Heartbreak River

My Thoughts: I really loved all the characters in this book. Even the ones we weren't "supposed" to like. I liked the whole concept of the book. It was summertime, there was water, it was a great book. I liked the girls in the book, I loved the guys in the book! It was one of the few that I've read this year that I really loved. Lately books have just been mediocre to me, but this one was really good and interesting. I wanted to keep reading it because I actually wanted too, not because I "needed" too. This book is full of parties, fights, flirtations, betrayals and jealousies! It is definitely worth a read!!! Overall: Great Book!! Go To The Library Or Buy It! Add it to your To Be Read List! Cover: This cover is very enticing. It has a nice romantic element to it!!! Really Really like the cover! (Reviewed by Princess Bookie)

Alex never thought that she would be spending her summer working with Sean. In fact, she never even expected to see him. When he walks into the door of her family's rafting business, she is completely shocked. As it turns out, her grandparents hired him on for the summer, without ever mentioning it to Alex. Alex already has enough on her plate trying to get over her father's drowning of the year before and living with her grandparents while her mom is in Florida. Now she not only has all that to deal with, she also has her feelings for Sean and the flirtations of one of the other guys from the rafting business, Tommy. Tommy has always been a flirt but now he seems to be focusing all his flirting on Alex and to Alex's delight and confusion, it seems to be making Sean a little jealous. Even if Alex and Sean can never be the way they once were, she still wants to be friends with him and he begins to show some of the same feelings. The only time they seem to be able to connect is when Sean takes on the task of helping Alex get over her fear of the river. Sean's attentions don't only affect Alex, though. Alex's cousin Mala seems to be changing right along with everyone else. Mala is the pretty one and always the center of attention with the guys but lately Alex is getting all of the attention. Mala begins to act out and get herself into more trouble and always manages to drag Alex into it with her. When Mala can't seem to take anymore she breaks and makes some accusations that Alex may never be able to forgive her for. Heartbreak River was such an amazing debut YA novel. There were very few things I disliked about this book. In fact, I don't think I could name one. The characters were all very likable, even at their worst moments. They all seemed to have real personalities and little quirks that made them original. The ending was also one of my favorite parts. It was such a shock to me. I never would have seen it coming. I do think it was a very sad ending but I really think it helped make the story even better. The writing style and the story were just so original. I read this book so quickly because I just couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened next. This is another one of those books that I think deserves all 5 stars.

Alex has no idea what the summer is about to throw at her. With this being her last year in Golden Bend, Colorado before graduation and hopefully her last summer helping out her grandparents with their river rafting company, she plans to put the painful reminder of the her father's drowning behind her when she leaves the small town in the dust. But until then, she has to face her new found fear of her beloved Grayton River. Where once she couldn't get enough of the force of nature, now she can't look at the raging rapids without remembering the bone crushing pain of losing her father to them. That's nothing compared to the chaos she has to face when her old boyfriend, Sean, walks back into her life. Thinking he was gone forever, Alex never expected her grandparents to hire the rafting guide back. But life isn't always fair and Alex is learning that lesson the hard way. And Sean isn't the only one catching her eye. Heartbreak River is filled with painful heartache, but it is also a touching story of a girl coming of age and embracing the woman she is growing into. Not only does Alex have to deal with the loss of her father and the sudden appearance of her old flame, but she is also faced with running her family's business. With this job comes the great task of managing several different personalities with her slutty cousin, a Romeo British guide vying for her attention, her old flame's new friends, and a summer filled with facing her greatest fear; the river itself. Can Alex succeed and overcome these obstacles thrown in her path? Or will she let them take over everything she ever loved and lose it all again? I LOVED this book, Heartbreak River. Not only was I drooling over the cover (this could have easily been a cover for an adult romance), but the story line instantly jumped out and grabbed my attention. I have wanted to try my hand at river rafting for YEARS now. This story gave me a little taste of that life and made me want to try it even more. Although, I have to admit that I'm a tad more cautious about it after reading this story and some of the things Alex is up against. Tricia Mills did an AWESOME job of portraying teenage life in today's world. She tastefully covered the drinking issues, as well as the sexual issues. Ms. Mills ended the story on a very positive note and I'm now anticipating her next young adult release, Winter Longing, next summer. Great job!

Alex has lived in Golden Bend all of her life and her family has owned Cooley Mountain Whitewater Rafting Company for decades. Before last summer, Alex never imagined leaving. But then tragedy struck, and she lost her father, her first love Sean, and her love for the river. Now, nearly a year later, it is summer time and Sean is back, stirring up all kinds of emotions Alex would rather not face. Because despite the brave front she puts up, she still refuses to venture in the river, and is far from over her father's death. But long suppressed feelings and thoughts have a way of getting out eventually... Tricia Mills has crafted a complex and vivid story of love, grief, and the slow process of healing, set in the beautiful, wild, and dangerous country of rural Colorado. Mills' characters are authentic, varied, and fallible in their own unique ways, but each of them contributes a realistic and personable undercurrent to the novel. Mills handles the subjects of grief and death in a very levelheaded yet sensitive manner, and her insights as to how Alex reacts to the way she does to her father's death are keen. However, Heartbreak River is not without its happy moments: lighthearted and witty exchanges between the six friends occur frequently, and there is plenty of romance and boy trouble. But Mills balances the moments of grief and the moments of happiness, efficiently reminding readers of the heartaches and joys of life, and the importance of never giving up on living, making for a stellar, quick, and emotional first novel. Cover Comments: Look, another cover with heads in them! I'm beginning to think that there aren't as many headless covers as we though. I like the intensity of this cover image, the way the two people are almost kissing, and the way the girl's heair is windblown. I think it captures the urgency and the emotion of the book very well. Kudos to Razorbill for a very awesome cover!

Ooooh. This was almost exactly the kind of story I hope for when I find out a book has a romantic element. I loved it! A romantic summer with a bunch of cute boys who happen to be coworkers, and specifically two that catch the main character's attention, one because of her past with him and another for his flirty personality and British accent (although personally I would have gone for the bookish boy!). A cousin with a polar opposite personality and also a family tragedy, involving the death of a parent and a family that's trying to hold themselves together. It was a great set up and for the most part didn't disappoint. I'm not one for sports in general and frankly the idea of rafting kind of scares me but it allowed for a beautiful backdrop for this story. Parties in the woods, swimming, a drive-in movie, a fun summer. It just worked and I loved it. I loved the yearning and the should I or shouldn't I say somethings. The flirting and the looks. I loved everything about it. And then the events of the last 30 pages sort of put a mini-storm cloud over the book for me. It just went a little too far for my taste. I understood why the author did it but it still made me kind of sad. I guess I'm not really sure how else the book would have ended but that wasn't what I was hoping for. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the rest of the book and the ending didn't really ruin it for me, just changed it a bit.