LitPick Review
Cady and Cooper, best friends, and two model students and offspring, decide that before they graduate, they want to do things “normal kids” do. They make a bucket list. On a road trip (one of their bucket list goals) they run into Eli, a handsome carnival worker. Cady and Cooper, both being attracted to him, invite him to join their roadtrip. During the weekend road trip, they accomplish quite a few of their bucket list goals, including having their first kisses. Both Cady and Cooper kiss Eli, confusing their feelings and jumbling their emotions. Coming home from their weekend of “fun," Cady and Cooper get ready for their graduation fully expecting to never see Eli again, even though they made promises to him, admittedly, while drunk. After graduation, their friendships fall apart, driving Cady to continuously become drunk. But after her brother comes home from rehab (having been an alcohol and drug addict himself), Cady realizes she needs to make her life right, and that starts by making up with her friends.
Opinion:
This book focuses a lot on friendship and all that it encompasses. It is also often focused on Cooper’s bisexuality, which personally makes me uncomfortable. Cady, Cooper, and Eli are all very likable characters.
I love that the author of this book didn’t skate over the main characters' human weaknesses, it makes them seem more human and relatable. This characterization was one of the great strengths I noticed in this book. One of the weaknesses I noticed was you couldn’t always tell who was speaking, sometimes it wasn’t obvious who it was.
I hadn’t before heard of this author, but this author sure did write a good story - it kept my attention and I read the whole thing in one day. I think this would qualify as a Romance Fiction, and overall, I thought it was a good book.
I love that this book was (mainly) focused on friendship and not romantic love. I think many people have preconceived notions of love in friendship and it’s good to get many different views and show how you work through problems in friendship.
I would recommend this to any teen over the age of 14. As I said above, this goes through the highs and lows of friendship and the consequences of some things your peers might pressure you to do, and what to do to avoid them.
