22 June 2012

Book Reads: A Midsummer's Nightmare



Book Details
Author: Kody Keplinger
Format: Kindle


Summary
Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorced dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great. Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together. Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.


Review:
Review Grade: 4/5


What do I expect from another Kody Keplinger novel?
  • Girl Power. I fell in love with Bianca [The DUFF] and with Lissa [Shut Out]. Kody seemed to have a penchant for girl power and I love it. 
  • Relevant Social Issues Affecting Not Only Teens but Almost Everyone. 

She once again delivered a splendid novel to her readers. Introducing us to a problematic Whitley, I must admit that among all her characters, I didn’t like her much at first. Although, I think that her character is the most complex of the three. Her issues are more serious and I found her emotions compelling.

The opening of the novel had my jaws on the floor when she woke up – groggy and in a stranger’s bed after indulging in booze the night before. Okay, it was after graduation and she is 18 – although the waking up happened only this time, the booze is another story. 

She has problems with her mother, who was bitter with her father since the divorce and with her father whom she only sees during summer. Only that this summer – she was in for a big surprise finding her father is engaged! 

The woman’s son is her one-night stand from graduation night, the one she was hoping would never going to see again. She felt cheated and alone –so she did what she does best: act out, party and drink hard. Only that this time there were consequences she wasn’t ready or hoping for. 

I also enjoy the minor characters which held Whitney’s sanity in her summer ordeal: Her newfound friend Harrison ( she doesn’t do friends, but Harrison was persistent. I so love the first time that the two of them met. I think he’s one of the best things that happened to her during this summer. He became not just her friend but one of her heroes.); sweet and adorable future-step-sister Bailey and of course Nathan swoon. They’re not perfect which makes them real. I have seen each character grow throughout the story and fell in love with them one page at a time. 

Kody Keplinger wrote another eye opener not only to teens, but to adults as well: 1) Alcohol never solves anything 2) Every actions has consequences 3) Sometimes, bad things clouds the good things that are right in front of us.Packed with significant themes like family issues, alcoholism, parenthood, cyber bullying and sense of belongingness – A Midsummer’s Nightmare outshone her two former novels .


Favorite Quotes
  • “Screw nightmares. I was waking up.” 
  • “Anger was less painful than abandonment.” 
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