Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

When Sam's best friend gets her first boyfriend, she's not ready to spend the summer listening to the two of them call each other "pookie." Sick of being a third wheel, Sam applies to be a counselor-in-training at Whispering Pines camp in the New York Catskills. But what she doesn't realize is that it's not going to be all Kumbaya sing-alongs and gooey s'mores. If Ashley, the alpha queen of Whispering Pines, doesn't ruin Sam's summer, then her raging crush on the surfer-blond and flirtatious Hunter just might.

Review:

After all these dark, deary, and snowy days in the Northeast, I've been looking for a read that would take me to the season I love the most: summer. And thankfully enough, Jen Calonita's Sleepaway Girls was just the read, because not only did it take place during the glorious and beautiful summer, but it was a funny and adorable read that I just could not get enough of!

Though, before we get too far into this review, let me tell you a little about it... Sleepaway Girls tells the story of Sam, a girl who has officially became the "third wheel" ever since her best friend got a boyfriend. And if Sam knows one thing it's that she want be spending her summer this way as well so off she goes to Whispering Pines, a sleepaway camp up in the New York Catskills. At Whispering Pines Sam is quick to find her own clique of great friends and even some prospective boyfriends, but with her arrival comes drama, namely a rivalry between here and fellow counselor-in-training Ashley, the unofficial alpha queen of Whispering Pines. Will Ashley and Sam be able to overcome their feud? Better yet, after falling into a love triangle will Same be able to make a decision and the right choice in the end? Only time and more pages will tell in this story of one summer like no other!

Just like in the previous books I've read by Jen the characters in Sleepaway Girls were well developed, relatable, lovable, and just ordinary teens overall. And while I nearly liked each and everyone, I have to admit my favorite would have to be main character Sam. Sam is someone I related to easily, a character I had no trouble rooting for over the course of the novel, and best of all, I loved how she wasn't anywhere near perfect. Adding to this, I also enjoyed reading about the different friendships Sam developed in over the course of the novel between her and the fellow sleepaway girls because they seemed real so to say. Better yet I really enjoyed seeing the moments she shared with Cole and Hunter as well as the love triangle that began to develop between them, because at some points it was a bit unclear who exactly she would pick, leaving Sleepaway Girls to take on a mysterious feeling sometimes.

Another aspect of Sleepaway Girls I adored was the setting. Surprisingly enough, I've never been to a sleepaway camp so I always love to live vicariously though others experiences with it, especially when they are as picture clear as Whispering Pines was because of the detailed descriptions.

I also thought Jen Caolnita did a great job of developing the plot in this with her characters and writing, because while the story was predictable, it was easy to loose yourself in it for a few hours and that's just what I want sometimes.

In all, Sleepaway Girls is yet another solid effort by Calonita, which makes me even more pumped to see what she has planed next for all of her readers!

Grade: A-

Sleepaway Girls is now out!

Source: Author/Publicist at Little, Brown. Thanks!