Cool for the Summer

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the cover. The colors scream summer to me. The title reminded me of Demi Lovato's song “Cool for the Summer” so I thought the story would be inspired be it, and I was right! Without even knowing what I was getting into I knew this would be a fun book.

Recap:

This story is about a senior named Larissa. She is coming back to school after spending the summer with a different girl named Jasmine at the Outer Banks. But when she comes back to school she’s all about Chase Harding, her long time crush. Larissa is about to have everything she's ever wanted when Jasmine became the new girl at school. Now Larissa has to decide, does she want to forget about her summer fling in order to make room for new memories with Chase? Why is it so hard to move on? This book is told through present day and flashbacks, and chronicles Larissa’s journey in discovering more about herself and what she wants.

Thoughts:

I debated for a while whether this was a 3 star book or a 4 star book. I ultimately decided on 4 stars because I feel like I might be critiquing too hard. I am not a romance novel fan. But because I’ve read a couple of stand out ones in the past I keep hoping I’ll find another, so I like to give romance books a chance. To be very honest I actually wanted to DNF very early on. I was really only motivated to finish because this was my first ever ARC. I like for books to keep me guessing and I figured out the ending very early. I am glad that I stuck with it and finished because it was entertaining at many moments.

My favorite parts of the story were the interactions between Larissa and Chase, and then with Larissa and Jasmine. Since I’m more of an action oriented person I found the descriptions too long. There was something about the narration that I didn’t like. But I did certainly love all the confrontations! I was like 👀 for all of the juicy parts.

Speaking of descriptions I noticed very early on that this book was very diverse. But instead of it feeling organic it felt like a check list to make sure one of every type of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation was stated. I feel that this took away from some potentially really important moments for the main character. Since Larissa is a minority and coming to terms with her bisexuality I feel like there could have just been more there.

Another problem that I had with this book is the time period. There were some details that made me think this book took place in 2016 and some others that took place in 2020/21. (This is probably really picky though.) I also understand that it is hard to write in present day because trends do change really fast so it is nearly impossible to make it feel 100% current.

Ultimately I decided to give this book 4 stars because I liked how major plot points were revealed. Even though it was slow at parts I did enjoy this book. Overall I think this is a book I think is needed for YA audiences and I can see this book being really helpful to a lot of young people. If you enjoy romance (YA romance specifically), books about discovering oneself, or love triangles then you will enjoy this book!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review! :)