Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 304
Series: n/a
Review Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

My Thoughts:
‘Nantucket Blue’ is a book about friendship and first love. It’s also really about learning to like, and be comfortable with, yourself and the decisions that you make.

A big part of the book was Cricket wanting to be a good friend. Cricket's friend Jules has lost her mom, and in the aftermath she turns away from Cricket and becomes like a different person. Cricket is also dealing with the loss of someone who was like a mother to her, but on top of that she’s also lost her best friend, someone who she just wants to be there for.

Cricket is a pretty complex character, in that she's not always easy to like. She makes some pretty dumb decisions and is shallow when it comes to certain matters, which was frustrating as a reader. However it’s clear that Cricket has a good heart and eventually I warmed up to her. I like when books can make me think about characters and people: that as individuals we don’t always make the right decisions and we sometimes do and say stupid things, but it doesn’t mean that we’re unlikeable or bad people.

My favourite parts of the book were definitely the scenes between Cricket and Zack. Zack was such a sweetheart and the two of them had such great chemistry. I have to admit that I actually wish the romance had been a bigger part of the book.

I liked where the book ended up, but it definitely felt like an abrupt ending. Overall, though? This was a decent summery beach read.

The Cover:
LOVE. IT. (!!)

Rating:
[3.5/5]

Find Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.