One of my favorite authors! Fun book with great characters.

My Review is on my blog and here is the link. https://abellafairytale.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/arc-review-coming-up-for-air-hundred-oaks-by-miranda-kenneally/

I love everything by Miranda Kenneally!! This book hit home in particular because of the swimming element. Even though I never competed on such a high level it did give me nice flashbacks to the swim team in high school.

The characters were relatable, the prologue gave me joy, and I loved the overall story.

I was given a free copy via netgalley and this didn't effect my opinion in any way.

Everything Miranda Kenneally writes is pure gold. Coming Up for Air is no exception. So thankful for an author who is writing girl sports books!

Coming up for air by Miranda Kenneally
TITLE: Coming up for air

AUTHOR:Miranda Kenneally

Publishing date: July 1st

Publishing house: sourcebooks fire

This book I received from netgalley & source books fire for an honest review.

Breath in, breath out I can do this. the gun goes off! Splash!!! Just 1-2-3 move arm to swim!! Almost to wall takes a glance to crowd is that a cute guy!!! Nah can't think that just gotta keep swimming beat my old time....

This book is about a girl (Maggie) and all she does is swim night and day since hoping to make the Olympics since she is that good. Only down fall she is in her senior year and has never had a boy friend or even a real kiss so she wants to finally experience that question is to herself how can she do both. Which to say is extremely hard espcially if she only wants to do if comfy. So to help out to learn she asks her best friend to teach her. You can see where this is going wether to even remotely stuff with best friend and prey to god if get along that well is not to make it awkward and ruin what she has with him. Gotta say for a book of sports and romance I really really enjoyed the mix of the two. And things this books shows is competing of swimmers and the first of everything related to guys. It def has its pretty funny moments that some book didn't have like some contemporary's. Only thing that not a down fall to me but some might say is for YA book the details in more hot scenes felt very border line ya and NA. For me not a issue and made me love the book more. So overall no complaints at all amazing book for sports romance and a bit of competition 5/5 stars ~~~~~~JUSTIN

Maggie and Levi were really great characters and I loved seeing the drive, courage and insecurities each of them had. Maggie was funny and her experiences rang true. I only ran into two bits of trouble. The first was when a predictable event happened; although I'm glad isn't wasn't as bad as I was predicting it to be and the second was the epilogue. I know that the characters featured in the epilogue showed up in spots in the book but the switch in perspective was a bit jarring. Perhaps some of that comes from not having read the other books in the series. Having said that, I will recommend this author to the teens in our library.

I was so excited to read this book, as I am a big fan of Miranda Kenneally’s books, and Coming Up for Air did not disappoint. Contemporary YA romance is my go-to genre, and this book just felt so familiar and fun to read. While the book was a bit predictable, what YA romance book isn’t? That’s part of the fun of reading them.

The main character Maggie was so relatable, and I really enjoyed that she wasn’t whiny or overly angsty, like is typical with many teen books. While I know nothing about swimming, I still found the story to be so engaging, and I found myself cheering the characters on. I feel this book is perfect for teens who are looking for a light, quick, teen romance, but also for those who are looking for a sporty contemporary novel.

I really liked that the main character Maggie has healthy attitudes about sex, and relationships. I also really like that the people in her life support her ambitions. I did find the epilogue a bit abrupt or disconnected from the body of the story. Otherwise, I would highly recommend this book for its' healthy portrayal of body image, and relationships.

Miranda kenneally is at it again and doesn't disappoint. Maggie and Levi, like her other characters from 100 oaks, are lovable and relatable. Nobody captures high school experiences and emotions like Miranda. Another great read.

Coming Up for Air (Hundred Oaks)
Miranda Kenneally
Book Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
I was so excited to gain an ARC of this book, and it didn't disappoint. I couldn't put it down.

Maggie's life revolves around swim. Eat, sleep, swim and swim some more. She wants to be one of the best, and that means practice, practice and more practice. She hasn't had time to enjoy the normal high school experience. She decides she needs help from her best friend, so Maggie isn't a complete novice by the time she goes to college. Her best friend is also a swimming champion and doesn't have time for a girlfriend, but he likes to hook up. She gets him to give her a few pointers, but the lines become blurred. Her best friend becomes more, and they become unstable. Can they go back? Is there even a forward solution?

This book has a lot of swimming in it obviously and shows the dedication needed.

I really enjoyed this book. Highly recommended. Thanks, NetGalley. 5 stars out of 5. One to add to the must read pile.


Paperback £10.99, 320 pages
Expected publication: July 1st 2017

~3.7/5~
Nice, easy, and predictable read, although I was a tad bit surprised about Maggie's forwardness and lack of foresight, particularly in endangering her friendship with her BEST FRIEND of all people. I enjoyed reading Coming Up for Air, though I can't say that this is one of those books I'll remember to save my life.

I have to say, I may be somewhat biased toward this book, because, for one, I adored Jordan and Sam, so I had a nice and pleasant surprise when they asked Maggie's parents to plan their wedding and showed up in the epilogue, and two, I'm a semi-competitive swimmer myself, meaning that I found myself relating to the swim aspect of the book more than the actual plot itself, which is disappointing in hindsight because it wasn't even the main focus of the story.

Okay, that sounded kind of harsh, but it was true.

Some character analysis.

Maggie has her heart set on getting some...experience from early on in the book, and I find it sad how she feels the need to do what she does. She's funny at times and pretty immature, but relatable in the aspect that it's hard to stay focused and try to achieve goals that are miles (or milliseconds) away.

Levi is the typical "experienced" player-type guy that manages to show little interest in Maggie in general before screwing up majorly, although they do have a couple of moments.

Their friends as individuals sort of faded into the background, and I don't really remember much of them other than the fact that they were athletic and one had relationship issues.

Sure. Why not.

Don't get me started on Roxy. I really wish her character would've been more developed, but I get that this is focused on Magpie and Leaves, so I'll take it, grudgingly.

Finally, clichés are nice, but I felt as if the book had little depth in terms of the characters and hardly any character development. Coming Up for Air was a teen fiction book. That's it. Nothing particularly special, nothing heart-wrenching, and just light in of itself. Similarly, Miranda Kenneally's writing style is simple, but charming in its own way.


Thank you Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Coming Up for Air.

I have enjoyed all of Kenneally's books and this is no different. I will purchase a copy for my library.

This is not my first time reading one of Miranda Kenneally's books. She kills the game every single time with these books. I've read Catching Jordan, Stealing Parker, Defending Taylor, and Racing Savannah before this one and I've loved every single one. The idea of every one of these novels revolving around the same town/high school is so clever. It makes reading this kind of series so much fun. Every time I recognize a character from a previous book, I get so happy and nostalgic. I especially love this novel because the characters have real life situations to deal with while still having a humor to it. I love how Maggie gets anxiety while driving because I do too. It makes me feel less small and like my anxiety is not something to be ashamed about. This novel also demonstrates a great way of looking at safe and consensual sex which I believe is important since not a lot of young adult novels covers sex like The Hundred Oaks series does. It let's young girls realize that sex is ok and not shameful which is so important. This book is empowering and smart. I highly recommend not only this novel but this series to so many other girls.

I've yet to come across a YA author who writes book boys so well every single time like Miranda Kenneally does! Each one is awesome in his own right, but none of them ever sound the same. (Levi has joined the others on my Kenneally Book Boy Shelf) Neither do the girls.

All of them have been strong, determined, and inspiring in her own right, and I have enjoyed watching them grow and flourish across the series.

I loved the friendship-lovers dynamic between Maggie and Levi; it felt realistic and relateable, The tension was great, too, in AND out of the pool. As were the make-out sessions! I felt Maggie's feelings of insecurity and self-doubt right along with her, and found her determination inspiring.

And that Epilogue is PERFECTION!

This story is so cute! Totally what I needed right now. I love fluffy books and this was definitely a fluffy read :) I love the friendship/relationship of Maggie and Levi, it reminded me of my own boyfriend^^ And it was described very lively and realistic.

This book is a bit predictable, but that didn't bother me at all. That's the reason this book gets 4 stars instead of 5.

If you love contemporaries, I would suggest to read this book!

Cute! It started slow for me and a few parts dragged but then I finished the last 70% in a night. I loved the characters- the strong friendships, the parents, Maggie and Levi together! I also liked how positive this book was at displaying different sorts of high school relationships and feelings. And there is a surprising amount of sexy time :D Def not like NA or anything but I liked how it was handled. I also enjoyed the swimming aspect because I'm a big fan of watching Olympic swimming and have been to a few of my cousin's meets in the past. It was a little corny at times but if you're a fan of the other Hundred Oaks books, you'll enjoy this. Oh I almost forgot LEVI READS THE RAVEN BOYS AT ONE POINT. So cool.

This is the first book by Miranda Kenneally that I've read. I had the Hundred Oaks series in my to-read shelf, so I had to take a peek at this one. I was not disappointed.

The best part of this book is not the friends-to-lovers theme, but the way Maggie values her swimming career as much as her love life, probably more. Such a character is sure to steal people's hearts. Her struggle to ignore what others think of her is something we can all relate to. I was rooting for her, and now I'm rooting for the book's success. I'll surely read the other books soon.

I didn't care for many of the characters in this nearly as much as those in previous books but the humor was spot on. THICK JUICY STEAK DINNER! OMG I think I almost peed a little!

A solid conclusion to the Hundred Oaks series, I appreciated the reinforcement of self-focus and moving at your own pace when it comes to relationships as well as the sex-positive message, especially for teen girls. It did, at times, seem a bit like an after-school special and maybe could have been a bit more nuanced with its message. Overall, though, fans of the series will love it and especially enjoy the epilogue.