Summer of Sloane – Erin L. Schneider

Title: Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider
Publishing Info: May 3, 2016 by Disney Hyperion
Source: Author
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: April 1, 2016

Warm Hawaiian sun. Lazy beach days. Flirty texts with her boyfriend back in Seattle.
These are the things seventeen-year-old Sloane McIntyre pictured when she imagined the summer she’d be spending at her mom’s home in Hawaii with her twin brother, Penn. Instead, after learning an unthinkable secret about her boyfriend, Tyler, and best friend, Mick, all she has is a fractured hand and a completely shattered heart.
Once she arrives in Honolulu, though, Sloane hopes that Hawaii might just be the escape she needs. With beach bonfires, old friends, exotic food, and the wonders of a waterproof cast, there’s no reason Sloane shouldn’t enjoy her summer. And when she meets Finn McAllister, the handsome son of a hotel magnate who doesn’t always play by the rules, she knows he’s the perfect distraction from everything that’s so wrong back home.
But it turns out a measly ocean isn’t nearly enough to stop all the emails, texts, and voicemails from her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, desperate to explain away their betrayal. And as her casual connection with Finn grows deeper, Sloane’s carefree summer might not be as easy to find as she’d hoped. Weighing years of history with Mick and Tyler against their deception, and the delicate possibility of new love, Sloane must decide when to forgive, and when to live for herself.

SUMMER OF SLOANE was a wonderful book! After a string of fantasies, I was totally in the mood for a contemporary/realistic story and Erin L. Schneider’s debut did not disappoint. A perfect mix of summer fun, friendship turning points, and great family moments not to mention a summer romance really captivated me and I didn’t want to put the book down!

I’ve never been to Hawaii but the setting was so wonderful that I could totally picture the characters (and myself) there! The combination of sensory descriptions really brought together a full picture of Hawaii and I could practically smell the tropical air myself! It was such a perfect set-up for a great summery book and it had me longing for some ocean, sun, and sand!

The book kicks off with a huge knowledge bomb being dropped on Sloane that effectively ends her relationship with her boyfriend and squashes years of best friendship all in one fell swoop. It’s a terrible start to her summer but the silver lining is a few months in Hawaii with her mom, her brother, and the friends she’s kept in touch with over the years. I actually really liked that the book didn’t wait to introduce this big conflict in Sloane’s life! It really set up the tone for the book and put the focus on Sloane and how much she really wanted to figure out her life outside of her best friend and (now ex) boyfriend. I sometimes get really turned off when books use a best friend fight as a source of the conflict because it usually sours me for one character or another and although Sloane is clearly on the outs with her best friend Mick, there’s that sense that somewhere in the book there’s the potential to either forgive and/or move on. The book allows Sloane to take her time to figure out what she wants to do with this situation. Really it just allows Sloane take back the summer for herself and not let this huge setback destroy her. Sloane ends up empowering herself instead of letting herself fall victim to some serious drama and I loved her attitude towards the whole thing!

The friendships that Sloane has with her Hawaii friends were so enjoyable to read! I love the sort of friendships that even when you’ve spent time apart, you just fall back into a rhythm when you see each other again. They were relaxed and yet extremely close and there was such an easy give and take. I always love seeing wonderful friendships in books and the relationship that Sloane has with her friends here was top notch! They really support each other and just seem like wonderful friends. The familial relationships were excellent as well. I love brother-sister bonds and really enjoyed the love and support between Sloane and her twin brother Penn. It was also great to see Sloane getting along with her mom even though they didn’t always have the best relationship (Sloane lives with her dad) and even though her mom tried a bit too hard to make up for it sometimes, it wasn’t really a source of conflict. I really appreciated that!

I also really enjoyed the romance between Sloane and Finn. There were a few hiccups due to what had already happened to Sloane and she became a bit closed off when conflict arose but for the most part, they had a great relationship and were both pretty chill with each other which was nice! I was hoping for a few more swoony moments but I really loved how easily they seemed to fall together and how much they both learned from each other over the summer.

SUMMER OF SLOANE had a nice romance and some great relationships, ultimately this book was about Sloane and coming to terms with what happened between her, her best friend Mick, and her boyfriend Tyler. Sloane ends up taking the summer back for herself and it was so wonderful to see her take charge of her own life and understand who she was as an individual. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a best friend or a boyfriend being such a big part of your life but I know I personally didn’t really get to know who I was on my own until I was in my twenties and I think the “young adult” age is really a time of self-discovery. SUMMER OF SLOANE was an excellent portrayal of that concept and it was great to see Sloane figure all of these things out while still maintaining that family and friendship support system. I really enjoyed the book and if I hadn’t been reading it on my lunch break, I totally could have read it in one sitting! I think readers will really, really enjoy this one! I even felt drawn to Sloane’s friend Mick and wanted a companion novel with her as the main character! I felt like her story wasn’t done yet and there’s a lot of room for a whole new book there.

“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Sloane // Character Obsessions: Swimming, friendships, self-discovery, Hawaii.
I LOVED Sloane. I loved her confidence and attitude throughout the book and that she didn’t really take crap from anyone. When this Awful Thing happens to her at the beginning of her summer, her decision is to take back the summer for herself instead of wallowing and missing her best friend and boyfriend. She was just so much fun to read about!
Mick // Character Obsessions: Tyler, fun, apologizing.
I know Mick was pretty unlikable throughout the book but… I’m not done with her story yet. I feel like there was that little opening at the end where she could end up telling her own story in a new book. I’d love to see her redemption and everything that went down after the events in SUMMER OF SLOANE. Let’s all campaign for “Autumn of Mick”!

Kept Me Hooked On: Tropical locations. Man, I wish I was in Hawaii right now. I could practically feel the sun on my skin, smell the tropical flowers, and I just so wished I was there! It was the perfect summer location.
Left Me Wanting More: Swoony bits. The romance was cute but I didn’t QUITE swoon as much as I thought I would. That’s not a bad thing at all but I think I was just expecting a little more of the romantic moments. After finishing, I really do think the book is more about Sloane than it is about falling in love.

Addiction Rating
Read it!

I wish I had had the time to inhale this book! I didn’t want to put it down. I think readers will really enjoy this summery contemporary!

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(Click the cover to see my review!)