A review by melissadelongcox
Cool for the Summer, by Dahlia Adler
4.0
*Thanks to Wednesday Books (St. Martin's Press) + NetGalley for the ARC!*
This book took a little for me to get into - at the beginning, Larissa and her friends felt very surface (typical high school girl friend group), but don't let that fool you! I got hooked around the 15% mark and then just didn't put it down until I finished a couple hours later.
Pros:
BISEXUAL CHARACTERS EXPLORING THEIR SEXUALITY!!! INTIMATE SCENES BETWEEN TWO WOMEN! ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS RESPECTFULLY DISCUSSING SEXUALITY! So good. So so good. We need more of this! Another big pro was there was a ton of growth with Larissa, as well as some of the side characters.
My cons contain plot spoilers, so I'm hiding them!
I feel like this book could've been even better if we had abbreviated time spent with the misunderstanding-that-only-continues-because-characters-refuse-to-communicate trope, and instead let Larissa and Jasmine work it out sooner and spend more time developing their new relationship! I would love to see more of what happens as they decide to begin a real, out relationship and how that all develops. The time spent in the weird tension was important, as that gave Larissa more time to sort out what it was that she actually wanted, but I still think it could've been abbreviated for the same outcome. Of course, the author knows the characters best, so who knows! Just my two cents. :)
I also wasn't a huge fan of the back and forth timeline - I think I would've rather had a story told in two parts so we could develop that same bond to Jasmine and be equally distressed when she arrived to Larissa's school. Having her appear without the backstory felt like just another character to learn, rather than already having that connection and emotional response.
I'll be recommending this simply because I want more WLW stories in the world! Give me moooore! An easy, one sitting read - perfect to cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate!
This book took a little for me to get into - at the beginning, Larissa and her friends felt very surface (typical high school girl friend group), but don't let that fool you! I got hooked around the 15% mark and then just didn't put it down until I finished a couple hours later.
Pros:
BISEXUAL CHARACTERS EXPLORING THEIR SEXUALITY!!! INTIMATE SCENES BETWEEN TWO WOMEN! ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS RESPECTFULLY DISCUSSING SEXUALITY! So good. So so good. We need more of this! Another big pro was there was a ton of growth with Larissa, as well as some of the side characters.
My cons contain plot spoilers, so I'm hiding them!
Spoiler
Cons:I feel like this book could've been even better if we had abbreviated time spent with the misunderstanding-that-only-continues-because-characters-refuse-to-communicate trope, and instead let Larissa and Jasmine work it out sooner and spend more time developing their new relationship! I would love to see more of what happens as they decide to begin a real, out relationship and how that all develops. The time spent in the weird tension was important, as that gave Larissa more time to sort out what it was that she actually wanted, but I still think it could've been abbreviated for the same outcome. Of course, the author knows the characters best, so who knows! Just my two cents. :)
I also wasn't a huge fan of the back and forth timeline - I think I would've rather had a story told in two parts so we could develop that same bond to Jasmine and be equally distressed when she arrived to Larissa's school. Having her appear without the backstory felt like just another character to learn, rather than already having that connection and emotional response.
I'll be recommending this simply because I want more WLW stories in the world! Give me moooore! An easy, one sitting read - perfect to cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate!