Summary from GoodReads:

“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?”
“Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?”

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every 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.

Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

My Review:

I can appreciate why this book is as popular as it is.   It’s a heart-rending story, filled with secrets, heart-break, lost love and self-exploration.  It’s easy to read, hard to put down and sports a very likeable character in Anna.

With all that said, I hate to say anything negative about it, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about how this story made prudish me squirm a bit.  I mean, for all of Anna and Frankie’s growth, as friends and as women, there was a lot of backsliding happening.  The lies, the deceit, the clueless parents and the rush to lose her virginity made me more than a little uncomfortable.  That said, I wouldn’t be on the bandwagon calling for the book to be banned, but I might think twice about recommending it lightly.

For a debut novel, don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful book and I think Sarah Ockler really captured some of the angst that teenagers deal with when coping with loss and grief, I just wish there would have been a little less about boys and a little more about the family/friends dynamics.

Check out these review(s):

I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read

The Story Siren