Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Genre: Young Adult

Synopsis: According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in ZanzibarBay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie—-she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

Rating: 4 stars

Review: I am so happy I finally read this book after so many rave reviews from other book bloggers and friends! I can now see why everyone's saying mainly positive things about Twenty Boy Summer. It is a mixture of things; it's a feel good Summer book, yet it also quite heartbreaking at times.

First of all, I absolutely LOVED the main character. Her pain and her joys were so real to me; I felt like I was going through everything she was. I think it's a challenge for any author or writer to be able to create a fictional character that would be able to do that to his or her readers. The author, Sarah Ockler, did a great job shaping and adding life to that said character, and was also able to write beautifully at the same time. Also, I love that cover! It's so eye catching and the colors are gorgeous.

There are some minor things I did have some problems with. There were a lot of subplots here and there, that I felt weren't explored all that well. The major plot was dealt with very well, but there are the other story lines that I thought were somehow ignored.

Overall, I thought it was a great read. It's definitely entertaining and I was never once bored with it. It's a great story about love and loss, family and friends, letting go, moving on, and growing up. Recommended to lovers of the YA genre.