Review Detail

LAKE LIFE is a YA fake dating romance taking place in the small town of Spruce Lake. Maya is returning this summer after a heartbreaking end to her previous visit. A love confession that ended in nothing but denial and awkwardness has left her less than pleased to be back. Gabe has been forced to Spruce Lake by her mother after months of reckless behavior at home. Her mother hopes it will shape her up, or at least keep her out of trouble, but Gabe is just hoping for something to entertain her while she’s there. A plan forms between Gabe and Maya to fake date and make Maya’s crush like her back, but can it really be that simple?

The romance between Gabe and Maya is slow, but worth it. The fake dating plot is brought up about 30% of the way into the book and it’s really when the two characters start to get close. However, the two characters do interact and talk before this idea is suggested. Giving the characters a starting point that wasn’t fake dating, allowed the idea to feel stronger. And watching as the fake relationship developed into something more real was sweet. It was slow, building up almost unseen by the characters. But it didn’t feel sudden as a reader. Readers got to see and experience all the sweet moments, the looks that lingered and the actions that maybe wouldn’t make sense between platonic friends.

Outside of romance, there are subplots in this book that are also given time to grow and expand. Some more than others. Gabe bonds with people in the town, finding things and people that she connects with. Maya finding a bridge between what she wants and what she can have. The Spruce Lake Eco Alliance protesting an encroaching corporation. Not all of these subplots are equal, but they do all add to the characters and the tension between them.

The setting of Spruce Lake feels idyllic. Gabe’s chapters don’t always show that, especially at the beginning when she is struggling to adjust; but Maya’s chapters always seem to acknowledge the beauty of the setting. Even when tinged in disappointment and awkwardness, there’s a reverence for this land and these people. It feels real and alive, adding to the relationship between Maya and Gabe as Gabe slowly discovers all that Spruce Lake has to offer. The setting almost feels like a character in and of itself.

Maya is a fun main character, but I wish she had felt deeper. Her main issue over the summer was getting over her best friend and it wasn't something that really resonated with me, although it might with other readers. However, I found that I connected with Gabe deeply. I may not have gone through the things she did, but the way they are handled in the book makes it where I still understood her as a character. She was given depths and layers, emotional turmoil that she was struggling to deal with. It felt raw and real.

There are also a plethora of side characters that take on different roles. Some are relatively unimportant, merely setting up moments when the characters meet or something happens. Other characters are more important than they might seem at first glance. The number of side characters can be overwhelming and I found myself getting names and individuals mixed up multiple times. But none of the characters felt one-note. Even if you only got quick glimpses of them, they still felt real.

As much as I loved this book, I do think some subplots or characters weren’t sued to their full ability. I had expected certain characters to play larger roles than they did. The summary and cover also had me expecting to see more of the environmental activism subplot. I had even expected to see a bit more of the summer, rather than the 2 or 3 weeks that were shown in this book. These issues weren’t bad enough to distract me or ruin my enjoyment of the book, but they did have an effect on me.

While this book does have a group of activists that play the part of side characters, the book manages to stay away from feeling preachy. It doesn’t claim that one side is better than the other or that there’s only one proper way of doing things. Rather it reaches out and asks the hard questions, asks what and who are the most important things to consider in these actions.

With an entertaining cast of side characters, sweet fake dates, and a lot of heart LAKE LIFE is a sweet YA romance. For readers looking for low stakes, but still emotionally and socially relevant romance.