Book Review: The Summer List

The Summer List

About the Book:

Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.

But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart… 

Mesmerizing and unforgettable, Amy Mason Doan’s The Summer List is about losing and recapturing the person who understands you best—and the unbreakable bonds of girlhood.

My Comments:

This book follows three timelines and it is easy to see how two of them connect and eventually readers realize how the third relates as well--though my first guess was wrong.  Two of the timelines were dated--one in the present day when Laura and Casey are in their 30's and one in the '90s when they were teens.  The third timeline is in italics.  

As noted above, something happened to tear Casey and Laura apart but Casey has no idea what it is.  Laura just left and never came back.  Casey's mother had a reason for wanting the "girls" back together again and she tricked them into a weekend together, a weekend during which she set up a scavenger hunt for them--similar to the scavenger hunts she used to design for them and their peers when they were in high school.  As they move through the clues they learn the truth about each other, their families and their friends, and, of course, themselves.  

While I found a couple of the situations rather hard to believe, I enjoyed the story and recommend it.  Grade:  B+

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley.