A Midsummer's Nightmare

A Midsummer’s Nightmare is Kody Keplinger’s third novel, and I think it’s her best so far. Always the queen of being honest about teen life, I think the author hit an all-time high in this book, with Whitley Johnson and her seriously screwed up pre-college summer. This book is fresh and real without becoming too serious (it’s actually very cheesy in spots), and it was just good entertainment.

Whitley, our narrator, has more issues than she can deal with. At the root of her problem is her parents’ divorce, which brought her childhood to an abrupt end and has left her desperately seeking attention and happiness ever since. At the start of the book, Whitley’s a mess: she drinks, flirts, has attitude issues—the whole nine yards. She arrives at her dad’s place ready for for three lazy months by the pool. But, surprise! Her dad’s getting married, and her stepmom-to-be has kids…and Whitley had sex with one of them. Whoops.

I think maybe from the blurb, it would be easy to assume that A Midsummer’s Nightmare focuses on sexual tension and forbidden romance, but nope. This is very much a book about Whitley and her relationship with her family (both old and new), and how she ditches her partying ways. And I’ll be honest, sometimes the dialogue/actions of the characters was super-corny and made me gag, and I didn’t care for the cheesy ending. That’s just me personally, since I am not a mouse and I do not like cheese (I also don’t eat dairy, but that’s minor trivia).

The thing is: Whitley is a total brat. She’s selfish, unthinking, and rude. She behaves pretty awfully for most of the summer. But somehow, Keplinger manages to make the reader not only like this girl, but I was completely on her side. Every argument or confrontation Whitley got in for the duration of this book, I was pro-Whitley all the way. I think it takes a special kind of author to make that happen.

For a light summer read, A Midsummer’s Nightmare came with a lot of punch. I loved the focus on family, forgiveness, and acceptance. Whitley was a wonderful character. The story was engaging and a lot of fun. Kody Keplinger continues to be a solid author for me—she hasn’t let me down yet!

Guys, I am such a Kody Keplinger fangirl. I loved The DUFF and I loved Shut Out, and here she is with A Midsummer’s Nightmare, and I think I love it the most! Which is really saying something.

What I love most about A Midsummer’s Nightmare is how honest Kody Keplinger is. She doesn’t shy away from drinking or sex or anything else teenagers do, because it’s so real. I mean, I’m not saying I approved with Whitley’s choices, because damn, she made some terrible decisions. But I had friends just like her in high school (even eighth grade) and that’s why I love Kody Keplinger so much.

Also because A Midsummer’s Nightmare was steamy and swoony and I loved Nathan so much. I feel like after watching Clueless so many times, I’m totally jaded to the stepbrother dilemma, but I can see some people having an issue with that.

Whitley was definitely my favourite of all of Kody’s protagonists. She was messed up and she knew it and at some point, she started to take responsibility for that. She was angry and frustrated, but even still – she grew up. I loved her character growth, and I definitely felt her pain. Families are not easy.

Basically – I love Kody Keplinger and I love A Midsummer’s Nightmare. It was brutal and honest, with a heavy dose of swoon, and I seriously want to re-read A Midsummer’s Nightmare all over again very soon.

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2012/05/a-midsummers-nightmare-by-kody-keplinger/

Woowee, A Midsummer’s Nightmare was awesome. When you guys say Keplinger can write a good contemp you are definitely not lying.

I’d prepared myself for some serious weirdness going in considering the whole “stepsiblings” thing, but it didn’t really turn out to be that bad at all. I know right now you’re staring at the screen going “how could it possibly not be weird?” Well, it just isn’t. I think part of it is due to the fact that they “met” before they found out they were stepsiblings-to-be and the other part is simply that for much of the summer Whitley doesn’t think of him as family.

Of course, I hated Whitley for a whole heck of a lot of the book. Really, though, if you love Whitley in the beginning I’d kind of have to wonder about you. She’s mean and catty and basically hates the world. She basically does everything in her power to make the world hate her. But then there’s all the awesome people that come into her life and make her better.

Nathan, for starters, is pretty awesome. He’s a sweet geek who really cares for his family – including Whitley. Sure, he almost loses it a few times when Whitley throws herself at him, but ever the standup guy he doesn’t take advantage of her or the situation.

Then there’s Harrison. The guy is basically awesome. He forces himself into Whitley’s life when she refuses to let anyone in. He gives fantastic fashion advice. But I think my favorite part is how he doesn’t give up on Nathan the entire time. That is, his crush on Nathan :P

Can I just point out one measly thing that drove me nuts, though? Both Whitley and Nathan are 18 and yet they’re accepting groundations? That would totally not fly with me. Would you use the “my house my rules” shtick on a 30-year-old just because live in your home? No, so you shouldn’t be using it on an 18-year-old either.

The Nutshell: If you’re looking for a steamy summer romance about a messed-up girl who actually ends up okay in the end because of all the awesome people in her life, then Keplinger’s A Midsummer’s Nightmare is your book.

Direct Hit

Despite loving paranormal books about angels, demons, vampires and other supernatural creatures, I have a soft spot for contemporary YA novels. It's much more easy to connect with characters who are based on some realistic foundations. They bring out stories that can happen to any of us, they often highlight many problematic situations teenagers deal with it. As an eighteen year old I can relate to them - I can find a little piece of my past, my personality, my issues, hidden among the pages of those books and that's how I know I'm not the only one in the world with all these problems.

Whitley has created such an enormous self-mechanism through years that she refuses to attach to anyone. Every single day she copes with loneliness and is caught in the crossfire of a battle between her divorced parents. Her father is more like her best friend and she only gets to spend summers with him. Her mother is constantly complaining, her brother moved away and started his own family. Whitley, however, is alone. She refuses to make friends. She refuses to feel. And if you can't feel - don't want to feel - what kind of life are you living then? Are you even living one?

In the beginning of the book I expected to get this funny easy summer book with a bunch of witty conversations and an awesome female lead. Whitley wakes up after the graduation party and finds herself naked beside a complete stranger (good looking at least). And then the guy wants her number and she blows him off - it was a one night stand and it won't happen again after all. Next day her dad comes to pick her up to spend summer with him, but Whitley realizes this will be no ordinary summer. Her father suddenly has a fiancée and a new shiny Stepford family - and she has a new step-brother Nathan. The guy she slept with. Not awkward at all!

Through the story we get to know Whitley more, we start to understand the way her mind works. She parties a lot and she parties hard. Drinking alcohol in order to forget things isn't really working but it's the only escape she has. Dealing with problems this way - drinking and hooking up with random guys - is wrong. She knows that and she starts to pull herself together with Nathan's help and slowly realizes that she simply has to let people in. Otherwise she'll end up broken and alone, while everyone else will be occupied with their own lives.

I enjoyed the story all though it slightly bored me at certain times. When I finished it, I realized that there wasn't much going on - Whitley parties and screws up things, she hides from her problems, has occasional sparks of reason and talks to Nathan, she parties some more. I loved it though how in the end she finally opens her eyes and starts taking action. The writing however was great, I'll be sure to check out other books written by Keplinger. (:

Every Kody Keplinger book seems to be better than the one before it.

Whitley was a messed up character, there was no denying that. But I liked her. She grew up a lot, she changed. She became a pretty awesome person and we as readers got to watch. I found her transformation to be honest and incredible to watch. Not every teen can be perfect, good children who don't do anything wrong. Having a character that messed up openly and had no shame about it was different and good to see.

At first, I was not overly fond of the stepbrother. He seemed almost as much of a hot mess as Whitley. But I think I came around to liking him before I liked Whitley. His motives were easier to see and I appreciated them. I appreciated him as a character.

As usual, I love Kody's writing. Serious love! Her writing is always honest and gritty and authentically-teen. Kody Keplinger doesn't hold back, ever, and I love that. The stories are always gripping and her writing clearly grows with each book.

I know this review is crap, trust me I know. But I did that procrastination thing so this review is not doing the book justice. I really and truly loved this book. A Midsummer's Nightmare might even be one of my favorite books of the year. Kody Keplinger has only continued to ensure she's an insta-buy author for me.

Basically, I'm telling you to pick this one up. This book includes some seriously wonderful, complex characters, some of the most honest writing in YA, and a story about family, friendship, and prejudices. Keep an open mind and go in, ready to be amazed.