Surf Shop Sisters review by MezokaCapturer65
Surf Shop Sisters
Age Range - 12 and up
Genre - Juvenile Fiction

LitPick Review

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Age at time of review - 18
Reviewer's Location - Zionsville, Indiana, United States
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This book follows Brooke, a 16 year old Floridian who, throughout the book, becomes involved in various familial and friendship struggles. It begins with Brooke and her friends attempting to secretly help another friend see her boyfriend, whom her parents disapprove. This ends up backfiring and getting all of them into trouble, foreshadowing another similar event that will take place later in the book.

While Brooke is dealing with this friend drama, she also tries to work out the identity of her grandfather and accusations that she robbed the store where she works. The conflict resulting from these multiple events happening at once proves to cause interesting results.

Opinion: 

This story kept my interest, and I found it engaging. While I did enjoy reading this book, there were several elements the author could have improved upon. I liked the intertwining of the three plots, and I felt that the author did a great job keeping them balanced so that one plot didn’t feel more important than another. However, I did not think that each of these plots was needed or as flushed out as they could have been. Yes, they were well balanced, but the fact that they were happening simultaneously caused the story to switch between them many times throughout the book, which became somewhat distracting. I do, however, appreciate the messages behind each of the plots. 

At the end, Brooke explained what we should have learned throughout the book. I wish it had been done more subtly instead. Subtlety with morals tends to remain with people longer than obvious morals. 

This book was heavy with the pop culture references. While I know a lot of people like having these references in books because it makes them relatable, this relatability doesn’t last forever. Making a book specific to the current time usually makes it dated very soon, which can cause it to be less appealing in a few years. This doesn’t make the story bad; it just makes it date more easily as culture evolves and changes. 

Overall, this book was enjoyable, but it presented some issues in its structure and content. I would recommend that parents consider the content of this book before allowing pre-teen or young teen girls to read it.  It contains many sex references, some of which are essential to the plot. This is a fun book, but I can easily see younger readers being confused or distressed by all of the sex references.  

Rating:
3
Content Rating:

Content rating - some mature content

Explain your content rating: 

This book involves many sex references, sex jokes, and sexual situations that are plot-relevant that make them impossible to ignore. It also involves multiple instances of cursing.

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