REVIEW:The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

SYNOPSIS: "Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish. But I'm jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life.

My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything...."

After getting dumped by her boyfriend, Mia is looking forward to spending a relaxing summer in the Hamptons with her glamorous cousins. But when she arrives she find her cousins distant, moody, and caught up with a fast crowd. Mia finds herself lonelier than ever, until she meets her next-door-neighbor, Simon Ross. And from the very first time he encourages her to go skinny dipping, she's caught in a current impossible to resist.

Timeless in feel, The Summer of Skinny-Dipping is a poignant, literary coming-of-age romance that will live on long after summer has ended.

-From Goodreads

MY REVIEW: This is a book I will recommend to readers of all ages. I am particularly fond of summer romance novels and beach reads. The Summer Of Skinny Dipping surely tops my list of delectable beach reads!

Why everyone should read The Summer Of Skinny Dipping?

1) This book is not only a book about summer romance but is so much more. This is a book about family,relationships,friendship,romance,heartbreaks,love,loss,epiphany and so many other things!

2) It traces the journey of the MC as she grows in maturity and fortitude. But it also shows the development in the secondary characters. The book shows a parallel development of every character,contributing skillfully to the growth of the novel as a whole.

3) The book above all teaches us that life is transient and so it must be led to the fullest. Happiness once achieved must be guarded as it is such a fragile abstraction. The book very beautifully expounds the philosophy of carpe diem.

4) However the book propagates against a rash approach to life. On one hand it tells us to enjoy life but on the other it tells us to be cautious and sensible. One should not be reckless but should be easy going and fun-loving-a very sensible and useful advice according to me.

5) The book is full of surprises,pleasant and unpleasant. I love books which have the potential to surprise a reader. Banality and predictability do not go very well with me. I love this book because it was ‘filled with unexpected surprises’! Along with Mia,I learned to distinguish between what I thought was true and what is actually true,between appearance and reality and also that ‘all that glitters is not gold’!

6) The book taught me to dream,to believe in those dreams and to stand up for them against all adversities and find ways to fulfill them.

7) The extremely relateable characters. i could connect with the feelings and emotions of each and every character. I was practically with Mia on her journey which was an incredible feeling. Also,Amanda Howells beach descriptions are so beautiful,precise and graphic,that I actually found myself walking on them with the characters!

This book is a great read! Go pick your copy today!! Heart breaking and beautiful,this is a perfect companion for readers of all ages and seasons! Can't wait to read whatever Amanda Howells churns up next!

MY RATING: 5/5