Review Detail

I really, really enjoyed How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski. I thought it was a fun story full of flawed and realistic characters and it was exactly what I was hoping for when I picked it up.

I've read that some people had trouble connecting with the protagonist, but I actually really liked Rosie. She was so freaking confused and made so many mistakes and that's what I liked about her. She never really had any dreams and her whole life revolved around Joey, so it totally threw her when he cheated on her. And then she had to figure out what the hell was next. I felt like her confusion and her lashing out was very realistic. It wasn't pretty, but it felt real. She was spoiled and rude, but so are a lot of teenagers. Plus the growth in How My Summer Went Up in Flames was phenomenal and I really liked Rosie figuring herself out a bit more and getting a bit of a reality check.

I also really liked the secondary characters - Matty, Spencer, Logan...they were all really interesting guys with their own storyline and growth to make throughout the story.
While there was a love triangleish thing, it was never really a love triangle because you could just tell where the real chemistry was and you knew that Rosie knew it too. Although I will say, as always, I picked the wrong guy. ALWAYS.

And of course, I'm a sucker for a good road trip.

Like I said, I just really enjoyed How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski. I thought it had a great combination of fun plot and realistic characters who were getting life experience for the first time and growing because of it. So if you like contemporaries and road trips and realistic characters, definitely pick up How My Summer Went Up in Flames. It's a great debut and I can't wait to read Famous Last Words.