Title: The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood

Pages: 320

Genres: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Published by: Sourcebooks Fire (June 5th, 2018)

Summary

One summer will challenge everything the Garrett sisters thought they knew about themselves—and each other.

Kat lands the lead in the community theater’s summer play, but the drama spills offstage when her ex and his new girlfriend are cast too. Can she get revenge by staging a new romance of her own?

Bea and her boyfriend are heading off to college together in the fall, just like they planned when they started dating. But Bea isn’t sure she wants the same things as when she was thirteen…

Vi has a crush on the girl next door. It makes her happy and nervous, but Cece has a boyfriend…so it’s not like her feelings could ever be reciprocated, right?

As the oldest, Des shoulders a lot of responsibility for her family and their independent bookstore. Except it’s hard to dream big when she’s so busy taking care of everyone else.

What I Thought

I saw this book at Target and was instantly intrigued!  Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood has been on my TBR for years now, and so when I saw another one of her books, I was very curious.  After reading the back, I just knew The Last Summer of the Garret Girls was going to be a fun summer read, and had to check it out!

This book was so fun to read!  Being that I have three sisters, I love books that feature similar family dynamics.  I found The Last Summer of the Garret Girls to be super relatable in that aspect.  I loved reading about the sisterly bonds that all four girls shared, as well as the struggles that inevitably also go along with that.  I felt that the relationships that each of them shared with each other were so honest and true to life.

Each girl, individually, was also really great to read about.  Each chapter alternates between one of the four girls, and so it allows the reader to get a really great glimpse into each of the girls’ lives.

While I actually enjoyed reading each of the girls’ perspectives, my favorite two were Kat’s and Vi’s.  I loved the banter between Kat and Mason, and also her can-do attitude…also the cat cafe.  I also loved how bookish Vi was.  She was always off reading or thinking about books, and I found her to be such a sweet and relatable character.  That being said, I still did really enjoy Des and Bea’s perspectives as well.  I will say, it did bother me a bit how a certain situation regarding Bea and someone else played out, however.  I felt it was a bit tacky on Bea’s part.  That being said, I get people make mistakes, I just, personally, wish the author hadn’t gone down that certain route.

Another little detail I loved about this book was the girls’ clothes!  They always had such bookish and creative clothing on, and I absolutely loved that!  I want all their wardrobes, please.

There was also so much diversity in this novel!  There’s a lot of different representation in this novel, and it was really well done.  I’ve seen a lot of people compare The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls to a more diverse Gilmore Girls meets Little Women, and I totally see it.  While, I admit, this book is not going to be a long-remembered, well-loved classic, it still features true-to-life sisterly relationships, as well as deals with the struggles and excitements of growing up and finding yourself.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable and quick read.  This book is filled with that great small-town, summertime vibe, and I loved it!  If you love YA contemporary and you’re looking for one last summer-y novel to squeeze in this season, I would definitely recommend The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls.