YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

Hey guys! Heather and I will be doing a buddy read of That Summer starting around the 11th if anyone wants to join us!

I'll join you guys!

Yay! Looking g forward to reading and discussing. :)

What is your favourite book by Sarah Dessen out of all the ones you've read so far?

Mine's Just Listen (my first book by Sarah Dessen) <3

I have yet to complete a full book by her.

@Heather
I hope we enjoy this one!

So far I've only read Lock and Key. I'm currently reading Dreamland. Of those two, I'm pretty sure Lock and Key is my favorite. Not liking Dreamland too much.

A little last minute but I'm in! :)

Great! :)

Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[I've noticed that the main characters in Sarah Dessen's books seem to be the younger sister who look up to and are jealous of their older sisters. There's always an older sister! (hide spoiler)]

I'm excited! I'm really liking someone like you right now

End of chapter 4
(view spoiler)[Haven keeps remembering the days Ashley was with Sumner. They seemed to be a great match but what happened? Why do I get the vibe Haven had a crush on Sumner? Wild theory... (hide spoiler)]

Noella wrote: "Chapter 1
[spoilers removed]"

I've just started this and I must say that I agree with you. This is only my third novel of hers, but there seems to be a pattern...

So far it seems to be alright. Gonna continue reading and see what I think.

I'm just starting right now. I just upgraded my phone, I only use the app and I cannot do spoilers right now. I guess until the app upgrades to the current software on my phone, or whatever ;-) anyways if nothing else it is a short book :-)

Berit wrote: "I'm just starting right now. I just upgraded my phone, I only use the app and I cannot do spoilers right now. I guess until the app upgrades to the current software on my phone, or whatever ;-) any..."

My kindle won't do spoilers either. So most of the time I just give vague thoughts so as not to spoil anything for anyone. It's worked pretty well so far. :)

I actually just figured out the spoiler problem, so we are okay ;-)

chapter 7
(view spoiler)[OK so it's more than half the book and Sumner is the only guy in the picture for Haven. I think Haven wants him back in her life and not necessarily back with Ashley! I wonder why Ashley was so nonchalant hearing about Sumner. (hide spoiler)]

I just finished chapter 2, did any of you ever think you were too tall? I know when I was 18 I did, and I'm 5'8".

I stopped growing at 12 and I'm only 5'4" I was kind of tall as a child. I was always the tallest of the kids I knew. I just stopped growing young. I have some tall friends and I know some of them have felt aawkward. one of them said she was always only friends with tall people when she was younger because she felt out of place with people my height. She's about 5"11" I think. I can see how it would be hard, particularly in a family that's not very tall.

I was always short :( I can understand why Haven's tall height gives her grief (cause there's grief with being short too)

It's like the grass is always greener. I have very curly hair and four years I got it straightened, I did everything the Brazilian blowout, Japanese straightening, etc. I always thought 5'6" was the perfect height, but I'm okay with how tall I am now.

I have curly hair too! When I was younger I didn't like it, but all my older sisters wanted curls. Now I love my hair. I always wanted to be tall when I was young, but I love my height now. :)

I think with age comes acceptance! I love my curly hair now as well!

Well, not much as happened. Her sister is going to get married, and she works at a shoe store. I'm on the edge of my seat :-) Well, not much as happened. Her sister is going to get married, and she works at a shoe store. I'm on the edge of my seat :-)

The app has gone crazy! First of all, you can't get a job when you are only 15! I'm on chapter 7

(view spoiler)[ I think it's creepy that her sisters ex-boyfriend is everywhere, isn't he like 20? Also if the big dilemma in this book is her mom is selling her house, well? I think this book is meant for a very young reader. (hide spoiler)]

Berit wrote: "The app has gone crazy! First of all, you can't get a job when you are only 15! I'm on chapter 7

[spoilers removed]"

I completely agree. I'm around the same point now and I'm just not sure where this story is headed. I'm just not getting anything from the characters or the story. It feels like it's not really headed anywhere at this point. Not sure how I'm going to feel about this one...

Ok, so here are some thoughts to this point. (About chapter seven) (view spoiler)[I get that Sarah Dessen writes about mixed up families and relationships, but this one doesn't feel right to me. Maybe it's because it's her first book, but it feels much slower than the others. And the problems don't seem as big. So far it's just about weddings, not liking her new stepmom, her friend coming back from camp boy crazy, this weird stuff with her sisters ex-boyfriend, and feeling out of place because she's tall. Maybe it's focus is just a younger audience than I'm used to. Not sure. (hide spoiler)]

Berit wrote: "The app has gone crazy! First of all, you can't get a job when you are only 15! I'm on chapter 7

[spoilers removed]"

In the US you can't get a job when you're 15? I got one at age 14 @ $5.50 per hour but that's Australia and before minimum wage came in lol. Crappy money. I was shocked when Haven said she was earning $4 something an hour

@ Courtney
Ye nothing seems to be happening!
(view spoiler)[I think something's gonna happen between Haven and Sumner and then it's gonna go bad cos it won't work out (age gap and their history and stuff)... (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, at chapter nine now. I think you're right (view spoiler)[something has to happen with Sumner. And Im just waiting for an explanation as to what happened with him and Ashley before. Not too much more, so I guess I'll find out soon. (hide spoiler)]

The best part of this book was, I am done! I really don't know what to say, my favorite part was when they were throwing shoes at one another. I did actually laugh out loud!
(view spoiler)[ this could be a short story about what I did this summer my sister got married, my dad and his new wife got pregnant, and I figured out boys can lie, and be jerky! Oh yes and don't forget I am tall and supermodels can cry. The end! (hide spoiler)]

No, you can't work until you're 16 and even then it is hard to get a job. I think this book was written almost 20 years ago, but minimum-wage was probably around seven dollars an hour then.

I'm glad this is not the first book I read from her. I read Lock and Key, I really liked it. I will give her another chance based on that.

Just a little tidbit of information, this was her first book. Which explains a lot! Also I can use it for another challenge :-)

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[Wow she didn't know all these years that Sumner cheated on her sister! Like did she NEVER think to ask her sister why they broke up? All she did was reminisce the 'good' times without knowing the truth of what happened. I don't think this is realistic tbh (hide spoiler)]

Ending
(view spoiler)[I kind of felt this was a waste of time. It ended in misunderstanding and there wasn't much of a story line.

Did anyone feel the ending sentence "And she was right. The first boy was always the hardest." was talking about her crush on Sumner? (hide spoiler)]

@Berit
Haha the shoe throwing was definitely the best bit.

Yeah. the shoe part was probably the only one that had me laugh. This book just never went anywhere. I kept hoping something would happen. The relationships and conflict just fell flat for me. I'm glad this wasn't my first Dessen novel because I'm not sure I would have picked up another one.

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Date Changed. Restarting February 9th 2016. Happy Reading ☺

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Started!
I was just in the first chapter, when the characters and story seemed sort of familiar. Then I realised I'd seen the movie, How to Deal. Lol. So I guess I know quite a bit of the story already, but How To Deal is apparently a combination of 2 of her books, not only that Summer.

Feyde wrote: "Started!
I was just in the first chapter, when the characters and story seemed sort of familiar. Then I realised I'd seen the movie, How to Deal. Lol. So I guess I know quite a bit of the story al..."

I am waiting for my book to still come in. Sorry!

I'm listening to another book before this one, should be able to start the 11th if not tomorrow afternoon, no rush Aly :D

Brooke wrote: "I'm listening to another book before this one, should be able to start the 11th if not tomorrow afternoon, no rush Aly :D"

Thanks Brooke :)

Aly wrote: "Feyde wrote: "Started!
I was just in the first chapter, when the characters and story seemed sort of familiar. Then I realised I'd seen the movie, How to Deal. Lol. So I guess I know quite a bit o..."

Hmm, that's quite okay, I've not been able to quite get into it- I'll probably go real slow. I'm not liking the writing too much, but I love all other Dessen books I've read, so there's hope.

About 75% in
(view spoiler)[Nothing much is happening. I don't really get the point of this book. There's nobody new she's meeting, no love interest to make things entertaining, no rifts with Casey, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENING. (hide spoiler)]

Ch11
(view spoiler)[Wow! She could have given more about the Rick thing, it soo wasn't enough. I see Haven getting frustrated, though. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I have a feeling I'm going to like this book after now.
(hide spoiler)]

Done!
(view spoiler)[Ughhh, I did not like That Summer. I expected something amazing, instead, there was just 208 pages of nonsense. You can really tell it's Dessen's first book. Thank God her writing has improved so much! (hide spoiler)]

25%
(view spoiler)[ How old is this girl supposed to be?! 16?! She acts like she's 12. (hide spoiler)]

40%
(view spoiler)[ $10 she falls for the sister's EX. I just know that's where the story is going. Isn't he like majorly too old for her! (hide spoiler)]

75%
(view spoiler)[ I missed the part where they said the sister was out drinking. I legit thought she was doing drugs and that was what happened. But sheesh. Why the heck would you get that drunk!? (hide spoiler)]

Ending Thoughts.
(view spoiler)[ Well it was bad, but not too good either. I had issues with how old the MC was written as. Nothing really happened. Very predictable. I hate the sister, wish something bad had happened to her. Very disappointed with the "Ending" (hide spoiler)]