Book:  The Summer Of Skinny Dipping
Author:  Amanda Howells
Published:  June 1, 2010 from Sourcebooks Fire
My edition/number of pages:  ARC/324

Age group:  Young adult
Source:  Publisher
Series?:  No.

After getting dumped by her boyfriend, Mia is looking forward to spending a relaxing summer in the Hamptons with her glamorous cousins. But when she arrives she find her cousins distant, moody, and caught up with a fast crowd. Mia finds herself lonelier than ever, until she meets her next-door-neighbor, Simon Ross. And from the very first time he encourages her to go skinny dipping, she’s caught in a current impossible to resist.

Timeless in feel, The Summer of Skinny-Dipping is a poignant, literary coming-of-age romance that will live on long after summer has ended.

I started The Summer Of Skinny Dipping expecting a fun, lighthearted story and at first that’s what it was.  In fact it was a great summer read until I got to the ending.  I’m not gonna spoil it for people who want to read it but I will say that it came out of nowhere and it was not something that pleased me.

Mia Gordon loves the ocean.  She always has and she has always looked forward to her summers spent there but this year especially.  The love of her life just dumped her and she could use some girl time with her cousin Corinne.  Too bad Corinne is nothing like she remembered.  Mia no longer fits in at her summer home except when she is with Simon.  Simon is quirky, fun, and just an all around great guy but Mia isn’t looking for romance.  Or is she?

I’m going to go ahead and state right now that Mia annoyed me.  She was painfully insecure and not in a regular kind of way.  She always talked about how she was fat, didn’t fit in, or wasn’t pretty enough.  It got old very quickly.  She was also super naive.  She thought Corinne and her family had the perfect life because she was blinded by her own problems.  Simon, on the other hand, was fantastic.  He was goofy and funny and really lightened the mood of the book.  He also wasn’t your typical gorgeous male lead.  It was refreshing.

The plot was good but the real reason I actually enjoyed this book was the writing.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  I recommend this book for no other reason than that.  The writing made the story bearable.  Well, and Simon.  =]

Overall, The Summer Of Skinny Dipping is a good book but not necessarily if you are looking for something fun.  I did enjoy the book and I think this review is so negative because of the ending.  Sorry about that and I hope some of you will give this one a chance.

First line:  There are summers you’ll always remember and summers you’ve forgotten even before they’re through.

Writing:  5

Characters:  4

Plot:  4

Ending:  3

Originality:  4

Overall:  20=B-

Cover:  5=A++