Thursday, September 22, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is October 4, 2016. 

Sloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens. Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins' late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins' lives.

I had never read this author before, but apparently I am missing out. If this book is any indication of this author's talent, then I must read her other books ASAP. 

Emma created some amazing characters with some awesome friendships. Sloane's family just moved to Florida because of her dad's writing block. She has always been a bit of a loner so it is a but of a surprise when she becomes friends with Vera and Vera's brother Gabe and Remy. All of the characters were so well developed and so relatable. There is some flirtation going on between Sloane and Gabe, but it is slow burn and I loved it. Another thing I loved was all the witty banter and all the humor. Sloane is sarcastic, which I love. Some of the conversations actually made me laugh out loud and it's not often that a book does that. One of the best things was how they handled Vera's sexuality. She was gay and had a girlfriend, but guess what? NO ONE CARED! Yep, that's right. Not a single person cared at all. There was no drama over her being gay, no bullies, nothing. Just a girl and her girlfriend. 

But the best, and I mean absolute BEST things about this book was the focus on FRIENDSHIP and FAMILY! Yes, there was a little romance between Sloane and Gabe but the main storyline was about friends and family. And everyone had a normal and loving and supportive family. Sloane's family was going through stuff with her dad's writer's block and it was obviously starting to affect Sloane's parent's marriage, but there was no neglect or anything. Sloane's dad was right there helping her and spending time with her and I loved it. And can I say how adorable Sloane's sister was? Their relationship was pretty special too.

The only thing that maybe prevented this book from being totally awesome was that the author tried to do too much, I think. There were a lot of storylines. There was Sloane and Remy trying to track down the painting, Vera and Gabe still grieving over the death of their mother, Sloane and Gabe's romance, Remy feeling lovesick over his ex girlfriend and trying to figure out why she broke it off, her dad's writer's block and then of course, there was Sloane's problem of not really letting people get too close to her. It was all too much and I think a few of the issues maybe got resolved too quickly because there wasn't enough time for the author to give all the issues enough attention.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one. This was a great book and I would highly recommend it!

11 comments :

  1. Glad to see you enjoyed this!! I cannot wait for it to come out. I have seen nothing but great reviews. Love that the focus is on family and friendships. Great review!

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    1. Thanks so much Grace! It's so rare to see a book that isn't all about the romance. I love it when it happens.

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  2. LOVE the cover! This sounds like the kind of YA I might enjoy. I didn't realize Emma Mills = elmify. I was vaguely aware of her YouTube presence, but didn't know she writes novels.

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    1. Thanks Jenna! I have read one other Emma Mills book and it was just okay. This one was much better. I didn't know she had a YouTube presence. I may need to look into that. :)

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  3. I love that one of the characters is a social media star, so 2016 : ) The plot of this book reminds me of the Vanessa Carlton song "White Houses"- have you heard it?

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    1. Katie, I haven't actually heard that song but I will check it out for sure. It was a very 2016 plot and it was awesome. :)

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    2. Just heard it and you are so right! And thanks for introducing me to a great song. I had never heard that one before.

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  4. I cannot wait to read this! I have this preordered, and I love that the focus is on friendship and family SO YES.

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  5. I loved her first book so I'm really excited for this one, I hope it's just as good or better!

    Nereyda│ Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist

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    1. Nereyda, I read her first one and I liked it, but I didn't love it. I thought this one was so much better. I hope you think so too.

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