What's Hot? Books.

Last Summer by Rebecca A Rogers.

Title: Last Summer
Author: Rebecca A Rogers:
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: July 18th 2012
Goodreads Summary: All Chloe Sullivan wants to do is get through the summer. Her life has been in disarray for more than six months, and she knows the only reason her parents made one final trip to Sandy Shores is because of her. They are, after all, two seconds away from filing for divorce. When Chloe stumbles upon a boy in one of her childhood hangouts, she’s in for more than just a relaxing summer vacation.

Logan Andrews is exhausted, famished and, quite frankly, kaput. His parents kicked him out when he refused to attend a rehabilitation program for his drug addiction. Now, he wishes he would’ve listened; he’d be receiving appropriate medical care rather than living in a dingy, godforsaken shack, holing up from money-hungry drug dealers.

Logan’s godsend arrives in the form of Chloe, who can’t hold her tongue when it comes to matters of the heart. They’re both in for a rude awakening when Logan’s past catches up to them, though. Can they escape the drug dealers showing up at every twist and turn, or will things end much worse than they ever imagined?

WARNING: contains strong language, drug use, and sexual situations, including an explicit sex scene and a near-rape scene. Mature audiences only. 17+

{ Review }

So they say never judge a book by it's cover, but if I'm perfectly honest the only reason I signed up for this book tour is because I was won over by the cover and the fact that this was deemed to be only suitable for '17+' (that kinda makes me sound like I'm into really kinky s*** but I'm not I swear!). This novel really surprised me and I'd even go so far as to say that this is one of the best YA books I've read in a while. The story is really shocking and thought-provoking and yet at the same time there's a real romance going on between the two main characters which makes for a brilliant combination.

This book is such an easy read and I zipped through it all in one sitting. The story is compelling and addictive and I just had to keep reading to find out more. Whilst the cover may lead you to believe that this is your typical, sappy, teen romance novel - it's not. In fact, it addresses some pretty serious issues such as divorce, domestic violence, drug use and gang violence to name a few. This isn't the sort of romance that turns you into a crazy fan-girl because it's far too serious for that; however, it still gave me intense butterflies in my stomach whilst reading it. There are quite a lot of twists and turns towards the end which made this book an even more exciting read and the action builds up over the course of the novel with an explosive finish.

I thought that some parts of the novel weren't as well developed as they could've been, but this didn't bother me too much. Some might question the fast paced relationship between Logan and Chloe, but both characters were in pretty desperate situations at at the beginning so it's not that unrealistic to be honest. As both the main characters are very isolated during that summer, there aren't that many other characters so the story is really focussed on Chloe and Logan. Both characters are quite mature and you really admire their courage as they face things that most normal teenagers wouldn't be able to cope with. I loved the character development from beginning to end as it made me feel like the story had actually progressed unlike many other teen romances I've read. I didn't exactly feel 'connected' to the characters as, of course, I have absolutely no idea what it would be like to go through the things that they have and yet I still felt really drawn into the novel and captivated by Logan and Chloe.

This book was not at all was I was expecting. I had read the blurb beforehand so I knew that this wasn't your average young adult romance but i still wasn't prepared for such an deep and interesting read. I would highly recommend this to all fans of contemporary romance though, as it says in the summary, I would keep this away from younger teenagers because some scenes really aren't appropriate for them.

Many thanks to the author for providing me with a signed review copy! ^^