Cool for the Summer

a 3 star book, but a 4 star read. exactly what i needed right now. short, simple, straightforward. very predictable, but i've never complained about eating some vanilla ice cream. the one thing about this book i question though, as a non YA reader, is how surprisingly horny this one was. it didn't go full smut like some adult romances do, but it teetered into areas that i was surprised to see it go.

This was great! I read it less then a day. Now I have Daya's The Difference on repeat,

4.5 ⭐️SAD that I waited so long to write a review because my thoughts are no longer fresh, however I liked this sooo much! It hurt my heart to read, but in a good way? I thought the characters were great and loved their relationship. A lot of readers have complained that the main conflict is lack of communication, which I usually hate as well, but I feel like it makes complete sense here. Lara is struggling with compulsory heterosexuality and doesn't even know if she's queer – she's not talking about her feelings because she doesn't even know what they are! Anyway, this was a nice quick summer read and I highly recommend it.Blog Twitter Instagram Facebook Ko-fi

This is a sweet teen romcom. I have a weird fondness for YA books from the POV of Popular Girls so I enjoyed that aspect of it, and understood how that played into the love triangle. I also thought Lara questioning her sexuality and temporarily deciding she's straight because her experience didn't perfectly line up with some of her queer peers is something that felt realistic and that I think will be valuable for a lot of teens (and beyond) to read. (Also brief but explicit canon aro-ace representation which again, is validating to see.)

Ultimately it did feel a bit like the main romance here was between Lara and her own self-discovery as opposed to between Lara and Chase or Lara and Jasmine, but honestly that's fine with me. I think a lot of teen readers will be cool with this.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was one of my most anticipated 2021 reads and it delivered!! Also, the cover is stunning and it really reflects the soul of the book.

Lara has been obsessed with Chase Harding for YEARS and after a summer that changes everything, he finally start noticing her and flirting with her too. Lara's life couldn't be more perfect then, she has amazing friends, a fun job and the boy of her dreams. Except that in the summer, she met a wonderful girl, Jasmine, that makes her question everything about herself. And when Jasmine walks through her high school doors declaring that she will stay permanently, Lara is faced with a choice: she either needs to be honest with herself or completely forget the best summer of her life.

I LOVED Lara and Jasmine, and all the other characters too. Usually in books when you have a group of friends, their only personality trait seem to be “the best friends of the main character”. In this case, they were all well-rounded, with their own interests and their own stories. I also really appreciated how diverse they all were.

I loved the cheerful and humorous atmosphere and the writing was so descriptive and fluid that I felt like I was in the story with all the characters.

Dahlia Adler's writing is fun, romantic and reflective and her distinctive voice made this one a very special book.

I highly recommend this to any YA lovers, especially those who are still looking to find themselves.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.