Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
summer boys a lame summer read, January 31, 2005
this book was very disappointing. The cover and synopsis make it sound interesting, but the inside fails to deliver. It has the makings of a great book: 3 girls, all at their Maine cottages for a fun summer. However, the plot quickly fizzles. There is Jamie and Ethan, Beth and George, and the Ella-Peter-Kelsi triangle. Jamie and Ethan met the previous summer, and had a pen and paper relationship for a year. Jamie is incredibly eager to see her boyfriend face to face again, but once she sees him, he becomes distant and pushes her away. Despondant Jamie goes into the classic destroyer mode, and tries everything to get him back, including dressing in a way that is totally not her, drinking herself into oblivion, and, of course, throwing herself at one of hid friends. Beth and George have been friends forever, but when George meets a girl on the beach, Beth suddelny realizes (duh) what a prince George is, and begins to hate innocent Cara, his new crush. She closes herself off, and resorts to ridiculous, childish tricks like hiding his clothes while he and Cara skinny-dip. All this does is enrage him, until the two have a romantic encounter (possibly under the influence of alcohol). George then takes off, leaving Beth even more confused. As for Ella, she is portrayed as the worldly girl who captures any and every boy she wants, and then dicards them at her leisure. On her first night in Maine, she spots Peter, the lead singer of a band. She falls head over heels in lust with him. Peter, however, seems to be the first boy who doesn't want Ella back: he prefers he all natural sister Kelsi, who certainly reciprocates the feeling. Ella becomes shy and unsure of herself, but still manages to exert all her charms to Peter. Kelsi, meanwhile, is showing all the signs of really falling in love. Then, she breaks up with him because he naturally wants too much, too fast. Ella has no problem secretly taking Kelsi's place, thouhg, and gives Peter what he wants. When Kelsi reveals to Ella that she knows Peter cheated on her, Ella almost dies.....until she realizes Kelsi doesn't know that she was the "other woman". Ella procedes to brazely lie to her sister, going as far as accompanying her to confront Peter the Cheater. Despite all this turmoil, Ella manages to waltz away without a scratch. The book leaves all 3 realationships unresolved. The "bad" characters receive no justice, and the "good" characters are left without satisfying endings. None of the characters are in depth. All the boys are percieved as shallow users, and the girls as desperate. This book is a perfect example of steryotyping.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Summer Boring, I mean Boys., June 9, 2004
Sure this books a nice light read, looks cute and funny. Some may call it "hot" but seriously people this book is none of the above. Way to throw girls off with a sexy title, truly, this book is boring. It's really a pointless book that repeats itself constantly, Its all about three girls who are dateing boys, and it's not exciting at all. You really need more conflict in this book. Overall i think this book is stupid. Im sorry if you liked this book, but everyone gets to share their opinion, RIGHT?
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly Over-rated Fun in the Sun, August 8, 2004
A Kid's Review
Don't get me wrong. "Summer Boys", by all means, was definitely not a waste of ink on my summer reading list. But it was nowhere near as exciting as the story's juicy blurb made it out to be; thus, Hailey Abbott's novel became more and more predictable with every turn of the page.
Here's the facts and dets for those of you who are just dying to pick up this mildly-stimulating beach read.
Ella is by far, the most beautiful and most promiscous of her somewhat shy big sis and her two cousin cohorts, wants nothing more than a little time alone with the coolest guy on the shore. Too bad that he's fast and willingly becoming her sister Kelsi's main squeeze (not that anything so "trivial" has stopped Ella before). Then there's Jamie, the quiet chick who's hoping to rekindle her summer fling with her virginity-taking, adorable-beyond-words "boyfriend", Ethan. But a summer apart seems to have caused his heart to go wander instead of fonder. And finally, my fav and most easily connected with cousin, Beth. She came to spend the summer with her best friend George and soon finds herself on the lookout for the perfect "summer boy," only to find that he was possibly right under her nose all along.
On the plus side, this quick read is just that...QUICK, yet still fun and enjoyable. The uncertainty of relationships from beginning to end is a good touch. Beth's storyline compensates for Jamie's boring one and MOST of Ella's.
On the negative side, there are over-exaggerated characters like the latter, for instance...could the author have been channeling a particular blonde and thin partying socialite (c'mon,we ALL know how I'm talkin' about) a bit more than originally intended? And, those afore-mentioned "predictable" pratfalls in the "Boys" plot. Twenty or so pages before the very ending, you can pretty much create your own conclusion to the book and later learn your storybook wish for everybody came true.
Give "Summer Boys" a shot only if you're prepared to be, shall I say, kinda disappointed. It's sort of over-done for the younger ones' taste, so don't lend it to your nine-year-old sister afterward, either.
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