Book: Since You've Been Gone.
Author: Morgan Matson
Pages: 449
How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 day.
Read On: My Kindle
Plot Summary: The Pre-Sloane Emily didn't go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn't do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just... disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try... unless they could lead back to her best friend. Apple Picking at Night? Ok, easy enough.Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a Stranger? Wait... what?
Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?
Go Skinny Dipping? Um..
General Thoughts: Another book with crazy buzz and hype. Everyone was touting this as the perfect summer read. Last month, I read a bunch of really heavy/sad books and when I heard of this book I decided to get this on my Kindle for a quick summer read.
Sadly, this book made me very, very mad!
Things I Liked:
1. The writing was good, satisfactory and pleasant.
2. The plot and premise was interesting.
3. I do like books with lists in them.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. I am a little sick of painfully shy girls in fiction. So painfully shy but wants more friends, wants more adventures, so painfully shy that she can't string a few words together...just so damn painfully shy. Emily is one such girl. So freaking painfully shy.
2. The whole manic/clinical dependence on Sloan was just....a little too creepy. I get BFFs and how close and all-consuming some teenage friendships can be..but this level of falling apart...was just abnormal and weird and strange and slightly over-done.
3. The list itself was a whole lot of dumb. How does kissing a stranger, hugging a Jamie or skinny dipping make your life better? How do any of these inane things make a painfully shy girl come out of her shell? Only in this book does a list cure someone of her shyness over one meaningful summer! Gah!!!!
4. Emily does little to actually try and find her friend. She thinks doing everything on the list will magically make Sloane come back! Really?! How?
5. The reason behind Sloane's disappearance was a bit obvious...
Review: For some reason this book made me verrrrrry mad. I don't know if I was just having one of those days but something about this book just really irked me. This is not a bad book...but like I said I am so sick of shy, wallflower protagonists, who snap out of it conveniently and make love connections. Really shy people don't work this way. People crippled with real social anxieties don't have it so easy.
I am sure loads of people will like this book...if you are looking for a light summer read and are willing to let a few things slide.
Rating: 2/5
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