Review: How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

First she lost her heart. Then she lost her mind. And now she’s on a road trip to win back her ex. This debut novel’s packed with drama and romance!

Rosie’s always been impulsive. She didn’t intend to set her cheating ex-boyfriend’s car on fire. And she never thought her attempts to make amends could be considered stalking. So when she’s served with a temporary restraining order on the first day of summer vacation, she’s heartbroken—and furious.

To put distance between Rosie and her ex, Rosie’s parents send her on a cross-country road trip with responsible, reliable neighbor Matty and his two friends. Forget freedom of the road, Rosie wants to hitchhike home and win back her ex. But her determination starts to dwindle with each passing mile. Because Rosie’s spark of anger? It may have just ignited a romance with someone new…

Review: 

Ever since I first read the summary for How My Summer Went Up in Flames, I've been dying to read it. For one, I simply can't resist a book that contains a road trip, because road trips also seem to be synonymous with adventure, fun, and romance in YA. Plus, I loved how it was about a girl who went through a bad break up and went a little crazy about it. Anyhow, How My Summer Went Up in Flames ended up being the perfect summer read in most ways possible.

One of my favorite parts about this book was the characters. Rosie was sassy, sarcastic, and a little too passionate about everything, which made me adore seeing things from her POV. She always had me laughing as well as shaking my head at the crazy things she did too her jerky ex-boyfriend to her road trip adventures to her awkward yet adorable run-ins with the rest of the male population. Sometimes, though, I wanted to just yell at her when she considered taking back her ex, but I think that made her more realistic, in the end. Plus what really managed for her to win me over was how I could see little parts of myself in her...especially when it came to the sass. However, I'm proud to say I never gotten close to burning down an ex's car. ;) I also loved the addition of her best friend Matty, who was dorky in the most adorable way possible, as well as Matty's two best friends. Together, the four of them had quite the road trip, which brings me to the plot.

As mentioned before, I adore road trip books, and this was no different. I loved seeing the path Jennifer lead them on from New Jersey to Arizona. It was fun to see their pit stops in different states (the one in Texas probably being my favorite) but I think when they were all stuck in the car together was were the real magic occurred, because not only did I love Rosie's takes on the boy's  convos, but I also loved seeing Rosie start to become friends with Matty's two friends. In addition, the romance in this book was not what I was expecting at all, and at times, I was really torn on who I thought Rosie should end up with. However, I got to say, I was pretty happy with the end result, and I'll be curious to see what everyone else has to say about it.

Filled with swoon worthy boys, hilarious moments, and lots of sass, How My Summer Went Up in Flames has officially landed Jennifer Salvato Doktorski on my must read authors list.

Grade: B+

How My Summer Went Up in Flames (Amazon, BN, Goodreads) is now out!

Source: Library