Review | How My Summer Went Up in Flames

How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Review by Katie
May 2013 by Simon Pulse
307 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
3.5/5 stars

"First she lost her heart. Then she lost her mind. And now she’s on a road trip to win back her ex. This debut novel’s packed with drama and romance!

Rosie’s always been impulsive. She didn’t intend to set her cheating ex-boyfriend’s car on fire. And she never thought her attempts to make amends could be considered stalking. So when she’s served with a temporary restraining order on the first day of summer vacation, she’s heartbroken—and furious.

To put distance between Rosie and her ex, Rosie’s parents send her on a cross-country road trip with responsible, reliable neighbor Matty and his two friends. Forget freedom of the road, Rosie wants to hitchhike home and win back her ex. But her determination starts to dwindle with each passing mile. Because Rosie’s spark of anger? It may have just ignited a romance with someone new…"

I went into this book thinking it would be the perfect summer read. Not only because summer is directly in the title, but this book sounds like a light, fluffy, summery, beach read. And that it was. 

This book was about a road trip with some light drama and light romance thrown in. I kept wanting a little more out of it, a little more romance, a little more drama, just a little more of something happening in the story. With that being said, let me clarify that this was not a boring read nor was it dull at parts, but I just felt like there was more potential at times for the story to deepen when it didn't do so.

Rosie, our MC, was comical and lovable, I found myself just wanting things to go right for her. I found myself getting annoyed with her at times in the way she complained too much and was stubborn in her ways. I felt that she should just get over her ex boyfriend when she consistently was pining for him. I was also annoyed that she couldn't decide who she wanted to be with and her feelings were floating around from guy-to-guy at times. However, I think that Rosie was a realistic character, she seemed like an average teenage girl and I liked that about her. 

I love road trip books!! As it so happens, this book also adds in four characters that make the road trip that much better. I loved all the characters, the three boys and Rosie, together had fun adventures and brought out some fun bantering throughout their adventures. I love the people they meet along the way and I love the places they go. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is the perfect summer read. It's light, entertaining and fun to read. I would recommend this one, especially if you enjoy road trip books!

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