Review: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé 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.

J'aime Kody Keplinger!  Every time I read something by her, I'm amazed at how young she is.
I have no idea why I even picked up her first book, The DUFF, but ever since I've been loving this girl's work!

On to my thoughts on this one. Ok, some people might be weirded out that Whitley and Nathan are step siblings and had sexual relations. You might be questioning my tastes in books after also having read On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves where the protagonists have a 14 year age difference, but I assure you that these are goodies!

The thing about Kody Keplinger is that she will delve into the "risque" topic of sex, but in no way is it ever gross and graphic. She goes beyond the climactic kiss that most ya novels have, but not to the point where you feel uncomfortable reading it. So, I guess it's advised that you be mature in order to read this.

And of course, there are her characters who always have distinct voices. First, there's Whitley. She has got sass! She is very sarcastic and immature, but grows up by the end of the book. She's been described as a female Holden Caufield: I can see it a bit. Then there's Nathan. I love him. He's the hot, caring nerd. And, finally comes Harrison, the funny, gay best friend. If you've read Shut Out, he's in there because all of Kody's novel are set in Hamilton. Even Wesley and Bianca have a cameo.

The writing isn't complicated, but it flows nicely. Her stories are always quickies for me.

The story's kind of predictable. It's simply one about going through the struggles of adolescence and coming out strong! Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes,this has everything in it-romance, drama, humor.

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