Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

About the book

Nantucket Blue is a contemporary young adult novel by Leila Howland. It was published by Hyperion Books with a release date of 7^th May. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-book for review through NetGalley.

Plot Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads.com)

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

What I thought

I love a good contemporary read, especially one set during the summer. This weather we are having here is horrible and really cold at the minute so books like this really cheer me up and make me look forward to the summer and some warmer weather.

Nantucket Blue wasn’t really what I expected it to be. The book started off really well, showcasing the friendship between protagonist Cricket and best friend Jules. The pair are inseparable and plan to have the best summer ever together in Nantucket before heading off to college. However, tragedy in Jules’ family prevents this from happening and Jules shutting Cricket out. I hated how this friendship was so easily broken up. I understand the reasons behind this happening but I had mixed feelings about these reasons. To me, Jules just came across as a bitch and it made me dislike her very quickly.

However, even with Cricket and Jules not talking to one another, Cricket still heads off to Nantucket for the summer with the hopes of making everything ok again. For me, Cricket was extremely young and a bit naive. She heads off to a place she has never been before, thinking it would all work out perfectly. Even after Jules tells her she can’t stay with them, Cricket turns up anyway. She was a lovely, sweet character and I really did want her to do and be better. As a character, she was extremely genuine and a nice person but this didn’t always do her any favours. I was glad to see that during her time in Nantucket, Cricket grew up a hell of a lot.

Nantucket Blue has a very unexpected romance. While it was a nice touch, I think it could have been much better. The romance was lacking in many places and it was hard to see the passion between Cricket and her love interest. I think this may be due to who he is but it just wasn’t very believable for me. This whole aspect of the book was a little one sided most of the time which made me think it just shouldn’t have been included. I would have much preferred more time being spent on just Cricket and her really getting to know herself without having a boy get in the way.

Due to the romance aspects and Cricket being a bit of an idiot for some of the time, the plot wasn’t fantastic for me. I wanted more about it being the summer; I wanted more beach time and more excitement. Instead, I got a lot of time spent in the hotel where Cricket got a job and then her also working for some guy writing a book. While some of these aspects were interesting, they just weren’t very summery. While I didn’t dislike this book by any means, it just wasn’t the best summer read out there.