Light, quick read.

This story is about four teenagers who all stayed at the Paradise resort with their respective mothers over spring break.

Jena and Skye are traveling together with their moms who are best friends.
The two girls couldn’t be more different. They aren’t so much friends as they are forced into social interactions because of their moms’ friendship.
Jena is introspective, kind and inexperienced with relationships. She feels insecure around Skye.
Skye is a couple years older, just broke up with her longtime boyfriend, is strikingly beautiful and an actress. She’s also struggling with depression.

Dakota and Owen are brothers.
Dakota is older, cooler and comes off as a lady’s man. He’s very good looking and people notice.
But he’s also mourning the death of his first serious girlfriend. Their relationship was so dramatic that even she thought he was a jerk occasionally. Her death has hit him hard.
Owen is attached to his computer at all times. He’s not great with interacting with the outside world. He’s nervous around girls but puts his thoughts on his blog.

The story begins as the teenagers’ paths cross, to varying degrees, while they are staying at Paradise.
The story continues by giving each character their own story to narrate. They each cover a month of the story.

I liked this storytelling technique because it gave the author the chance to make the characters more well rounded than they were in someone else’s story.

Each one, rightfully so, is the lead character of their own story.
I think Dakota and Skye would have been much less likable characters had they only appeared in Jena’s story. And Owen became a much bigger story when he was telling it himself.

A nice, light, quick read. ( )

When I've given a book two stars, it generally means that it was good enough to finish, but I didn't really like it. I really enjoyed the Jena and Owen characters, but the Dakota character was not redeemable and did not get redeemed. The entire senario with Dakota and the PhD student was just stupid because what could they possibly have to talk about except the drama in each other's lives. He's a jock and she's apparently brilliant, and I just did not get it. Also, the whole Owen, Jena, Dakota triangle just kind of yucked me out. I really am on the Hamlet side of the brothers with the same woman deal. As much as I loved THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE that part of it didn't set well, although for some reason, it didn't bother me as much as this. Of course that was sisters and the same guy. It's different somehow, even if it doesn't make sense. ( )

Four different viewpoints- all tied together. Good for Sarah Dessen fans. ( )

This story was a lot different than I expected, both in good ways and bad. I felt like the book jacket summary made it sound like Paradise was the setting for the story, though only Jena's bit took place there. I also felt like the POV kept switching just as stuff was getting good and deep for a character. Specifically Skye, who I had just started to like, and then Poof! It's on to another character. I would have liked more first-hand telling of people's lives, because it sounded awkward for Owen to explain how Jena knew Dakota, and for Jena to explain what happened to Skye to Owen in his section. I don't know, it was on the verge of being a really great story, but it felt really choppy. ( )

This was not one of my favorite books, but I don't regret reading it. I like how all of the characters told things from their perspective and about how they all got tangled together. 3/5 ES I chose this book because a friend recommended it to me. AG ( )