Forever Summer, by Alyson Noël

Title: Forever Summer

Author: Alyson Noël

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Release Date: April 26, 2011

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Format: Paperback Edition

Goodreads Average Rating: 3.61

Age Group: 12+





    Since two novels are included in this book, I'll review each of the two seperately, and then compare the two together.


Laguna Cove:

   I found that this one was the perfect summer beach read, why didn't I read it sooner?

  In Forever Summer, we have Anne, who's mother sends her to live with her director father in Laguna Beach, California. When she immediately fits in with the cool surfer crowd, Anne must choose between love and friendship, or the other way around. Learning to surf, going to her first Hollywood party, this summer for Anne will be the one of firsts and lasts.

    I love where this story started and ended. I was hooked in right away, and it never left me bored.

    Anne was a pretty good lead, I wouldn't say that she was the best, but she was likeable. Many readers will fall for her footsteps as she learns how to fit in.

   I'd say that my favourite characters were Lola and Jade. Even though Lola has that personality of thinking too good about herself, something about her made me really like her, she's the one who didn't take chances, but when someone pushed her, she tried. Jade was the only one who wasn't bratty, and I liked her easygoing personality as well.

  Ellie was a different story. To me, she was a selfish brat who wanted boys and everything to herself. She really was a whiny character who always had to get everything that she wanted, even when it wasn't easy.

  The romance wasn't the best, and I think this story could've done a little better, but I really enjoyed it, anyway.

4.5/5 stars


Cruel Summer:

   Alyson Noël really knows how to spice stories up, and this is a perfect example of one. Cruel Summer was the one to remember.

   In Cruel Summer, we have Colby, who's parents are getting through an ugly divorce, and decides to send her away to Tinos, Greece, where her supposedly "crazy" aunt Tally lives with her boyfriend, Tassos. Colby really isn't so happy about it, leaving her new popular friends behind, and that guy she recently hooked up with. Colby is in for a summer to remember, but she really just didn't know it, yet.

  I was literally obsessed with this novel, I kept raving about it to everyone around me, and wouldn't stop until the story was over.

  Everything happened so fast, and I felt like I was with Colby throughtout the whole summer. I wish that she was my best friend, she knows how to have fun!

  Colby wasn't what other people said about her, whiny and wanted to get the heck out of Greece. I found her as a charming, easygoing, bubbly teenager wanting to have fun in her life when everything's going wrong in California.

  Here, about everything was perfect. I loved the mysterious romance, the fun, the setting, the fast-paced plot, and the whole concept and meaning.

  I was upset with the ending, it kind of left us hanging, but then, really, we get to make an ending for ourselves.

   I adored this whole story, inside and out.

5/5 stars


Overall:

Okay, lets just get this over with, obviously, Cruel Summer was the best out of the two.

The characters, plot, setting, and just how the story flowed was much better than Laguna Cove.

 That's all, but here we had two beautiful stories!