Marked (Reflections, #11)
Book
Happily ever after takes a lot more effort than they let on in fairytales. Adriana Paige thought...
Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Night of Ash (Odriel's Heirs #2.5)
Book
The night buries all Shadows... After healing from the last battle with Idriel's Children, the...
Young Adult Fantasy
Love All
Book
College students Nate and Olivia are a perfect match on the courts—and in the sheets. Everywhere...
Steamy Contemporary Romance
College Days (Reagalos #0.5)
Book
Lornyc is good at keeping secrets, because secrets can get you kicked out of College. Lornyc...
MM Fantasy Romance
No No Square
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No No Square was written to assist parents and guardians in the tough topic of educating young...
children's book
Witchy, Witchy (Spellbound Trilogy, #1)
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When Calista McCoy moves from the slums of the Louisiana Bayou to an illustrious beach community in...
Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Rise of Dresca (The Draemeir Chronicle #1)
Book
From the pits of an ancient darkness, a new power is rising. ...
Young Adult Dark Fantasy
Spells and Slip-ups (The Wrong Witch #1)
Book
I suck at witchcraft. Coming from a long line of famous witches, I should be at the top of the...
Adult Paranormal Urban Fantasy
The Hunter's Moon (The Secret Warrior #1)
Book
Seventeen-year-old Morgan Daniel has been in the witness protection program most of her life. But...
Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Summer Romances in Books
Dec 17, 2018
Stephanie Perkins, the best selling author of <i>Anna and the French Kiss</i> has compiled a second anthology of short stories. Twelve selected tales have been included from a variety of young adult authors including: Libba Bray, Veronica Roth, Cassandra Clare and Jennifer E. Smith. For those that have read Perkins’ previous anthology, <i>My True Love Gave To Me</i>, the concept is the same. Twelve love stories set in, as the title, <i>Summer Days and Summer Nights</i>, strongly suggests, the summer.
What can be expected from all the stories in this collection is that they fit snuggly into the Romance genre of young adult fiction. The way the authors decided to tackle this, however, was up to their own interpretations. Thus, the final outcome is a selection of works that fall into a variety of categories: fantasy, contemporary, LGBT, horror, sci-fi etc.
As a result there are a number of different character types and storylines, suggesting that there is bound to be something for everyone. There are lovey-dovey stories, heart-wrenching stories, exciting action stories, implying that there will be at least one you will favour, and hopefully make purchase worthwhile.
It is not merely love that can be found between these pages, so if you are, like me, not overly impressed with teenage love stories, there are other themes to focus on. Many of the main characters are nearing the end of their schooling and thinking about the future: college, perhaps. Readers discover, and possibly relate to, their hopes, doubts and fears of what is to come. Yet while these thoughts are buzzing in their heads they are also trying to enjoy their summers, some with summer jobs, others hanging out with friends. Alongside all of this are darker issues of depression, cancer and parents divorcing; events that many teenagers unfortunately have to deal with. So, throughout all the make-ups and break-ups, there is so much more going on under the surface.
It is always difficult to decide what age range “Young Adult” refers to. Some may assume it is anyone in their teens, however in the case of <i>Summer Days and Summer Nights</i> I would label it a book for older teenagers, those of similar ages to the characters depicted: sixteen to nineteen. This is due to the slightly adult themes of a few of the stories and the amount of swearing many of the authors resort to.
Unfortunately for me, I did not find a perfect story within this collection. There were some I enjoyed more than others; likewise there were some I was not keen on at all. It is for this reason I have only given a rating of three stars. I do not want to put prospective readers off however as this is merely a case of personal preferences and not a true reflection of the authors’ exceptional writing skills.