted read that made me feel good about life. It was a quick read for me, but sometimes, those are the books you want and need to read. It’s a wonderful, beachy summer read.

I was given the opportunity to read this through JKS Communications. Please click below for more info on this book.