Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord
Release Date: April 14, 2014
Publisher: Walker Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal Copy
Review by: Jenn

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

3 stars out of 5 stars

Here's the thing, I really want to like Emery Lord's book because I feel like everybody loves her and her books. But when I read When We Collided, it wasn't love at first chapter. I decided to forget about it because it happen sometimes. So I went in with high hopes to fall in love with Open Road Summer. And I did. For certain parts.

For the first few chapters, I was hooked on the story line and on Reagan and Dee's friendship. But then I started to dislike Reagan. She's mean and bitchy and judgmental. I excused it when I first saw a glimpse of her personality and once I learned about her mother abandoning by her dealing with high school bullies. She hates other girls for dressing with low cut tops and flirting over top with boys, all the while she did the same thing. I figured it would be addressed later on and/or she would come around and realized how she was acting. But I didn't see any growth from her. Even towards the end, I didn't feel like there was any character growth. As much as I didn't like When We Collided, Emery did write Vivi in a way that she realized that she screwed and that she needed to fix things. In Open Road Summer, I didn't get that from Reagan.

Aside from my dislike of Reagan, I really enjoyed the friendship she shares with Dee. I love that Emery wrote such strong female friendship and that Dee isn't on the back burner, only to come out to give her friend perspective or be in a filler chapter. I honestly haven't seen such friendship like his since the sisterhood of the traveling pants books. Also, I really loved the music portion of the book. I thought it was really creative and unique.

With this being my second Emery Lord book, and still not falling in love with her work, I have to admit I'm a little hesitant to pick up another of her books. I think I'll give her one more try and if it doesn't work, then that'll have to be it.

Review: When We Collided by Emery Lord

When We Collided
Author: Emery Lord
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children
Source: ALA AC 2015
Review by: Jenn

Meet Vivi and Jonah: A girl and a boy whose love has the power save or destroy them.

Vivi and Jonah couldn't be more different. Vivi craves anything joyful or beautiful that life can offer. Jonah has been burdened by responsibility for his family ever since his father died. As summer begins, Jonah resigns himself to another season of getting by. Then Vivi arrives, and suddenly life seems brighter and better. Jonah is the perfect project for Vivi, and things finally feel right for Jonah. Their love is the answer to everything. But soon Vivi's zest for life falters, as her adventurousness becomes true danger-seeking. Jonah tries to keep her safe, but there's something important Vivi hasn't told him.

2.5 stars out of 5 stars

I'm not sure how I feel about this book and in turn how to review it. I read When We Collided almost three months ago and I've been struggling to put into words how I feel about it. I thought it was good and I enjoyed it but I couldn't click and love it.

As my first Emery Lord book, I really enjoyed her writing style. Her descriptions and way with words really made the book stand out. I can vividly picture these characters in my head, especially Vivi with all her energy and quest for living life. However, my problem comes in the form of Vivi.

Three months later and I'm still on the fence about how I feel about Vivi. Knowing that the book deals with mental illness, I started reading prepared for characters that are a bit different from me. I have a psychology degree and worked in a psychiatric and psychotherapy office for almost ten years so I've seen patients and read about the kinds of stuff that happens in this book. I even figured out the diagnoses of the character before hitting the halfway mark because I'm so aware of it. But even going in prepared, Vivi's character was just too much for me. Wait, let me explain before what I say gets taken out of context and proportion. Vivi was too much for me prior to her decent to her episode and prior to realizing her diagnosis, what with her exuberant self and just the way she is. I wanted to hide from her because my shy self would never be able to keep up with her loud and vivacious self. Also, there were scenes that really turned me off of her character. The way she treated her mom and Jonah really bothered me and those scenes had nothing to do with her illness but more with her being selfish and inconsiderate.

What I did like from When We Collided was the way Lord wrote about mental illness. It such a delicate subject and I feel like she did a great job in portraying the denial and anger that comes from Vivi's diagnosis. And while I don't have the disorder, the episode Vivi's experiences felt real, honest, scary and dangerous.

I also enjoyed Jonah's story. The poor boy is dealing with a lot in the home front and Vivi helps him in getting out of the house and out of his head. His character is a lot quieter and Vivi gives his life a splash of color that was missing. However, because Vivi is such a bigger than life character, his story sometimes got pushed back to give way to her and her needs, even if the book is in dual point of views.

As my first Emery Lord book, I'm a little disappointed I didn't love it because I've heard nothing but wonderful things about her and her books. Like I mentioned before, I really wanted to love it but I just couldn't click with the book. I'm still going to go back and read Lord's previous books because her writing is beautiful and I need to find a book I love from her.