By: Amanda Howells Summary: "Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish. But I'm jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life.
My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything...."
Sixteen year-old Mia has sworn off romance for good in the wake of her breakup with a cheating boyfriend. She is hoping that a summer on the Long Island shore with her glamorous cousins will take her mind off her troubles and allow her to relive idyllic childhood memories. But when she arrives in Southampton, her cousins are distant, moody, and caught up with a bad crowd…and Mia soon finds herself lonelier than ever.
That's when she meets her next-door neighbor, Simon Ross. Simon isn't like the snobby party boys her cousins are obsessed with. He is funny, artistic, and utterly adventurous. And from the very first time he encourages Mia to go skinny dipping, she's caught up in a current impossible to resist.
If you follow me on Twitter or have seen my contest page you know I’m in love with this book. I read the whole thing in one day, never being able to put it down. The Summer of Skinny Dipping was amazing from start to finish.
I’m a huge fan of summer romance novels, there one of my favorite things to read, particularly in the summer. So when I saw the cover, which sets the perfect outlook tone for summer, I was eager to get my hands on this book. Then once I started reading I realized it wasn’t just a meaningless story like most of the summer romance novels, it’s so much more.
Throughout the book you follow Mia’s journey to find who she really is. In the beginning she just wants to fit, and forget her about her ex, who she had broken up with earlier. And become close to her cousin Corinne again, who she used to countless adventures with when she was younger but as they grew older they also drifted apart.
Every part of The Summer Of Skinny Dipping was realistic. The characters had real problems that you can really relate to, and at times I forgot they weren’t real people. From Mia’s mom who seems to be living her dreams to be a star through her kids, to Simon who just desires to be an artist and not a business man like his dad wants him to be.
Oh Simon, another part of the book that I loved with his bold and artistic personality. He was awesome. My favorite scene is when Mia meets him at her cousin’s party. While they sit on the porch Simon talks about how her dress and the party reminds him of the Great Gatsby, and at the end of the night Mia jokes around and gives him a fake name, Daisy. Not that he would believe her real one. (Since she is named after the actress who played Daisy in the Great Gatsby.) It was adorable and set up their romance.
At first I didn’t really know what to think of the title ‘The Summer of Skinny Dipping’, but after reading the book I think it’s perfect. I don’t think any other title would have fit. Then Amanda Howells writing in this novel is incredible. I don’t really know what else to say. The emotion that she was able to put in this book is what makes the story so captivating.
I could really just keep writing about everything I love about this novel but I’ll stop here before I give away the ending (which you will NEVER see coming) and just tell you to read this book, which I promise will be a story you will never forget.
I hope Amanda Howells continues to write more amazing young adult romances because I would love to keep reading them. I think she could be a new Sarah Dessen.
Caution: Read with tissues near by.
P.S. Make sure you enter my giveaway for The Summer Of Skinny Dipping and hurry it ends June 16th!
