Review Detail

What I Liked:
Boomerang is, I think, new adult enough according to the traditional formula to please your general new adult reader. If you’re here for sexy times, incredibly hot characters, and spontaneous boners, then you’re going to leave happy. Boomerang has this in spades. While the sexy stuff definitely isn’t as central in Boomerang as perhaps is the case with most others, it’s present enough to scratch that itch.

What Boomerang doesn’t have is tortured pasts and unhappy families. Both characters are loved and supported by their parents. Not only that but the parents actually have personalities. It’s downright amazing. As dark as Boomerang gets is financial problems for Ethan and the declining health of Mia’s grandmother. New adult has burned me on issues, particularly since a history of abuse is so often cured by a few good orgasms, which no. There is none of that here and I’m so glad for that.

In place of that, Boomerang focuses primarily on Ethan and Mia figuring out what they want to do with their lives. The biggest part of transitioning from young adulthood to adulthood is figuring out how the heck you’re going to support yourself and be independent. It’s slowly taking over financial independence from your parents’, at least if you’re lucky enough to have had them continue to pay for things (or pay for things ever). It’s getting degrees or internships or first jobs. It’s trying a career and deciding that’s not what you actually want to do with your life. Boomerang deals with this heavily, as Ethan and Mia compete for an actual job at the end of their marketing internships at Boomerang.

The other thing I really liked about Boomerang was the humor. A couple of chapters had me actually laughing out loud. Seriously, the first dates via the Boomerang site killed me. Then there are great lines like this:

Am I in love with him?

I don’t know. I only know I want to see him, just to sit with him, breath the same air. Okay, maybe attack him like an expensive buffet.

Both Ethan and Mia are really funny, though Mia especially. They’re silly and they reference pop culture. They actually banter. They do get eye-rollingly serious sometimes, but they spend more time amusing me.

What Left Me Wanting More:
Ethan and Mia’s romance, in tied and tested romance tradition evolve more quickly into something serious than I find particularly believable. I also found the actual kissy, romantic scenes to be pretty out of the box. They felt very much like all the others I’d read before. Boomerang‘s a great addition to new adult, but I think it’s strengths lie in what makes it stand out from the crowd. Though I’m not opposed to them, I never really ended up having strong feelings about Ethan and Mia’s relationship. I am, however, very much approving of the secondary character hookups.

The Final Verdict:
Boomerang is a fun read for those who have been wishing new adult novels would sacrifice some sex scenes in exchange for some actual new adultiness.