Review: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

June 5th, 2012 ∙ Poppy

Source: Purchased
Format: Hardback

Page Count: 304

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

Review:

When I first heard Kody had a new book releasing I was excited and after reading A Midsummer’s Nightmare I am pleased to say that it doesn’t disappoint!

Kody has written yet another splendid novel full of swoon and doesn’t disappoint with her newest male lead. Introducing Nathan, Whitley’s one night stand and soon to be stepbrother. Cue drama! I can understand why some people might find it hard to accept it but I personally didn’t have a problem with it. Sure it’s awkward but it’s not like she did it on purpose. You can’t help who you fall in love with and that certainly applies in this case.

Whitley acts up – a lot. She parties, she drinks and whilst I didn’t necessity approve of her behaviour and decisions, I understand why she did; it was her way of coping. Although it does take her awhile to get it together she eventually does. If you’re looking for some great character building you’ve come to the right place!

I love everything about Nathan. He’s caring, sweet, supportive and not to mention hot, but more than that, he never gave up on Whitley. Bailey is such a cute, fun, sweet sister; I really enjoyed her role throughout the book. 

Kody has out done herself. This book deals with a lot of things and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s about family; growing and finding yourself and becoming the person you want to be; meeting your problems and fears face on; taking control; dropping your guard and letting people in rather than shutting them out. And yet Kody does it in such a subtle way that she touches on all these issues without overdoing it and trying too hard. It’s impressive. This isn’t a dark or gritty contemporary, there’s still plenty of laughter, wit, smiles and fun amongst these pages for sure, but it does have a bit more depth than her previous two books.

If you’re a fan of Kody’s work or love a good contemporary, this book is for you!

4.5/5