Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate

Beach Blondes

Author: Katherine Applegate Publisher: Simon Pulse Published: May 6th 2008 Goodreads // Book Depository
Synopsis:  Summer Smith is in for the best summer of her life. Between the cold weather and her boyfriendless existence in Minnesota, Summer is ready for sun, sand and boys in the Florida Keys. And by the end of the first day, she has more than enough to keep her busy: Adam, the senator's son, has looks, power and all the money in the world. Diver, the mystery man, is mellow, intriguing, and definitely unique. And Seth, the perfect guy... only he has a girlfriend. But with new friends, cute guys and miles of hot white sand, Summer's in for more trouble than she thinks. 

I really enjoyed this book, it got me in the mood for Summer (despite it Autumn in Australia right now) and got me out of a massive reading slump. If you're into kinda cliche summer novels with a few surprising plot twists, definitely check out this book. 
Spoilers ahead, so if you plan on reading this book but you don't wanna know what happened, leave now! 
This book surprised me, I didn't expect to like it as much as. I had mixed feelings by the end. There were a few kind of predictable twists in the story line but I was on the right track every time I took a guess at what would happen next. I like books that surprise me, but I didn't really expect this one to, so I was pleased by the mild plot twists I wasn't able to guess. 
The character development was lacking a lot for me, I feel like none of the characters grew, except for Diana. I don't think Summer herself learnt a lot or overcame anything apart from having to choose between 3 guys. The rape storyline with Diana was one that I think helped progress the story more than anything. Diana had more character development than all of the other characters combined. 
I also feel like the ending was very rushed, everything was wrapped up very quickly. We find out that Diver is her brother in the second last chapter, and I definitely would have liked more of their relationship. This was hinted at earlier in the book when Diana finds all of the clothes she, Summer and Marquez had bought him, along with the deflated red ball. We get a quick conversation between the two and then Summer's off trying to get Seth back.
The ending with Seth was rushed. The fact that within 5 minutes of getting on that plane, Seth had forgiven her after she cheated on him is extremely unlikely. I definitely think more time should have been spent on this part of the story.
Overall I really did enjoy this book, it got me out of a massive reading slump (having not read a book since the start of March). I'm surprised I managed to get through it, being over 700 pages. I will be reading the next book whenever I can purchase it, I'd like to see how the story progresses and hopefully how Summer goes about introducing Diver back into the family.
Final Rating:

I hope you enjoyed this book review! More to come soon! 

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