The Way Back

The OC #3

by Cory Martin

Get the story behind the TV show--stories you won't find anywhere else! Everything's changing in the O.C.

The Newport summer scene has arrived and it's the same old days at the beach and nights spent partying . . . only this year it isn't. When Ryan announced that he was going back to Chino to help Theresa raise her baby (Is it his baby? He doesn't know) everything changed. Seth hit the water, leaving his family and Summer behind, sailing his boat to places unknown. Marissa's losing herself in a bottle and an unlikely romance. As for Summer, she's slipping back into her old life and a new love. Everything's changed. Nothing is the same. Can it ever be again?

Genres: Young Adult, Chick Lit, Tv, Romance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

A graduate of the University of Southern California, Cory has a B.A. in English-Creative Writing, and spent time studying literature at Cambridge University in England. By the age of twenty-five, she had garnered writing credits on the hit television show, "The O.C." and had been asked by Scholastic to pen three young adult novels based on the same T.V. series. She is the author of "Love Sick" a memoir about dating, life in Hollywood and dealing with MS. Her essays have appeared online with XOJane, The Mighty, and Elephant Journal.

As a passionate yogi, Cory Martin is also a 500-hr RYT and a regular instructor at the famed Santa Monica Pier's run and yoga program, ROGA. She teaches at various studios around Los Angeles and is the writer behind the documentary film "Titans of Yoga" and her book "Yoga for Beginners" was released in August, 2015 by Althea Press.

To find out more about Cory follow her on Instagram at @corymartinwrites or on facebook at fb/corymartinyoga

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

FINALLY. After a terrible start to the series, the third book finally delivers an interesting, cohesive and original storyline, filling in some of the gap between Season 1 and 2. Just skip to here and don't bother with the first two books.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this very interesting. It give's you a look at what happened during the summer between season 1 and season 2.

[Kyle Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fills in the gap between the Season 1 finale and the opening of Season 2. Unfortunately, this gets repetitive pretty fast. Every Marissa chapter is just 'oh, i'm so different and no one understands me!!! I don't belong here!!' and the author is determined to drill the fact that she's skinny into our heads. Like, we know. We get it. The Ryan and Theresa chapters are interesting, and definitely a look into Chino that we never got in the show. Theresa and her mood swings get annoying after about 2 chapters, though. I did like the Seth chapters though. Overall, a bit boring but I appreciate this being mostly new material unlike the first 2 books.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

"They were three worlds apart."

I still have a sweet spot for The Summer of Summer (also by Cory Martin - the reason I ended up reading these was how she spoke of them on the OC B*tches podcast), Chrismukkah and Cohen! books, but this one is by far the best. (I still have The Misfit and The Outsider to read but by all accounts there's no original material in those ones).

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the first two tie-ins, this one is mostly original material -- designed to fill a canon gap -- covering the summer after season 1 up to the 4th of July. The only exception is when recapping earlier events, which is nice because a lot of them are scenes that we previously saw from Ryan's perspective, now coming from Seth or Marissa's. As for each one's arc here:

I have no stomach for Marissa and DJ (a character I loathe so much that I did not even know his name before today), but before he shows up I really like how she and her mental state are portrayed. Plus there is a healthy sprinkling of her and Summer's friendship, and glimpses at how Summer and Zach began.

I enjoy Seth and Luke's weird friendship, both because I miss the lovably dopey and earnest side of Luke and because Seth is just such a natural fit for Portland. I enjoyed getting to see the notes he left for his parents and Summer, which bookend the novel, as well as a bit more detail about his journey to Portland, and I kinda wish Cory Martin could take Cali and write up her whole backstory as an original YA novel 'cause she seems neat.

But I bought this one for the story of Ryan and Theresa, and that thread shines so brightly it's enough to make this book my second favorite of the tie-in series. If you thought I was here for Ryan taking care of Marissa, let's just say I am more than happy to trade that need in for supporting the pregnant girl. I know part of it is my own determination to love those kids and their terrible game plan for parenthood with all of my heart, but it's just so vivid.

For instance, Ryan's frustration when the ATM is broken and he has to go to a check-cashing place in order to spend his paycheck -- which he does so he won't disappoint Theresa by coming home without her list of junk food cravings -- is such a poignant way to show how the cycle of poverty works. I also particularly love the one of Theresa's many random meltdowns where Ryan doesn't know what else to do beyond pet her hair and apologize for whatever he did (actual answer: nothing), and is rewarded by being invited to sleep in the bed with her (guess how well that turns out in the morning. hint: it involves a random meltdown).

Her hormonal mood swings almost turn her into a caricature -- if this were a fanfic, I might accuse it of character bashing -- except it's clear they aren't happy or clicking in the usual way when season 2 premiere rolls around, and I think the author took a good stab at setting up that situation. As sad as their determination to prop up a sham co-parenting relationship is, I love Theresa and I love them together, even under the worst circumstances, and getting this peek into their short time together is such an indulgence

All in all, Cory Martin is definitely my preferred of the two hired authors so far, perhaps not coincidentally because she's the one who also has actual writing credits from the show to her name.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining overall. Not as true to the characters as I had hoped it would be but not bad.