I’m back! And what better way to celebrate my return with a twin review of two great novels! I’m pretty sure if you like The Last Summer you’ll also like Getting Away With It, and the other way around. There are quite some similarities between the two. Basically, I’m doing this because I’ve read both books quite a while ago and sadly I’m sure I forgot a bunch of details about the plots already; I forgot too much to write a full pledged review. However, somehow these two stories still linger in my mind. I just can’t get to the point of selling these books or putting them on the community bookshelf in my apartment building! Which makes me think… What do you do with the books you’ve read? Do you keep them all, do you sell them or give them to friends for them to read? Surely, you won’t throw them in the bin, or…? (to be honest, I think I did this once and I believe it was part one of the Evermore series, 0/5 would not recommend). I should figure out how to make a poll on this blog, so you guys can let me know about pressing readers issues like this. Anyway, TWIN REVIEW TIME!
The Last Summer (of You & Me), Ann Brashares
Riley and Alice, two sisters now in their twenties, and as fiercely different as they are loyal, have spent every summer at their parents’ modest beach house on New York’s Fire Island. Each year, they return to the house and community they have known since they were children—and to Paul, the boy next door. But this summer marks a season of change: budding love and sexual interest, an illness, and a deep secret force all three to confront the increasing complexities of their lives and friendships.
When I bought this book second hand on Marktplaats (the Dutch version of Ebay) I didn’t really have any expectations. Ann Brashares is also the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and although the books and movie(s) were quite popular in the Netherlands as well I never read or watched any of it. The first thing that appealed to me about The Last Summer was the fact that this story is about two sisters in their twenties. I happen to have a sister too, we’re both in our twenties and we also differ a lot from each other. Fun fact: I once visited Fire Island myself when I was on holiday in New York! Not with my sister, but with a friend, and we actually went to Cherry Grove for the wedding of a gay couple (this was in 2010 or 2011, so I think it was even one of the first legal gay marriages in the US!). Ann Brashares is amazing at describing specific sceneries, landscapes and ambiances, making it very easy to imagine the living environments of her characters. Ann Brashares also writes masterly about the special and deep bonds that people share with these places and with other individuals. The tension in the book builds perfectly and eventually unravels, making it more and more impossible to put this story down the closer you get to the end. After finishing The Last Summer I kept longing for those sandy, windy beaches, the cosy island houses and I also kept wondering about the Riley, Alice and Paul. You know that feeling when you finish a movie or a book and you feel like you spent a lifetime with the main characters? Maybe that’s why I’m still seized by this story. Maybe I should start reading The Sisterhood.
Getting Away With It, Julie CohenA gorgeously romantic, funny and heartbreaking read for anyone who’s ever run away from home – and found their way back…
Liza Haven couldn’t wait to escape the small village where she grew up with her perfect identical twin sister, Lee. Her life in LA as a stunt woman is reckless, fast and free – and that’s just the way she likes it. But when a near-fatal mistake drives her home, she finds Lee gone and everyone in the village mistaking her for her twin sister. Liza has to deal with her ailing mother, the family ice cream business, and Lee’s dangerously attractive boyfriend. Liza’s always been the bad twin, but as she struggles to keep up the masquerade and puzzle out where her sister has gone, she realises it’s not so simple. She’s spent her whole life getting away with it – is it finally time to face up to who she really is and where she really belongs?
Oooh, I just LOVED this story so much. In my opinion, it has everything a good novel should have: love, hate, friendship, drama and humor (that ending!). Just like The Last Summer this book is about the special bond between two sisters and just like Ann Brashares Julie Cohen manages to create an amazing atmosphere with this story. The Last Summer can be quite a heavy read though and if you are in the mood for something more fun and light you should definitely read this one. The story is set on the British country side, in a small village where everyone knows everyone (gossip!). Even though there’s a lot of ice cream involved in this story, I would recommend you to read it during autumn or winter, with a big cup of tea, to really get those rainy, grey country vibes going. Sure enough this novel would make for a GREAT Christmas movie! Both sisters eventually discover a lot about who they really are and what their family and their familie’s business actually means to them. Julie Cohen takes turns in writing from Liza’s and Lee’s perspective, which gives you great insight in the way both sisters handle the same issues differently, what their personal issues are and how this influences their decisions in the story. Favorite moment: when Lee unexpectedly returns from her “trip” and walks in on Liza who just spent the night with Lee’s boyfriend *GASP*.
Keep on reading!
Lisanne
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