Review Detail

4.6 26

Twenty Boy Summer

Young Adult Fiction 319

Memorable and Heart-Warming

August 16, 2009

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

N/A

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Reader reviewed by BooksObsession

Anna and Frankie, inseparable best
friends, are looking for a summer romance while they vacation in
California.. but they're still grieving for Matt, who was Frankie's
older brother and Anna's secret boyfriend. As Anna tries to comfort
Frankie's grief, and her own, the secret of her love for Matt threatens
to destroy their friendship.

I have heard a LOT of great talk
about this book, and now I can see why. I dove right into the story,
connecting to shy and secretive Anna - the main character. I couldn't
believe this was Sarah Ockler's debut book because the writing was just
spectacular! I would've thought she had been writing books for years
and years. I could literally feel Anna's heartache and longing for Matt
throughout the book - and I'll admit that I cried a few more times than
I had expected.

Halfway through the novel, it started to wind
down a little bit for me and I wasn't sure where the story was headed.
Chapters passed, and nothing big was happening. I kept anticipating for
Anna to finally come clean and share her big secret with Frankie
already. But OH MY GOODNESS...when you hit the climax in this book it
will just shatter your heart into little bits and pieces! (Well, for me
it did anyway.) I felt so many different emotions as I ripped through
the pages, wondering what conflict would arise next. I felt frustrated
for Anna, sad, angry, lonely, happy, overwhelmed - basically I just
literally felt like I was IN the story. I love that feeling. :)

One
thing that I didn't like at all at first was the fact that Frankie and
Anna acted like virginity was nothing. That's the whole reason the book
is called, "Twenty Boy Summer." Because they plan to meet a different
boy each day that they are in California, in hopes of finding the one that Anna can give her purity to. I'm a big believer in abstinence so I didn't really like the idea.

This
is an amazing heart-touching book that you must read! I was very
content with the ending, and happy with how it all turned out in the
end. I feel like all the bits and pieces of it came together, all the
loose ends tied together, and the stray pieces completing the puzzle.