Review: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"


According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn't told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.







I hadn't actually planned on reading this one, but after I had finished The Collector I decided that I wanted something light to read, so I decided to pick this up. I'm definitely glad that I picked it up. It was a really cute YA contemporary.

The whole story revolves around these two best friends(Anna & Frankie) who are going on holiday to Zanzibar. Frankie decides that her and Anna should meet 20 boys on their vacation and have a summer romance. But what Frankie doesn't know is that Anna already had a summer romance with Frankie's brother who died a year ago.

I really liked all of the characters in this book. Anna was a good character. She was just a normal teenager who fell in love but then had her heart ripped out when the boy she loved died. I felt really bad for Anna because no one knew about her and Matt so she couldn't really show how upset about his death she was. I just wish she'd had the courage to tell Frankie about her and Matt sooner. 

Frankie really annoyed me. At the start of the book, she was such a nice person. But after Matt's death, she turned into this shallow girl who thought boys, makeup and clothes were the most important things in life. Throughout the book we get to see glimpses of the old Frankie though and I really liked Frankie at those times.

I really enjoyed the whole storyline. I love contemporary novels and this was such a great one. I liked seeing Frankie and Anna trying to meet twenty boys during their vacation - even though they came nowhere near that number at the end - but I still enjoyed seeing them try. And then there was the 2 boys they did meet - Jake & Sam. Jake I didn't particularly care about. He seemed pretty shallow and full of himself. But Sam, on the other hand, was such a sweet character. He was funny, kind and I just fell in love with him. Sam and Anna were so cute together! I was pretty sad at the end when I remembered that they were just having a summer relationship and that they couldn't continue to see each other. I wish they could have though, because they were just really great together.

There were a few moments in this book that had me tearing up - like when Anna was remembering things about Matt or when Frankie, Anna and Frankie's mum were talking about him. I didn't cry, but my eyes were watering.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely what I was in the mood for. I gave this book:

I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a great summer/beach read. It's perfect for that.