I would like to start off by saying this book made me feel so much anxiety it isn't even funny. (Ok maybe it is a little) I never knew I could get second hand anxiety from a book character. Anise is such a realistic hand flawed character I stressed, worried and enjoyed right along with her. Now I can see people going one of two ways with her.

1. She's a shitty friend and daughter and very selfish.
OR
2. She is a girl who was forced out of her comfort zone over and over again and although she does some shitty things it's obvious she is trying the best she can and learns from her mistakes.

I fell in the second category naturally but for the first few chapters I was extremely tempted to place her in the first one. Anise is used to being the best surfer in her close-knit group of friends. All she knows is Santa Cruz, surfing and her friends. She has never traveled out of the state of California and her trips out of her home town were less than a handful. She has her eyes set on going to a local university and living at home. For all intents and purposes she is grounded and comforted by the familiar. That is until she is forced on an airplane for the first time and sent off to middle-of-nowhere Nebraska to help take care of her younger cousins after their mother is in a near fatal car accident. There is no ocean in Nebraska. There are no friends. There is only scorching heat and an overwhelming urge to run for California at the first chance. Here is where things get a bit tricky. Anise cops an attitude the first few days there, while simultaneously trying to come to terms with the fact that she DOES want to help her family. Just in the comfort of California. Near the beach and her friends. Doing what she wants. (Insert me getting pretty annoyed with Main Character.)

Anise has plenty of problems and zero coping skills to handle them. Case in point her mother that is as flighty as they come. She's a free spirit and always on the run for some new adventure and Anise worries she will become just like her, leaving everyone she loves behind. Pair that with her newfound social awkwardness around people she does not know and she seems to be barely treading water in the new state.

Enter Lincoln. Lincoln was the love interest I've always wanted to see. He is forward, sociable, polite, handsome, and extremely talented. The best part? He's diverse but not in a way that the author just changed his skin color to suite the need for more diversity. Who he is, is very important and I really enjoyed that.

Without really giving anything else away I enjoyed this book and how REAL it felt. The anxiety, the self-distancing that some of us do instead of facing the issues head on. It was all so well done and the ending was although not concrete it was a good conclusion.

Full review will be published on my blog closer to publication date.

Excellent coming-of-age story that deals with loss, abandonment, courage to go on, etc. I loved everything about it, especially the Lincoln character and will definitely recommend this book to others!

4.5 stars. Fantastic debut. This is the perfect "summer read", and it certainly took my mind off the bitter January cold! It's a beautiful story of a girl learning to face new things, be there for her family, and navigate changing relationships. The contrast in setting between Santa Cruz and Nebraska was also really interesting.

This was a story about a complicated family, and I'm so glad to see that represented in YA, instead of a romance focus. The romance that was included was subtle, but it still really delivered. Lincoln was a perfectly-dreamy book boyfriend.

And I also just love sports in YA and stories about girl athletes! I've never surfed or skateboarded but it was fun to learn about.

My only complaint is that it ended a little abruptly. I'd love an epilogue about where Anise ends up! But I'll admit that sometimes it's more fun to imagine.

This was so poignant and wonderfully written. Laura Silverman is so talented, and I hope I get to read more from her in the future!

More thoughts potentially to come closer to publication.

I loved that this book was, at it's heart, about family and what it means. Anise could be completely bratty and self-centered at times, but when it really came down to it she was there for her family. I also really appreciated the fact that her mom never showed up in the book. I think that would have been too cliché and unrealistic, but even though she never came, I like that we got to see Anise sort out her relationship with her mother and come to terms with it in some ways. I also really liked the attention shown to the importance of friendships and being there for people, even when it's not the easiest choice to make.

The romance was absolutely adorable and Lincoln is one of the best characters I have read in a contemporary YA novel. I loved his attitude and the way he took on life and while she definitely grew from the short time she knew him in this novel, I feel like she will become even better of a person for having him in her life.

Beautiful coming-of-age story and one that should be judged on its own merits, not the horrible online campaign against the author during last year's election. Will be purchasing for sure.

In Girl Out of Water, Anise Sawyer finds her final summer before college interrupted when her aunt is in a devastating car accident, which forces her and her dad to make their way to Nebraska to take care of her cousins. Stuck in the triply landlocked state, with three restless cousins, Anise discovers the local skate park and also the charming, one-armed, Lincoln, where she swaps her surfboard for a skateboard.

As someone who isn’t a big YA contemporary reader, I really enjoyed Girl Out of Water. I don’t really know how to describe it. But it was quite peaceful, in comparison, to the other books I’ve been reading. What we have is a heart-warming coming of age novel. Anise thinks she has it all sorted out, but when everything slowly falls apart, she has to take a step back. The more time she spends away from Santa Cruz, away from the sea and her friends, the more she starts to worry that she will become like her mother, who disappears for months on end. Girl Out of Water is Anise realising that, essentially, change has to come and that she doesn’t have to forget the friends she loves and the memories she has in order to make new ones. So the plot isn’t overly dramatic, but it is well-developed. Silverman’s characters were witty, hilarious and diverse. The punchy dialogue and style of writing really reminds me of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything

Girl Out of Water is a story of first love, relationships, loss and change. I have no doubt that this will top the bestseller lists once it’s released. Its decent plot and cast of fun characters make me excited to see what else Laura Silverman will publish in the future.