Review: How My Summer Went Up in Flames

Title: How My Summer Went Up in Flames

Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Genre: Contemporary 

Pages: 307

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: May 7th 2013

“I cover my eyes with both hands. I think I'm either going to vomit or cry. At the moment, I can't decide which would make me feel better. I part my fingers to look at Matty. "It was only a few emails and texts."
"A few?"
"And maybe I showed up at ShopRite once or twice when he was getting off work.
"Good way to keep busy after a breakup. Hoping incarceration would fill those empty hours?" Matty says.” 
― Jennifer Salvato Doktorski, How My Summer Went Up in Flames

Review:

How My Summer Went Up in Flames follows the story of Rosie. Rosie's ex-boyfriend, Joey has just recently cheated on her and when she sees him with his new bimbo girlfriend she goes and lights a box of all the things he's ever given her on his driveway but his car by accident goes up in flames in the process. Before she knows it Rosie is given a temporary restraining order from Joey and to keep her out of trouble her parents send her on a road trip with their next door neighbor, Matty and his two friends Spencer and Logan. Rosie sets off on the road and she soon realizes this trip might not be as bad as she though it was going to be.

How My Summer Went Up in Flames was a fun summer read but that was all it was. It was enjoyable, funny, and a great teen girl summer read. There was nothing very special about it though. I was hoping for this to be a stand out summer read from the interesting and unique synopsis on the back cover, I mean what other book has a girl getting a restraining order for almost blowing up her ex boyfriends car, sadly it didn't pull through for me though. It was still a funny summer read though and I would suggest it as a vacation read for a teen girl who likes road trip themed novels.

The best part of the book was the characters and their chemistry, especially the four who went on the road trip together. The three guys always were sarcastically funny with Rosie and by the end of the trip they all genuinely cared about each other. These four characters worked very well together and it made the road trip aspect of the book work better. The authors writing in this book was good too. Her writing was rather funny a lot of the time but she was also able to incorporate heartfelt moments into the theme of the book too and I enjoyed that through out the book. 

Overall it was good book, it just didn't completely my hook me for some reason. I feel like the author got me really excited for the book through the blurb on the book but then did not run with the unique parts of the story enough and it just turned out to be another regular road trip book.

How My Summer Went Up in Flames is a funny book with great characters and is a good book to take on a vacation

About the Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

In addition to writing for teens, I’m a freelance writer who has written articles and essays for national publications including, Cosmopolitan. I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer even though I often referred to my college major in English as “PreLaw” because it held the promise that I might actually find work someday.

As it turns out, I did find work. My first paid writing gig was as an editorial assistant for the North Jersey Herald & News, where, in addition to developing a life-long passion for coffee and news, I wrote obituaries for eight months. I’ve also worked as a speech writer, bank teller, ghostwriter, bookkeeper in a lampshade factory, pet shop clerk, and music zine editor.

Check out more bout her and her books here

Summary from Goodreads

First she lost her heart. Then she lost her mind. And now she’s on a road trip to win back her ex. This debut novel’s packed with drama and romance!

Rosie’s always been impulsive. She didn’t intend to set her cheating ex-boyfriend’s car on fire. And she never thought her attempts to make amends could be considered stalking. So when she’s served with a temporary restraining order on the first day of summer vacation, she’s heartbroken—and furious.

To put distance between Rosie and her ex, Rosie’s parents send her on a cross-country road trip with responsible, reliable neighbor Matty and his two friends. Forget freedom of the road, Rosie wants to hitchhike home and win back her ex. But her determination starts to dwindle with each passing mile. Because Rosie’s spark of anger? It may have just ignited a romance with someone new…