Hi booklovers
After rereading Amy & Roger's Epic Detour (I have a review for this book here) I felt like going on a Morgan Matson binge read. So, I decided to pick up 'Second Change Summer' and reread that one before moving on to 'Since You've Been Gone', which has been on my shelf for over a year now.
Title: Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Genre: YA, contemporary
Format: paperback
*Story:
Taylor Edwards has a habit of running away when things get tough. This summer however, something happens to her dad that she can't escape. Her family is going to spend the summer at their lake house. There, Taylor will be confronted with all the things she ran away from five years earlier. Will she run away again or will she stay and her second chance?
*Characters:
-Taylor Edwards: A 17-year old girl who has a habit of not dealing with situations when they get tough, but instead she runs away from them. In the story, Taylor goes through a lot and she has to deal with a lot of emotions. Does she always react correctly to some of the things that happen? No, but that's just what makes her humane. I really liked Taylor as a character, she grows a lot throughout the story.
-Henry Crosby: He and Taylor had a crush when they were 12. They haven't seen each other for five years after Taylor ran off in a hurry. At first, he tries very hard to keep his distance from Taylor, he even acts a bit cold towards her. But then again, you can't really blame him for it, not after the way Taylor treated him. But Henry is such a sweet guy, who still cares about Emily very much. Plus, he works at a bakery ;-)
-Lucy Marino: She's Taylor's former best friend, but because Taylor ran away they haven't seen or spoken to each other for five years. Needless to say, Lucy isn't very happy to see Taylor again, especially when it turns out they will be working together during the summer. A lot of things have happened during the previous years and it takes a long time for Lucy to come to terms with Taylor being back in her life. Lucy is one of those characters you immediately like, even though she gives Taylor the cold shoulder at first. But then again, can you blame her? She's sassy and even though she sometimes does stupid things, she's someone you can count on.
-Robin Edwards: He's Taylor's dad. The things that are happening to him are the reasons Taylor has to go back to the lake house. He goes through a lot and even though he is very scared, he still keeps on going and I admire him for that.
!!SPOILER!!
The way he deals with the cancer progressing is in my opinion very humane: he's scared but he still tries to make the best of the time he has left. I was also very touched by all the letters he left behind for everyone to be read at certain moments in their future lives.
There are more characters in this book, but these were the ones I wanted to talk about.
*Plot:
I love how Morgan Matson turned this into a very believable story. You could feel - and believe - all the emotions each character goes through. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions, but somehow the characters and me as a reader got through it more or less okay. The details of the setting also made you feel like you were there with the characters. I also like that you get to know the things that happened five years earlier through flashbacks.
*Overall rating:
I loved this book just as much as I did the first time I read it and yes, I cried my eyes out again. This is still a solid 5 star read.
Because I read this back to back with Amy & Roger, I found the reference to that book, which I didn't the first time around :-)
Have you read this or any other Morgan Matson books? Which ones and which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments.
Bye for now
Annelies
After rereading Amy & Roger's Epic Detour (I have a review for this book here) I felt like going on a Morgan Matson binge read. So, I decided to pick up 'Second Change Summer' and reread that one before moving on to 'Since You've Been Gone', which has been on my shelf for over a year now.
Author: Morgan Matson
Genre: YA, contemporary
Format: paperback
*Story:
Taylor Edwards has a habit of running away when things get tough. This summer however, something happens to her dad that she can't escape. Her family is going to spend the summer at their lake house. There, Taylor will be confronted with all the things she ran away from five years earlier. Will she run away again or will she stay and her second chance?
*Characters:
-Taylor Edwards: A 17-year old girl who has a habit of not dealing with situations when they get tough, but instead she runs away from them. In the story, Taylor goes through a lot and she has to deal with a lot of emotions. Does she always react correctly to some of the things that happen? No, but that's just what makes her humane. I really liked Taylor as a character, she grows a lot throughout the story.
-Henry Crosby: He and Taylor had a crush when they were 12. They haven't seen each other for five years after Taylor ran off in a hurry. At first, he tries very hard to keep his distance from Taylor, he even acts a bit cold towards her. But then again, you can't really blame him for it, not after the way Taylor treated him. But Henry is such a sweet guy, who still cares about Emily very much. Plus, he works at a bakery ;-)
-Lucy Marino: She's Taylor's former best friend, but because Taylor ran away they haven't seen or spoken to each other for five years. Needless to say, Lucy isn't very happy to see Taylor again, especially when it turns out they will be working together during the summer. A lot of things have happened during the previous years and it takes a long time for Lucy to come to terms with Taylor being back in her life. Lucy is one of those characters you immediately like, even though she gives Taylor the cold shoulder at first. But then again, can you blame her? She's sassy and even though she sometimes does stupid things, she's someone you can count on.
-Robin Edwards: He's Taylor's dad. The things that are happening to him are the reasons Taylor has to go back to the lake house. He goes through a lot and even though he is very scared, he still keeps on going and I admire him for that.
!!SPOILER!!
The way he deals with the cancer progressing is in my opinion very humane: he's scared but he still tries to make the best of the time he has left. I was also very touched by all the letters he left behind for everyone to be read at certain moments in their future lives.
There are more characters in this book, but these were the ones I wanted to talk about.
*Plot:
I love how Morgan Matson turned this into a very believable story. You could feel - and believe - all the emotions each character goes through. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions, but somehow the characters and me as a reader got through it more or less okay. The details of the setting also made you feel like you were there with the characters. I also like that you get to know the things that happened five years earlier through flashbacks.
*Overall rating:
I loved this book just as much as I did the first time I read it and yes, I cried my eyes out again. This is still a solid 5 star read.
Because I read this back to back with Amy & Roger, I found the reference to that book, which I didn't the first time around :-)
Have you read this or any other Morgan Matson books? Which ones and which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments.
Bye for now
Annelies
