***Someone Else’s Summer was given to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.***
Someone Else’s Summer by Rachel Bateman tells the story of Anna Holloway, who finds her recently deceased sister’s summer bucket list. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with her sister for some time since Anna had gone into she was in eighth or ninth grade, so Anna takes it upon herself to complete the list. And she does so with the help of her sister’s best friend, Cameron.
Cameron also happens to be their neighbor, whom both Anna and Storm were close with. They set off on a road trip to the coast, checking off the goals on the list.
The whole premise of the book definitely peaked my interest, especially knowing that there’s sure to be some emotional moments throughout, considering the circumstances that surround the road trip in the first place.
The book starts off emotional and you can see the potential of a relationship between Anna and the boy next door, but obviously, you can also see the potential for disaster as Cameron was closer to Anna’s sister than she was before she died.
As Anna and Cameron journey through their road trip, they meet interesting people along the way, and find themselves re-establishing the friendship they had when it was the three of them. Admittedly, Cameron and Anna’s relationship is one of the reasons I liked this book.
Despite the loss of her sister, Anna’s summer is turning out to be a life changing event, and not all of it is positive. Not only does she learn about who her sister was, she finds out who she is as well, which is obviously difficult to deal with for a teenager.
As I was reading the story, I was looking forward to seeing how things turned out for Anna. I related slightly on a certain level with Anna, having lost a loved one when I was young. However the similarities stopped there. It was clear that Anna was trying to cope in her own way, as was her parents and Cameron were.
The road trip helped keep me interested, with Anna and Cameron re-bonding, and with just imagining some of the places they stopped. The highlights of the road trip were certainly fun. Anna’s startling discovery about her sister was probably the most eventful moment in the story, which would be a reason to read the book. Though there were times when certain parts of the story just felt a little forced or questionable at best.
As much as I empathized with Anna and her loss, I wasn’t overwhelmed with the story most of the time. That’s not to say that I didn’t find it enjoyable, but it did leave a certain parts to be desired in regards to Anna’s growth, both emotionally and mentally. In the end, the potential to feel something deeper with Anna, especially with the grieving process, hit a little off the target and ended up being just okay.
Someone Else’s Summer arrives in stores May 9, 2017, and you can order your copy on Amazon
