Book Review | Nantucket Blue | Leila Howland

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
Series: Nantucket #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on May 7, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 294
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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three-stars

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on–most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits–that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

‘Tis the season for contemps, friends, and let’s be honest: I’m always going to elbow my way to the front of the line (not LITERALLY because I’m nicer than that and kind of a wuss, but you know) to read any book that’s got a beachy setting. NANTUCKET BLUE, the debut novel from Leila Howland, was just the kind of summer romance that I crave. Perhaps my expectations were teensy bit too high, though, because while I enjoyed the relationship a lot, and I LOVED the setting and the secondary characters, Cricket was harder for me to like sometimes (sometimes!). Of course, I shall explain myself, because the bottom line is this: NANTUCKET BLUE was a great summer read, with just the right amounts of happy fun times and deeper emotions, even though some of the important characters bothered me like WHOA.

So, NANTUCKET BLUE begins with readers getting to know Cricket Thompson and her bff, Jules Clayton. It’s clear from the get go that Cricket finds her fractured family unappealing–her dad is kind of MIA with his new family, and her mom is having a hard time getting out of the divorce dumps. The Clayton family, though? THEY just rock Cricket’s world, and she spends as much time ingratiating herself with them as possible. It’s a little nauseating and gets old pretty quickly (for me anyway). Anyway, when Mrs. Clayton–an official “cool mom”–suddenly dies, Jules takes back her invitation for Cricket to spend the summer with them at their Nantucket beach house. Out of a combination of good friend intentions and her own REALLY HUGE desire to go to Nantucket, Cricket decides she’s going to surprise Jules (surprise!) and show up at her house to support her. Things go rapidly downhill from there, with a secretive romance, a job at a bed and breakfast, and more.

First of all, I’ve never been to Nantucket, but I HAVE been to Cape Cod, and something about the crisp preppiness of that whole beach scene just makes me NUTS, I love it so much. Leila Howland pretty much nails the setting and the snobs–admittedly NOT my favorite aspect of New England beaches in the summertime. The setting in NANTUCKET BLUE was really evocative, though. And I would live in that B&B where Cricket works with a saucy British girl named Liz, a hippie-baker-owner named George, and a quirky reporter who sucks down Coke Zero. When I was annoyed with Cricket, they made me happy.

Speaking of Cricket: Ok, so here’s the deal. She starts out NANTUCKET BLUE obsessing over this guy Jay, who just so happens to vacation on Nantucket during the summer, and spending what seemed to me to be awkwardly large amounts of time with the Claytons. Like, I felt bad for her ACTUAL family who never saw her and whom she judged pretty harshly and unfairly, I thought. Sure, in the wake of her parents’ divorce, her mom is sad, and I can understand Cricket’s hope that her mother will come out of her shell and get back into the swing of things. But I wish Cricket had not judged her mom so much. That bothered me quite a bit.

And you know how sometimes characters in books–or, you know, real-life people, too–see things in people that no one else does? NANTUCKET BLUE had this whole thing going on, too, with Cricket and Jules and Cricket and her original crush, Jay. I didn’t necessarily think Jules was that great a friend. On the one hand, I understood the way she withdrew from Cricket after her mom died; I thought that was a very real manifestation of her grief. But on the other hand, she did some pretty horrible things that I don’t believe their are excuses for. Jay was…meh. I’m glad that Cricket had Zack instead.

Zack is Jules’ younger brother (oh yes, friends. Cricket = COUGAR). They have a little bit of a secret thing going on for a while that turns serious gradually. I liked the whole “my best friend’s brother” thing that Leila Howland cooked up. Their relationship was cute and not without its drama, but to me, the most memorable part of NANTUCKET BLUE was Cricket, for all that she was often frustrating to me.

So, in a nutshell friends, I’d recommend NANTUCKET BLUE by Leila Howland for sure. Because the setting is pure beach goodness, the supporting characters are quirky and lovable and fun, and the drama surrounding Cricket and the Claytons was actually pretty good, as much as it sometimes made me want to shake people and call them names. Leila Howland is a promising storyteller for sure, and I’m already looking forward to her next book!