Lindsay's Review: Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★
Pages: 294
Published by Disney Hyperion on May 7th, 2013

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.
Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn't. 
When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.
But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.
A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

Highlight black bars to reveal spoilers!

After getting invited to spend the summer in Nantucket at her best friend's summer home, Cricket can't be more excited. She has plans to get a tan, see all the things her best friend Jules' has been telling her about for years, and also getting together with her crush. But quickly things go downhill. Jules' mother dies unexpectedly the night that she invited Cricket to their summer and after being asked to leave their home the next morning, Jules tells Cricket she's no longer coming with her for the summer.

I expected a lot from this story. An amazing plot, amazing characters and a general idea that hasn't been done before a million times and then some. And on some level, I received what I asked for. But on another, I was disappointed.

I have a love-hate relationship with Cricket as a main character. Some things she would do I would absolutely love about her, like going way out of her way to be there for her best friend and her family. She did things I could never do and made me envy how great of a friend she is. However, sometimes she would go overboard. At Jules mother's funeral, when she started to choke up and not say anything at all, Cricket went up to the podium and began to speak on Jules' behalf. I thought this was very out of line, although it could be very nice for her to do, I would not have spoken at a funeral I wasn't asked to speak at. Another thing that really upset me was when Cricket kissed someone right before going on a date with someone she said she loved. Like what the hell! That is not okay!

Overall, the plot isn't fantastic. I'm not going to give any plot spoilers away about what Cricket does, but the things she does for her best friend are amazing, and the problems that arise because of it, and also a romance are so genius that I wish I thought of them myself.

Though the characters could have been deeper and less forgettable, I found some of them well defined like Jules which really made me enjoy reading about her. Also reading about Cricket's personal problems on top of the Jules drama was quite intriguing, however I could have done without the summer intern job for a memoir writer, which is the main reason I gave the book only three stars. On top of the character issues, I found the parts where Cricket helped the writer hopelessly boring. I'm a writer myself and I was so bored.

Despite my bashing, I enjoyed Nantucket Blue and couldn't tear myself away from it for long. It was an intriguing read and I recommend it to anyone who is still trying to hold onto their summer as the colder weather starts to move in.