Tuesday, March 13, 2012

How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

HOW TO RUIN A SUMMER VACATION:
Published: October 8, 2006
Publisher: Flux
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 234 pages
Series: Ruined, Book One


Going to Israel with her estranged Israeli father is the last thing Amy wants to do this summer. She’s got a serious grudge against her dad, a.k.a. “Sperm Donor,” for showing up so rarely in her life. Now he’s dragging her to a war zone to meet a family she’s never known, where she’ll probably be drafted into the army. At the very least, she’ll be stuck in a house with no AC and only one bathroom for seven people all summer—no best friend, no boyfriend, no shopping, no cell phone… 
Goodbye pride—hello Israel.

Simone Elkeles is a master romance teller. I mean, come on: the Perfect Chemistry trilogy? Enough said. Unfortunately, I didn't get what I was hoping for from this novel.
The romance in this novel was great, as they always are in Simone Elkeles' books. She has this way that entices the reader to being drawn to the characters and watch their love escalate from the ground. I was interested in watching Amy and Avi's love bloom and Simone Elkeles did a fantastic job in the romance part of this book.
But the main character Amy drove me up the wall. I'm not sure why, but Amy and I just didn't click. I found her a bit annoying and non-trustful. I did like how Simone Elkeles did put foreign language in the book. I found it fascinating and just purely fun.
And as always, Simone Elkeles has a perfect writing style. She weaves and crafts out love stories into a perfect form that keeps the reader intrigued and mesmerized by the relationship in the story.
Overall, this novel was a good romance novel, but Amy's character was flat and boring to me.
My Rating:


1 comment:

  1. I started with the Fuentes brothers and moved back to this series. I have to say, although I gave the other books a higher rating I probably enjoyed this trilogy more. There was just something about these books that was so precious to me. I don;t think I could highly recommend a series more than this one. I absolutely loved every character... all of them played such an important role! I just wish I could find out more about Amy and Avi. I am hoping the author someday adds more to this series!

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