Monday, April 2, 2012

(ARC) REVIEW: The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland


Title: The Summer My Life Began
Author: Shannon Greenland
Publisher: Speak (Penguin)
Date to Be Published: 5/10/12
Source: Publisher


Publisher Synopsis:
Elizabeth Margaret—better known as Em—has always known what life would contain: an internship at her father’s firm, a degree from Harvard and a career as a lawyer. The only problem is that it’s not what she wants. When she gets the opportunity to get away from it all and spend a month with the aunt she never knew, she jumps at the chance. While there, Em pursues her secret dream of being a chef, and she also learns that her family has kept some significant secrets from her, too. And then there’s Cade, the laid-back local surfer boy who seems to be everything Em isn't. Naturally, she can’t resist him, and as their romance blossoms, Em feels she is living on her own terms for the first time. 

My Rating: 3.5


My Review: 
Elizabeth Margaret has been molded into the woman her parents and grandmother expect her to be. She has always done as she was told and strives to make them proud of her. Upon learning about and agreeing to stay with her Aunt Tilly, she begins an soul searching journey she never thought she would.


Em is such a great character. She has been so forced into the life she is living that she just wants the chance to be free to make choices for herself and do what she loves, cook. Her journey is a very endearing one. Getting to know family she never knew existed and spending the summer in the place of dreams, the reader is taken right along for the drive. 


This story holds a family secret that throws both Em and the reader for a loop. She begins to find herself, find love, and find home in a powerful coming of age story.


I enjoyed the development of the relationships between all of the characters, not just Em and Cade, but Tilly, Fredrick, and the other supporting characters as well. 


This book shines.

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