A review by iffles
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood
4.0
Everyone in their small town knows the Garrett girls. The four red-headed teenagers lost their parents in a car accident and now live with their grandmother, who has taken over the book store their mother once loved and ran.
Des, the oldest, is the responsible one, taking over household duties and preparing to one day take over the store. Her responsibilities have piled on even more now that Gram has had knee surgery and isn't as mobile as she was before, and the rest of her sisters seem to have other priorities than helping her out. It's all weighing down on her and she's feeling ready to rebel.
Bea is the studious and dedicated one. She just graduated at the head of her class and is ready to go to Georgetown with her boyfriend - something the two of them have planned on for so long, Bea is starting to wonder if she's just going through the motions and is this what she really wants?
Kat, the diva drama queen of the family, knows exactly what she wants. She's going to get her boyfriend back so that she can dump him on her own terms because she can't spend the entire summer in the community theater play with him and his new girlfriend. But Kat's plans to make him jealous could start to backfire.
Finally, Vi, the youngest of the four is out and proud, but has never been kissed. Mostly quiet, and spending her days reading books and writing fanfics, she hasn't even told Cece - the gorgeous girl next door what a crush she has on her. Will this be the summer her life changes?
I'm normally a huge fan of books where each chapter is told from a different perspective, but something felt slightly off about it in this book. The problem might be while I LOVED Kat and Vi's story lines, and I could find myself relating to Bea a lot, I just didn't connect or enjoy Des's chapters as much, so I found the pace of my reading sort of jilted as I was going from chapters I really enjoyed to ones I just read to continue the book. Also, normally in books with this format, the different perspectives all tie into each other - each story line telling you something or hinting at another, but this read more like 4 distinct stories, just with some of the same characters showing up in each one.
Clearly, though, I still liked the book, giving it four stars. I liked watching all four girls grow up a little bit over the summer that the book takes place, and I liked that they all seemed to be into reading or writing of some sort (and Des's stylized quotes remind me of things I do with my Cricut, though she sounds much more creative than I!), and Gram's interest in HGTV was another bonus! I recommend this if you're looking for an easy, quick read that feels good.
Des, the oldest, is the responsible one, taking over household duties and preparing to one day take over the store. Her responsibilities have piled on even more now that Gram has had knee surgery and isn't as mobile as she was before, and the rest of her sisters seem to have other priorities than helping her out. It's all weighing down on her and she's feeling ready to rebel.
Bea is the studious and dedicated one. She just graduated at the head of her class and is ready to go to Georgetown with her boyfriend - something the two of them have planned on for so long, Bea is starting to wonder if she's just going through the motions and is this what she really wants?
Kat, the diva drama queen of the family, knows exactly what she wants. She's going to get her boyfriend back so that she can dump him on her own terms because she can't spend the entire summer in the community theater play with him and his new girlfriend. But Kat's plans to make him jealous could start to backfire.
Finally, Vi, the youngest of the four is out and proud, but has never been kissed. Mostly quiet, and spending her days reading books and writing fanfics, she hasn't even told Cece - the gorgeous girl next door what a crush she has on her. Will this be the summer her life changes?
I'm normally a huge fan of books where each chapter is told from a different perspective, but something felt slightly off about it in this book. The problem might be while I LOVED Kat and Vi's story lines, and I could find myself relating to Bea a lot, I just didn't connect or enjoy Des's chapters as much, so I found the pace of my reading sort of jilted as I was going from chapters I really enjoyed to ones I just read to continue the book. Also, normally in books with this format, the different perspectives all tie into each other - each story line telling you something or hinting at another, but this read more like 4 distinct stories, just with some of the same characters showing up in each one.
Clearly, though, I still liked the book, giving it four stars. I liked watching all four girls grow up a little bit over the summer that the book takes place, and I liked that they all seemed to be into reading or writing of some sort (and Des's stylized quotes remind me of things I do with my Cricut, though she sounds much more creative than I!), and Gram's interest in HGTV was another bonus! I recommend this if you're looking for an easy, quick read that feels good.