DevTheReader

“I’m a realist,” I replied stubbornly, “not a romantic. Romantics
are always disappointed.”
“Maybe they’re disappointed because they’re always surrounded
by realists.” Simon countered.”

Sooooo i think i loved this book until my brain cells started analyzing and investigating .

so lets get on it , shall we ?

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells was surprisingly a likable read . i remember feeling bored to death and even considering abandoning it when suddenly things took an unexpected course and i actually started liking it . the thing which attracted me most was it's synopsis and also it's prologue with its ..I'm Mia Gordon and i remember everything kinda thing going for it . then it all went straight down with it's slow pace taking over and launching this book straight in a monotonous dull lull .

We here have our sixteen year-old Mia . She's going away with her family to Long Island to spend the summer with her relatives i.e her lovable aunt , Kathleen , her uncle Rufus and her cousins , Corrine and beth . Mia is game for the summer she hoped would be absolutely fantastic with her aunt and much-loved-and-Bff-sort-of cousin Corrine .
but when she arrives , she realises things have changed ... that things which you least expect do happen to you at unexpected times and that this summer was going to be one of the greatest summer of her life .

i liked Mia . She was realistic and the things she thought and felt were quite understandable . her insecurity and her shyness of being part of the crowd as well as her reluctance to lose herself and also pretend to actually fit in was something i think many teenagers feel and author did a nice job in creating something which readers could connect with .

okay , so i think it felt too...real.
How would you feel when you're in a party , sitting there all by yourself all alone when suddenly a stranger-guy starts making conversation and goes on full frontal with his..i saw you and wanted to talk to you and really want to get to know you more , so tell me everything and everything and blah blah right at the moment you meet ?..(okay i'm kind of exaggerating :P ) but still how would you feel when he gets insistent ?

you creep out .

Mia was in a similar situation . usually when reading such parts i would go flying across the moon with butterflies in my tummy , but here i was a tiny bit 'creeped out' .

but then again i think this is the thing which makes you like Simon even more .
ah yes , the guy is Simon .
Simon was a likable character . He was fearless , brave , smart and spirited ! his artistic , free and lively nature made me like him even more . it was as if i was getting to know Simon step by step along with Mia .

the author also does a wonderful job in making the book feel Summery , light and bright :)
the use of colours and emotions to describe natural beauty and the ocean has always won my heart . mentioning fireflies , planktons , blackholes and scientific knowledge and blending it together made this book even more vibrant . it's always nice to come across brief mentioning of classics like 'The Great Gatsby' and also the 'blues-tune' kind of music . kudos to the author , for doing a great job in creating such a world :)

now the place where things go down the drain .
the end . yes , it was something i did not like .

it did affect me .
i was sad . but not heartbroken and tears didn't fall .
after dancing with grief books and finally crying ...i think my system has programmed itself to like a book only if i cry . -.-
(that's actually quite a depressing thought ...but still :P )
and i methinks that's where this book loses it's stars .

in the end , the Summer of Skinny Dipping , like i said before took an unexpected turn from being boring to actually being nice and likable . the series definitely has potential in it . definitely going to try the next one :)