Summer in the Invisible City by Juliana Romano // The Best Book I've Read This Year

Summer in the Invisible City, by Juliana Romano
Publication: June 21, 2016, by Dial Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

Seventeen-year-old Sadie Bell has this summer all figured out: She’s going to befriend the cool girls at her school. She’s going to bond with her absentee father, a famous artist, and impress him with her photography skills. And she’s finally going to get over Noah, the swoony older guy who was her very first mistake.
Sadie wasn’t counting on meeting Sam, a funny and free-thinking boy who makes her question all of her goals. But even after a summer of talking, touching, and sharing secrets, Sam says he just wants to be friends. And when those Sadie cares about most hurt her, Sam’s friendship may not be enough. Sadie can see the world through her camera, but can she see the people who have loved and supported her all along?

My Thoughts:

SO. I was the biggest fan of Juliana Romano's First There Was Forever. After completing it and closing the book's spine, I wanted more. I then went onto Goodreads and saw that this pretty, Summer in the Invisible City, would be releasing. I COULDN'T WAIT to fall back into the world of Romano's contemporary romance writing, and I knew that these kinds of books only come around once in a lifetime. Two days ago, I picked up this book, hoping that it would be as good as it appeared to be, and I was not disappointed. This is absolutely the best book I've read this year (so far, at least, but it'll be difficult to beat). It's a book that's both light and easy to read (based on the fact that it is so addicting that you can even read it in the loudest setting possible without losing concentration), but dark and meaningful, as it focuses a lot on family, friendship, and love, in an absolute realistic manner. I absolutely feel as if this story was real, and that Sadie's character exists in New York City.

Summer in the Invisible City evidently takes place in New York City, where we have our kickass protagonist, Sadie, who is dealing with a bunch of conflicts in her life. For one, she has been in a state of heartbreak for a while after a guy named Noah took advantage of her while she thought that they had 'something.' Her father, a famous photographer, is also out of the picture, occasionally visiting Sadie, but the situation itself is quite awkward. She is also trying to fit in with the cooler kids at her school, and is attempting to decide what her future holds for her after high school. Things get more complicated when she meets Sam, who is from New Hampshire, and is beginning to learn about NYC life. However, he just states that he and Sadie are 'friends,' giving her mixed feelings as she sees something more in their relationship.

THE FEELS. THE EMOTIONS. THE LOVE. I am just so obsessed with the romance in this novel that I feel that I can tell you that I haven't seen anything like it. Romano just takes such a real approach to her writing that many other chick-lit writers should look to. Sam and Sadie just had that SPECIAL SOMETHING that I will never forget about. I'm obsessed! 

Let's cut to the chase: there wasn't anything wrong with this book! IT WAS JUST AMAZING. I'm telling you that you must pick it up when you can; do not listen to the negative reviews.

What is the best book you've read this year?

First There Was Forever by Juliana Romano // Summer? Yes. Drama? Absolutely.

First There Was Forever, by Juliana Romano
Publication: April 14, 2015, by Dial Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: ½

Juliana Romano's expressive debut is an absorbing and bittersweet story about first love, first loss, and the friends that carry us through it all.
Lima and Hailey have always been best friends: Lima shy and sensitive, Hailey funny and free-spirited. But Hailey abandons Lima to party with the popular kids and pursue Nate, her disinterested crush. As their friendship falters, Lima and Nate begin spending more time together. And before Lima knows what she’s feeling, she and Nate do something irreversible. Something that would hurt Hailey....if she knew it happened.
Lima thinks she’s saving her friendship by lying, but she’s only buying time. As the secrets stack up, Lima is forced to make a choice: between her best friend forever, and the boy who wasn’t meant to be hers.

My Thoughts:

CALIFORNIA LOVEEEEE. *plays the song by Tupac* That's a song that immediately pops into my head when I think about Juliana Romano's First There Was Forever. I cannot really think about the direct lyrics, though Romano's debut does take place in California, the land of dreams, Beverly Hills, drama and daily doses of sunshine. I don't think anything gets better than California. When I read this book, I just came home from California, so I was enduring some kind of post-trip depression where all I wanted to do was hop on a plane again and travel to the place where I am happy. (Not that I'm not happy anywhere else but... it's a happy land). First There Was Forever was raw and so meaningful. 

The important detail to note here is that it, the novel, displays the realism of teenagers and their mentalities to an interesting extent. And by an interesting extent, I mean an over-exaggerated extent. I'm a teenager living in the twenty-first century, and I can tell you that the only reason why I did not give this book a perfect rating was because I was disappointed with the fact that the characters in the book were showcased as people who only cared about boys and partying, and of course, a little bit of friendship drama here and there. It's kind of wrong, and I felt all iffy about the whole situation. I definitely felt that it was real, but I cannot personally relate to any of the characters and situation because it's all just out of my realm.

This does, however, portray friendship and the problems of being a teenager. Our protagonist, Lima, undergoes the time of her life where she realizes that she needs to change her way of thinking and friend group. I can personally relate to that, and I bet many other teens can, too, because there's always that period of our lives where we feel that we just don't belong somewhere. And when we find that special group of people who we slide in with, it all works out. Lima was a protagonist who was so energetic and special; she was shy to the others, though reading about her life from her eyes made the book even better. Seeing that she was slowly climbing out of her shell to become more confident in her shoes was remarkable. I LOVED SEEING THIS DEVELOPMENT.

This isn't your typical girl-falling-in-love-with-her-BFF's-crush novel. It's more than that. It's something you can fall in love with very quickly and feel unable to let go. It's 400 pages of awesomeness and a rich plot that you won't be able to forget about for ages. I especially loved the whole story because it's summery and fluffy; it also incorporates themes that take you to a deep level of consciousness, if that is even possible. It's just deep, beautiful and full of drama to the point that I felt the fast pace in me as I read. It's been a looooong time since I read a book this quickly. 

In a quick sentence: I adored Lima and Nate and despised Hailey with all of my might. She was your typical mean girl who you just wanted to depart the plot. 

First There Was Forever has been sitting in my shelf for months, perhaps even a year before I decided, "Hey! This might be the perfect time to pick it up!" This is the kind of book that was not written solely for teenagers; anyone is able to find something here that they will enjoy. I am SO SO SO eager to pick up Romano's Summer in the City and see what her setting of NYC has in store for her characters. I'm lost for words; this is phenomenal.

What is a book that at first, seemed typical, but was better and more unique than everyone first expected?