Cruel Summer

This book took me a couple hours to read. It was amazing. To Colby it may have started at as a curel summer indeed but this book definetly heated up into an amazing summer in my eyes. This is a great book to read especially during the summer.

It was so hard to put it down two nights ago when I started reading, so the first thing I did the next morning was get my cup of coffee and finish the book!!! can wait to start on another of Alyson Noel's books!!!

Who wouldn't want to spend a summer in Greece? Colby Cavendish most definitely does not. The summer before her senior year, she is banished to a tiny island with her "crazy Aunt Tally" while her parents sort out their divorce. This was going to be her best summer yet. Colby had been working for a long time to get into the elite popular circle by befriending Amanda. She even dropped Natalie, her best friend since second grade. The night before she leaves for Tinos, Colby connects with Levi, the guy every girl wants. Everything set the stage for what should have been the best senior year anyone has ever had. But now she is on Tinos, where dirt is everywhere and she can just barely make out the city of Mykonos across the water. Her aunt seems to follow the same boring routine every day of running her shop, going to the beach and making a simple dinner with her boyfriend Tassos. Sometimes they eat things straight out of the sea. Colby is sure life can't get worse and is feeling a bit better when she finds an Internet café run by the stern Petros, who keeps urging her to get back out into the sun. It is beautiful on Tinos, and only a couple of hours on the beach has given Colby a lovely tan and streaks in her hair. But she keeps trying to connect with people back home so she won't lose her popularity status. She begins writing a blog and filling in a handwritten journal. Amanda is not returning her email, and her parents seem to be making decisions without her, such as selling their home and getting new girlfriends/boyfriends. Levi has not even sent one message, which Colby learns about from her former friend, Natalie, who has started emailing. After a barbeque at Tally's house, Colby meets the gorgeous Yannis, who takes her to beaches on his motorbike for mind-melting kisses and soul-connecting discussions. Things start looking up in Tinos, and an "anonymous" person is now responding to her blog. Then she discovers that Levi and his family are taking a cruise, and she goes to meet him in Mykonos for one day, without telling Yannis. She is still worried about what will happen when she returns home and can't decide if what is happening with Yannis is true love. Tragedy strikes even in Tinos, and Colby learns how much the island and its people have come to mean to her. It even helps her see what is important to her at home. The lovely descriptions of beaches and the beauty of Greece will make readers want to get plane tickets over there. Alyson Noël, author of KISS & BLOG and SAVING ZOE, does a great job in all her books of showing the fallout and hope that can come after what seems like devastating mistakes. Colby is a mess at first, and readers will feel like yelling at her for some of her choices, even while wanting to comfort her. But who wouldn't like to rewind the clock sometimes? Not everyone has a chance to go to a beautiful island in Greece to get perspective, but anyone can try to start fresh. --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Colbie Cavendish is looking forward to a fun summer spenet partying with her new (and über-popular) circle of friends. Unfortunately, her fighting parents decide to send her to a tiny Greek island no one's ever heard of to stay with her crazy aunt Tally. This is practically unforgivable to Colbie since she'll only have minimal contact with her new friends (email) and is worried they'll forget her. But when Colbie finally takes a break from being depressed about her vacation when she spends mostly in an Internet café, she realizes that maybe she should be out living instead of mourning all the changes to her old life. And that's when she meets Yannis, a gorgeous Greek guy who's just as interested in her as she is in him. It seems Colbie's vacation isn't as miserable as she thought it would be; it changes her perspective on her entire life. I really enjoyed Alyson Noël's writing in her other novels that I've read, Faking 19 and Saving Zoë, and Cruel Summer was no different. While the plot isn't fast-paced and exciting, it's the well-developed characters that really caught my attention, though in this case, Colbie was the only well-developed character as the story was told from her point-of-view. Alyson Noël has a subtle way of making her stories much deeper and more meaningful than they may appear on the surface, and this makes them seem real. For example, Colbie is initially portrayed as a whiny and insecure girl, but as her vacation progresses, she starts to appreciate or at least accept what she has in life. I also liked how romance was incorporated into Colbie's story, because she really deserved Yannis in the midst of all her other problems. In all, Cruel Summer was a very enjoyable story and, despite the cover, much better than just a beach read. In a strange way, although none of her novels rank very high among my favorites, Alyson Noël is one of my favorite authors. It's not just because she's an Orange County resident like me and often writes about that setting; Alyson Noël just has a really great writing style. I definitely recommend Cruel Summer as well as her other novels that I've read, Faking 19 and Saving Zoë. I also look forward to reading Art Geeks and Prom Queens and Kiss & Blog sometime in the future.

Colby Cavendish has finally made it into the in crowd! She worked hard to gain Amanda's favor and now she's her new best friend. She's practically guaranteed the best Senior year ever! As an added bonus, Levi Bonham, the hottest guy in school, has suddenly become very interested in Colby! So interested that she's actually sitting right next to him on the couch at Amanda's house. Okay, so Colby's just a little nervous that it's their first date...well, not even really a date. She's alone downstairs kissing Levi like she's always dreamed, like they'd been dating for forever, while Amanda is upstairs in her room with her guy. And Colby can't stop thinking about her curfew, which, by the way, passed, like, two hours ago. But at least she's stopped feeling guilty about dumping her former best friend, Natalie. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to progress up the social ladder. It's just part of life. Right? Colby's parents are in the middle of a messy, angry divorce. Turns out they were so engrossed in their fight of the night, that they didn't even know Colby missed her curfew. It seems they barely remember they have a daughter, whose life they are royally screwing up. Then Colby finds out they have plans for her summer that don't include hitting the malls and becoming fully entrenched in her new social order. They are sending her to Greece. No, not Athens. A tiny little island called Tinos. No amount of ranting, reasoning, pleading, or even crying will change their mind. Colby boards the plane bound for three months with Crazy Aunt Tally and no TV, no computer, no Wi-Fi. Nothing. How is she supposed to maintain her new social status? What if Colby gets replaced by a new Amanda Wanna-Be? But soon things are looking up. First, there's Yannis, this really cute Greek guy who's living on Tinos! And second? She found an Internet café! Score! She is alive again! Maybe she can ignore the parent wars. But why was Yannis with Marie? And should she tell him that she's going to island hop to Mykonos to meet Levi, who's on a cruise to Greece? And her parents are going to sell the house as part of the divorce settlement? She might be spending her Senior year in Arizona? Teen girls will totally love CRUEL SUMMER by Alyson Noël. The story is told using letters home, the journal her mother gave her, "Colby's Journal For Desperate Times...," and her new blog. The range of emotions, devastating lows to breathtaking highs, and the intense feeling that everything affects her is so authentic. The reader will relate to her habit of over-thinking every comment, gesture, or word of an email, and the insecurity she feels around Yannis. I loved this book and totally devoured it. For this reason, I give it five stars! Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger