Una LaMarche

Told from their separate points of view, seventeen-year-olds Emma, Skylar, Maddie, and Jo reunite three years after their five summers at Camp Nedoba, but old secrets threaten what they thought was a forever friendship.

Five Summers

Kathryn 

This book was alright. Nothing super special.

Hannah

Five Summers by Una LaMarche was a book I picked up last summer at Walmart. I was camping and decided to get a book for the trip, but I never ended up reading it during that time. So as I was perusing my shelves looking for a nice summer-y book to read, my eyes skimmed right past this one. i found myself doubling back and found this book. Intrigued, I read the back and decided that this would be my next read.

I had no expectations of this book whatsoever, so I figured this could turn out to be an amazing book that will blow me away or a total and utter waste of my time. All I knew about it was that it followed four best friends across five summers at a sleep-away camp. I never went to sleep-away camp as a child so I didn't really know what to expect from this book other than the fact that it was about friendship and was compared to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares. 

Luckily for me and my oh-so-precious time, this book blew me away. I was definitely surprised by this book and the messages and meanings surrounding it. There was the main conflict of this book, of course, that everyone sees and experiences whilst reading it, but the underlying messages, themes, and conflicts of this book is what really made me fall in love with it. It captured the essence of friendship so perfectly and what it means to be a good and loyal friend. The book doesn't shy away from real teen issues either while the four girls meet up again at the reunion. Being a teen myself, I enjoyed seeing the honesty of the situations presented and I'm glad the author didn't sugarcoat the outcomes and consequences.

Since this book follows four different POV's I definitely connected more to some of the characters than others. I really felt as if I connected with Maddie and Emma more than Skylar and Jo but that doesn't mean I love them any less. LaMarche did a great job at really making the characters feel real and alive and I don't usually experience that with a standalone contemporary novel. Even the side characters made the story have more depth and become more exciting to read about.

This book is on the longer side of contemporaries, but I never felt like it dragged. I never found myself skimming or looking ahead to see what happened. I also never found myself wishing for this book to be over. I loved all the aspects of this book and the four POV's whether it took place during the present time reunion or during one of the 5 past summers.

Overall, I strongly suggest you guys read and pick up this book. It's so underrated and I feel as if it deserves more recognition and love. It's light and fun but deals with real world teen issues at the same time which makes it feel like a realistic book that almost everyone can relate to. 

5/5 stars.

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www.themidnightbooks.blogspot.com

Bridget Howard

This was a cute book filled with lots of drama, heartache and love. I felt that it was a little boring and I didn't love it but maybe someone younger would really enjoy the book. For full review go to Dark Faerie Tales: http://darkfaerietales.com/early-revi...

Five Summers

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