review: endless summer by jennifer echols

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Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols contains both The Boys Next Door and its sequel Endless Summer; therefore, there’s a spoiler for the first book in the second half on this review.

The Boys Next Door is all about how tomboy Lori decides to attract one of the boys next door the summer she turns 16.  When putting on makeup and wearing a bikini doesn’t attract Sean, she seeks the help of his nearly identical brother Adam.  It is a cute story about young love filled with mistakes and heartache.  Lori’s tendency to be an outcast no matter the situation made her a sympathetic protagonist who had me tearing up on a number of occasions and laughing at other times (her snarking on how the typical teen girl should act was fantastic).  The book had a perfect happy ending that left plenty of room for the reader to imagine what happened next.

[spoiler starts here]

According to the author, Endless Summer was written because fans wanted a sequel.  Despite being written a few years later, the book picks up only seconds after the end of The Boys Next Door.  Since I felt the first book ended perfectly, Endless Summer ended up ruining that a bit.  As it turns out things are not so happy for Lori and Adam due to their immaturity.  Lori shows no growth at all (which ok, it’s only been a few days, but you’d think she’d learn at least a little) and her schemes became tiresome.  The chapters told from Adam’s perspective (the first book was entirely Lori’s perspective) showed him to be very insecure though his love for Lori did seem genuine.

The Boys Next Door: 5/5
Endless Summer: 3/5

 

Review copy provided by the author.