I started reading this and the whole book was just so juvenile. I couldn;t connect with any of the characters and the writing was just not coherent. The cover is also lacking. This deserves a rebrand maybe for a younger age group? Maybe not as I didn't finish and dont know the age rating or full subject matter LMAO

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After spending the summer learning everything about the mysterious Jasmine, Larissa must go back to her life of comfortable friendships, pining over Chase Harding, and working on the weekends. But only when everything starts to shift into her version of the Perfect Senior Year does she realize it might not be what she wants anymore.

At the risk of making this review too personal, I would like to say that, as a 23 year old woman, I don’t often read contemporary novels about high schoolers. The main reason I was interested in this novel is because I never had a book like this when I was coming to understand my own sexuality as a teenager. And, oh man, do I wish I had. There was a line in the novel along the lines of “if being bi means always knowing, well that isn’t me,” that really struck a chord with me. Much like Lara, I assumed that if I hadn’t always known I was interested in women that I must, by default, be straight. And don’t get me wrong, there are definitely people out there who have always known, but everyone has a different story. Lara’s journey to understanding that all queer experiences are unique and vary per person was really impactful. That moment in the novel was validating in all the right ways, and I love knowing that there are teens who will read this book and feel a weight lift from their chests.

I find a lot of media created for high schoolers tends to be quite out of touch and overdramatized, but I thought this novel had a very realistic vibe-- nothing felt too outlandish. I especially liked the way the author examined and discussed Lara’s friendships. So many main characters have these incredibly perfect best friends, but life isn’t always like that. Sometimes you’re friends with people because that’s what’s easy and that’s what you’ve always done-- it doesn’t mean you don’t love them, it’s just a different kind of love born from sticking together for so long. I think almost anyone who grew up in a small-ish town can understand and relate to that in a few ways.

I have seen a few other reviews discussing this, so I know I’m not alone in being a little put off by it, but there were a few little things that I think came off wrong. Mainly the “maybe white, maybe latina” description of a person and the “non-binary-friend” moment. I understand that they were intended to be a casual, nonchalant kind of thing, but unfortunately it didn’t totally come across well.

Overall, I thought this book was really cute and a nice quick read. I love the surge of LGBTQ books in the past year or so and I’m really happy I got the opportunity to check this one out. I wish I’d had a novel like this when I was in high school.

5/5 - Thank you so much to St Martin’s Publishing for a chance to read this book and give an honest review!

I am just, IN LOVE. This book was Sarah Dessen levels of magic for me. Larissa and Jasmine are everything. The setting is so perfect and visual, and even the side characters come to life on the page like you wouldn’t believe. I connected with all of them. You would think this book would be predictable as it kind of starts at the end/middle but, nothing about the characters choices or the plot left me feeling anything but frantic to find out what happens next. Just go read this book.

Great read from Dahlia Adler! Loved the characters, great story, would recommend for YA and crossover readers

Really e joyed this one! I flew through it!
This is a terrific book. I like how the writer deals with the confusing feelings of the characters and the peer pressures of high school. It's done in a sensitive yet realistic way. The book is also entertaining and fun. Enjoyed it. Its very well written!

Lara spent a surprise summer in Outer Banks with her mom, her mom's boss, and his daughter, Jasmine, who became close friends with her. Then school starts and Lara comes back to reality rocking a new haircut and a totally different aura around her. Everyone seems to notice, even Chase, who Lara has had a crush on since forever. Then Jasmine from summer walks in the school doors and everything goes upside down.

Lara is popular at school, has the best friends, and now even Chase, the quarterback of the football team and long-time crush. She has everything but memories of Jasmine keep showing up now that she sees her every day. Why is this happening to her?

Star Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5)

This book was a nice read but also touching as we follow Lara and her journey of figuring out herself and her heart. The confusion she felt must have been real and it was this aspect that I find in this book very true to the real world.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Chase and his sudden interest in Lara. His love towards Lara seemed shallow to me because Chase was only looking on the outside of her but then again, that's what a lot of people do right?

I loved how the book alternates perspectives between Lara's past summer and the present. Overall, Cool for the Summer was a fun, quick read. Lara's mom's acceptance of her and her relationship with Jasmine as it develops was also a great emotional touch.

Chase Harding has been Lara's crush for years. When Chase starts to notice Lara after a life-changing summer, Lara should be thrilled, but Jasmine, who made her summer perfect and may own a piece of her heart, won't stop haunting Lara. Probably because the girl in question just moved to Lara's hometown for the school year and keeps reminding Lara of all she's missing from a summer that she can't forget. Will Lara get the guy or will the girl that got away change all her dreams?

First off, I liked this. The dual timeline of "Then" vs "Now" was great. I liked the contrast between summer Lara and present Lara and the storylines that intersected. Additionally, Lara's journey of self-discovery was done pretty well. Nothing was magically solved. Lara's just trying to figure out who she is. Is she straight or something else? Is she just the girl who's liked Chase Harding for ages?

My main problem is Chase Harding. All the other characters in Lara's orbit had more personality, felt almost multidimensional, and while most of them were based on typical character tropes, the author made them feel unique. Chase is just an All-American football player, the golden boy of the town. He's also a great big brother (although we never see his little sister who's 3 years younger than him, which unless her birthday disqualifies her or she got held back, she should be a freshman because Chase and Lara are seniors), and he's into Lara. I'm just a little disappointed that a book with a ton of nuanced characters let one of the main love interest be under-developed. He has the above three interests, and although he gives a reason for suddenly liking Lara after years of her not-so-subtle crushing, it felt flat.

Lara's friend group on the other hand, had personality. Kiki was my favorite of the friend group. (I kind of hope Kiki gets her own book...). Gia was fun! Shannon annoyed me. The summer friends were also cool. Jasmine was great in the "Then" chapters and an enigma in the "Now" chapters. Lara may have been a little annoying at times, but overall she was a solid main character and narrator.

In conclusion, this book is pretty great and deals with some tough topics (biphobia, sexuality, etc.). It's about Lara's unforgettable summer and what she's going to do after it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books for this e-ARC. I really appreciate the opportunity to read this story.

This had a lot of a promise, but it fell short, The characters and the plot all just felt a bit underdeveloped, and the drama keeping the main couple apart was so, so contrived. But it was a cute, quick read.

This book.... omg this book was SO real! This was the closest portrayal to my own bi experience that I've ever encountered. The story was so beautifully done!

I enjoyed that this explores the fear of admitting things to yourself just as much as to others. I loved that this shut down so many stereotypes too. Most of the stories that have a bi MC have major stereotypes (not being able to choose, being a sex crazed person, eventually deciding what sex you REALLY like, or that you've always known you were bi) and it was so refreshing that I didn't encounter that in this book. I loved watching Lara discover her own truths.

This is one of those books that I'm going to have to own in every format.

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc.

Cool For The Summer fell a little flat for me. I didn’t feel emotionally connected to any of the characters.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Cool for the Summer in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the biggest "is this good or am I just a rep starved queer" moments I've had as a reviewer (and there have been several) and I'm honestly still not sure where I stand. From the beginning of the story, I didn't really like our MC, any of her friends (except Kiki. Give me a whole book about Kiki please), or her two love interests. I was all ready to give this a "good in concept, bad in execution" because of what seemed like a disjointed pace and a few diversity checklist vibes I got from a lot of the character descriptions (I'll specifically note here that in her own review, Adler highlights aroace rep as a secondary plot thing when the aroace character is only mentioned a handful of times. The approach to enby rep also felt a little more heavy handed than natural representation normally feels) but I also found myself inexplicably tearing up when this ended so... I'm a sucker, okay?

This is cheesy and overdramatic and will make you want to shake all the characters but I'm a sucker so I loved it anyways.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book was overall engaging, but I did not feel like I could connect to some of the side characters because they seemed shallow and underdeveloped. I did not like Chase or Shannon much though Larissa was overall a pretty ok character, except for one time where she commented on a nonbinary character ("what do you call it when someone's neither a girlfriend nor boyfriend? a nonbinaryfriend?") that annoyed me. It also annoyed me that everyone's race was specified ("she was white or latina or both") because it felt like just yelling out, SEE! HERE IS DIVERSITY! Which annoyed me. All in all, I did enjoy this book for the most part, and I liked seeing Larissa's journey. Overall this was a pretty fun read. 3.5/5.

A great, quick romance read that felt fast-paced, had great LGBTQ+ rep, and a very nice plot. I liked the characters a lot, although I don’t think Lara should be friends with Shannon (she’s kind of toxic). But the romance is great and the internal struggle on her feelings is well-written and developed. Very good book.

It took awhile for me to get into the story because the characters seemed so shallow: Larissa was too focused on getting Chase and making sure that her bestie Shannon approved of everything - her hair, clothes, etc.; Chase "finally" noticed Larissa because she changed her look; Shannon had to control everything with the friend group. None of them were likeable at first. But the flashbacks gave a truer impression of Larissa's character, and the relationship between Larissa and Jasmine eventually grew on me, although I wish there had been more evidence of their growing attraction. Overall, I appreciated Larissa's journey as she discovered who she really is and learned to stand on her own rather than buoyed up by her friends' expectations.

4 stars.

I was a big fan of the bisexual representation in this book. and without any of the harmful tropes that bisexual people are just greedy or doing it for the attention. I love that this book went deep into how people can grow and that what you think you've always want isn't ACTUALLY what you want.

Lara is a sweet kind girl, with mainly good friends (tbh I didn't like Shannon much as a person- much less as a friend). She has a seriously loving and kind mother and overall a decent life. I love that she GROWS as a person, rather than just being this being some perfect coming out story. Sure some people know they're queer right away - but a lot of people spend a long time questioning it. As Lara says in the story - she didn't know that she could be more than just girls fooling around. And of course I'm a real sucker for an accepting parent scene.

My only issue with this book is where it ended. I like the stylistic choice and the background seemed very apt but I would have loved to see a flashforward of them on graduation or prom day. So that we could see Lara & Jasmine in the happy relationship they deserve.

Find me on: <a href="http://www.instagram.com/yourlocalbookreader">instagram</a>

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lara has been crushing hard on Chase Harding, the high school QB, all throughout high school. But once she finally gets the guy...why can’t she stop thinking about the girl she met over the summer?⠀
⠀
Cool for the Summer is a cute, summery, romance read that explores friendship, love + sexuality. I really liked our main characters + how the storyline jumped back and forth between the new school year and summer. I think this book also sends a lot of positive messages regarding body image + sexuality. ⠀
⠀
There were a few areas i disliked about the story though. A lot of the issues with Lara + Jasmine come from miscommunication. SO much could have been different if they just talked + nothing bothers me more than when conflict is only created from miscommunication. The way the author talked about certain characters also rubbed me the wrong way (“what do you call it when someone’s neither a girlfriend nor boyfriend? a nonbinaryfriend?”) Every character’s race, ethnicity + sexuality was specified even when they were just background characters (“she was white or latina or both” “he was east asian and hot”????) Instead of feeling genuine + authentic, this seemed to serve as a diversity checklist rather than actually being meaningful. I appreciate the attempt to be all inclusive (as all authors should!!!) but I feel as though there were other options on how to go about this.⠀
⠀
Overall, I did like how this book explored self-discovery and discussed how coming out/being gay looks different for everyone. I think a lot of people will relate to Lara’s journey + the confusion she struggles with.⠀
⠀
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review⠀

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my highly anticipated reads for the year. The cover is amazing, and the synopsis seemed up my alley. I honestly did not expect to get the arc, but I was so excited when I did. However, this book did not entirely live up to my expectations.

Dahlia Adler’s Cool for the Summer follows a high school senior named Lara as she attempts to figure out her life and what she wants. After the summer, Lara’s long time crush, Chase Harding, has finally noticed her. She is over the moon about this at first, but Lara cannot stop thinking about how she spent the summer with Jasmine. When Jasmine unexpectedly switches to Lara’s school, the two must navigate their confusing relationship. Lara wants to be happy with her friends and the boy of her dreams, but she cannot forget Jasmine.

I want to start by saying that while this was not a perfect read for me, this book still has very important messages. I really liked Lara’s arc and character development. Her story was a good representation of what it is like to be confused while questioning and figuring out your sexuality. The self-discovery aspect was well done in my opinion. I also appreciated that this was balanced with lighthearted and funny moments.

I also really liked how the author incorporated a past and present timeline. I love when stories are not fully linear. It was really intriguing to see how much Lara has grown in the present timeline because of what happened in the past. It also help build the relationship between Jasmine and Lara.

I did find this book hard to get into because of the writing. It was just not my favorite and took me some time to adjust, but after the beginning, it started to pick up and flow better. It was harder for me to feel invested because most of the characters fell felt. I felt that only Lara was well developed and had a good character arc. While the past timeline shows more of what Jasmine is like, Chase’s character seemed under developed. He started liking Lara out of nowhere, and we did not really learn much about him. I was not a big fan of how the author portrayed Lara’s friendships either. It was almost as if they did not really like each other since most interactions felt passive aggressive.

One of my biggest problems with this book that I want to emphasize is that I found the character descriptions pretty weird. At times, it felt like race and ethnicity of different characters were thrown out in a superficial way. It seemed like the author was just trying to cover her bases and then just did not really mention it again. Representation, diversity, and inclusion are important, but again, it felt superficial in this book. There was a comment about a nonbinary character that felt off too. It seemed like the author was trying to make a joke, but it came across in a negative way.

While I did not necessarily love this book, I still think Cool for the Summer will resonate with a lot of readers. Adler crafts an important narrative about self-discovery and bisexuality. Stories like this can really help teens, and I do wish there were more books like this when I was growing up.

*Content warning: divorce, underage drinking, biphobia, sexual content*

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book before its release on May 11, 2021.

This beautiful little slice of saccharine pie courtesy of author Dahlia Adler came around at just the right time. Not only was I in desperate need of a pick-me-up, which is a lot lately, it also happened to be her birthday so, not one to fight the universe, I dug in.

And while I’ll admit that Cool for the Summer gives off that “Summer Nights” vibe, the comparison to Grease is both obvious and unnecessary. It placates perhaps a mass market with a comparable Greek mythological structure, but in my opinion, lacks that real world aesthetic that Cool for the Summer provides. One is an on the nose fantasy with a goddamn flying chariot; one is not.

And since we’re doing some prep-work, reading the lyrics to “Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato will give you a nice starting point, along with looking at pictures of Outer Banks, North Carolina, two things I did. And it behooves me to tell you it might be worth your time remembering that bit about Demi Lovato.

“…Cool for the Summer is a story of self-discovery and new love. It’s about the things we want and the things we need. And it’s about the people who will let us be who we are.”

Like the summary says, Larissa (Lara) Bogdan spends the summer before her senior year away from her normal life. Away from her normal routine, her normal job, and her normal friends, instead going with her mother to the Outer Banks, or OBX as the locals call it. It’s here she meets the story’s temptress, the enigmatic Jasmine Killary, which is a rad name by the way.

“And then she looks right at me with the closest thing to golden eyes I’ve ever seen.”

For her part, Jasmine is a modern-day demigoddess, a welcome contemporary take on a few tired archetypes who by every measurable standard, has god-like taste in just about everything she CHOOSES. Amongst all her talents and physical attributes, it’s Jasmine’s rogue self-determinative style that Lara finds most attractive. And as they spend more time together, that magical and intangible bit of mystery called true love begins to blossom. This of course only adds to the confusion because Lara is straight…she thinks.

Interlude:

We’re now at the “buy-in” point of the book, because when I say, “true love”, I don’t mean the niceties we accessorize our daily lives with, I mean Princess Bride level true love.

So, if you subscribe to that premise, this blind faith will be your companion the rest of the way though the book, and you’ll be better for it. If you should choose to remain jaded (like I am most of the time), this book might not work for you, not in the way it should.

Back to the story…

So, as all things must do, the summer comes to an end, and with it, the end of Lara and Jasmine’s relationship. There were most definitely some things left unsaid, and Lara isn’t sure where things stand. But most importantly and mostly unbeknownst to her, a transference has occurred, resulting in a metamorphosis.

Jasmine (and OBX) was the catalyst Lara didn’t know she needed, and maybe not to change the course of her life, but definitely make it better. And when her new-self collides with her old-self back in the real world (New York), people take notice, and the laws of attraction go into effect. Lara gets everything she thought she always wanted, including “the guy”. But the already complicated trials and tribulations of high school become more so when a new transfer student shows up to spoil the party, Jasmine.

And as we progress through Lara and her friend’s senior year, she must not only try and keep her summer tryst from them but make sense of this emotion she can’t shake no matter how hard she tries, Jasmine.

At the beginning, when the summer was still fresh in Lara’s mind, it was easy to remember all the little details about Jasmie, her time in OBX. The details that damn Shannon could never know or at least understand! Sorry. And as most of us know, time may kill the pain, but it doesn’t help you forget.

This is where Dahlia breaks up the story in a very natural way with some time jumping, taking us back to the summer periodically when a specific memory is triggered for Lara. This whirlwind of a senior year mixed with a bit of confused bitterness towards Jasmine didn’t cause the amnesia she was maybe hoping for. So, as certain memories come flooding back, it’s almost too much to take, and Lara is on the cusp of ruining everything she thought she wanted.

“I’ve never seen someone find so much beauty in everything.”

These are the book’s finest moments, as we are immersed in what will probably be the greatest summer of Lara’s life, of either of their lives. Heck, it’s probably the greatest summer of my life. And don’t look for epic, this isn’t that. Instead look for a series of small but meaningful gestures of kindness, reassurances from a loving hand on our skin, of soft-spoken secrets, and offers of comfort.

It’s not public proclamations of status and love or being the consort to the reigning king of the school, all which come with perks of course, but those are just wish fulfillment. Because all they did was make her relationship with Chase Harding a spectator sport, and that includes those most private and intimate of moments.

You see, in the classic literary sense, Lara’s life was a tragedy. One that was lost in routine and constancy, one that was drowning in expectation and convention, she just didn’t know it. These of course aren’t the worse things that can happen to a person, but we hopefully know enough now to understand that cages take many forms. And while for some that’s a life worth living, if I may borrow a line from Dahlia, a good story doesn’t mean it’s the right story. And it’s not for Lara, not anymore. Because she’s felt something nearly indescribable, something that can’t necessarily be explained away or fixed with a tiara, something that feels like freedom.

“You’re gonna do amazing things, Tinkerbell.”

This is why Jasmine is the hero of Lara’s story, she literally saves her from a life of arm candy and triviality. She accomplishes this by showing her the beauty in all things, by offering subtle words of encouragement, and by being brave. Brave enough to show up to a Clementine Walker event with a broken heart, brave enough to make a fool of herself in front of the whole school, and brave enough to be honest in a society that doesn’t always welcome honesty.

And sure, this book has grand gestures, moments of teenage crisis and cis-het euphoria, ones that would make John Hughes jealous. But Jasmine isn’t built that way, she’s not Chase Harding, who for all intents and purposes has been blessed with the body of Apollo and the soul of a Labrador Retriever. And I should take a moment here to point out, Chase seems like an okay dude, he’s at least no villain. No, the villains were those guys on the outside of the bedroom door, you’ll understand when you read it.

No, Jasmine is Aglaea and Orpheus rolled into one, embracing both the beauty and grace of Algaea, and the courage and stick-to-itiveness of Orpheus. Don’t believe me? You will when you get to the party/karaoke scene.

Now, I’m not saying Jasmine used her singing ability to try and win back Lara from Chase in front of the entire student body at a teenagers’ most important social event, a hot and sweaty house party where you can make or break your high school career…but…Orpheus used his incredible music ability to charm the boatman Charon into giving him a ferry ride across the river Styx so he could enter Hades and bring the love of his life, Eurydice, back from the dead.

And speaking of karaoke and the power of song, specifically words, sometimes words do absolutely fucking matter. And sometimes the ostensibly simple act of changing one word in a lyric can change the world. Just ask Demi Lovato, and just ask Lara.

I suspect Cool for the Summer will land with either a thud or with the roar of a high-school football game. You will either recognize Dahlia’s beats and rhythms as just another YA romance book, or if you’re like me, feel the magic that is sometimes better expressed with a bad rendition of a pop song than breaking a high-school football record.

As for the language and pace of the book, both were perfectly fine for me. Like I said, the time jumps were the most enjoyable aspects of the book, so they didn’t bother me whatsoever. Aside from themes, I wouldn’t hold Cool for the Summer up to any type of particular standard or scrutiny, so I’m not sure why anyone else would either. It’s a contemporary YA romance book, and Dahlia is a good writer, period.

And the way high-school kids talk to each other about their bodies, what they wear, and orientation in general isn’t a language that’s neither perfected nor even entirely understood by most people. So, how certain people are referred to and the discussion surrounding labels, seemed perfectly in line with a lot of the conversation happening today.

Either way, with the world falling apart, it's nice to know true believers still exist and that all Greek tragedy love stories don’t end in death.

Thank you, Dahlia.

i wanted to like this one, but lgbtqia is just not my style. i'm sick of it being shoved down our throats. sorry. not sorry. thanks netgalley. but no thanks.

ARC provided by Netgalley.

I was really excited to read this book and I was so happy when my request got approved but I think my expectations were probably too high.
I really have mixed feelings towards this book, there are great things about it and things I didn't really enjoy
We got two time lines in the story, the past (Lara's summer) and the present (when she's in high school) ; I really appreciate it, it brings a lovely dynamic to the story and also I loved all the flashbacks.
I wasnt a big fan of the love triangle especially because I didn't like Chase.
There is a good lgbt representation in the book but I wish we could have see more of Lara questioning her sexuality to make it complete.
Overall, it's wasn't a bad story but I wish I had more. The ending was something I liked a lot it made me really happy.