Blog Tour / Giveaway: The Summer of Skinny Dipping

Title: The Summer of Skinny Dipping

Author: Amanda Howells
Published: June 1, 2010 by Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN-10: 1402238622
ISBN-13: 9781402238628

Pages: 324 pgs, Mass Market Paperback

Reason for reading: Participating in Blog Tour/Review courtesy of Sourcebooks.

Synopsis:
"Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish. But I'm jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life. My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything...."

After getting dumped by her boyfriend, Mia is looking forward to spending a relaxing summer in the Hamptons with her glamorous cousins. But when she arrives she find her cousins distant, moody, and caught up with a fast crowd. Mia finds herself lonelier than ever, until she meets her next-door-neighbor, Simon Ross. And from the very first time he encourages her to go skinny dipping, she's caught in a current impossible to resist. Timeless in feel, The Summer of Skinny-Dipping is a poignant, literary coming-of-age romance that will live on long after summer has ended.

Amanda Howell on Goodreads

Isalys's Review:
Mia is your typical 16 year old girl who has just had her heart broken for the first time. She wants nothing more than to escape the pain of being dumped by the first boy that she ever "loved". She is eager to spend her summer filled with beach days and laughter with her cousin and BFF Corinne. Unfortunately, upon arriving at her aunt & uncle's home in The Hamptons she finds out that her cousin is not the girl she once knew. She is now a distant, slightly bi-polar, shallow version of herself and Mia suddenly feels out of place. She has nothing in common with this girl.

They are soon joined by Corinne's friend, Gem who is equally shallow but with an even more vicious tongue and crude habits. After a night of partying while the parentals are away, Mia realizes that she doesn't belong among the cream of New York's crop. She's not poised or rich, she's not vain or self-centered and more importantly, she doesn't have luxurious blond hair or a model figure.

Then one night she meets a boy. A boy who will not only change her summer, but change her life as well.

Mia is such a realistic and very likable character. She is your typical teenage girl: insecure and uncertain, stubborn, rebellious and desperately wants to fit in. She is also loving, supportive and ambitious. I admired Mia though because no matter how much she wanted to feel accepted, she never changed to please the others and she remained true to herself.

Her cousins, Corinne and Beth, were obnoxious and completely self-serving. The kind of girls that you want to punch and then walk away from. Yet despite the negative, you sense that there is something beneath the surface and that these heinous personality traits are masking something bigger.

Simon (aforementioned life-changing boy) was a little more difficult to figure out. At first he comes off as a bit strange with his unique sense of style and humor. Like Mia, we're not sure whether to trust him at first because he could be just another jerk. However, with each passing page, we all start to fall for him just a little more. He was sweet, fun, equally ambitious and full of energy.

Amanda Howell did an incredible job setting the scenes for us. She made it easy for us to close our eyes and just envision ourselves lying on the beach, swimming in the ocean or running through the rain in The Hamptons.

**Warning** Around page 200 or so, I started to get this feeling like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I sensed that something big was going to happen and did it ever! I can't say what happened or to whom it happened but it changed the entire feel of the book. What became a story of summer love became a story of acceptance and growth.

This is the kind of book that I wish I could have read when I was 16 because it's not just a story, but a lesson. Things are not always what they seem and we cannot make judgments simply based by what we see on the surface. We are all insecure and cowards at one time or another, but we all possess strength if we just force ourselves to tap into it. Life is meant to be enjoyed and cherished because you never know when it will change or be taken away all together.

I highly recommend this book is you're looking for a beautiful and heart-felt summer read!

RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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Giveaway
June 9 - June 16
{3 Copies available}

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