ARC Review: How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
24April 11, 2013 by Alice in Readerland
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…
Special thanks to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for letting me read an ARC of this title! How My Summer Went Up in Flames will be avalible in stores May 7th, 2013.
Publication on May 7th, by Simon Pulse/ISBN: 1442459409
Rosie isn’t normally the kind if girl who starts off her summer vacation being served a temporary restraining order, but that changed after she allegedly made her ex’s car catch fire.
Lighter fluid and stuffed animals aren’t a great combination.
She also tosses away a few assumptions made about her in the first chapter: The car didn’t “explode”, it just caught fire. She doesn’t have a “bad temper,” she’s just passionate. And she’s not “hostile,” just a bit high strung lately. But Rosie’s in for another ride: literally. Her parent’s are sending her off on a nine-day road trip with her long-time friend and his two friends AKA three nerds. After all, how much trouble could Rosie get into with a GPS in her phone, miles between her and her ex, and being babysat by three responsible nerds who insist on sticking to the schedule (when they’re not discussing superheroes or dissecting all six Star Wars episodes)? But after all, this is Rosie we’re talking about, and she seems to have a knack for making things interesting…
Since I read this book back in November, I couldn’t stop talking about it, this book is just so much fun! First of all, I adore road trip books and this book had so many interesting locations and conversations that took place while driving that it really felt like you were on a road trip when you read it. This book also has so much humor in it. Seriously, if I didn’t have the ARC, I would be posting a whole list of quotes from it! Rosie has such a fresh, funny, sarcastic, and opinionated voice that gave this book such a great narration. All the other characters add so much to the book with their personalities. There’s just so much fun dialogue as you watch Rosie try to get along (or not) with Matty, Spencer, and Logan; their personalities clashing with each other definitely made for some great scenes, and then it was cute to see them all finally get along. I also like how Avery’s character was portrayed. While Rosie initially couldn’t help but see the rich, adorable blonde as the “competition,” they became friends and Avery was shown to be really sweet and supportive. It was really refreshing not to see any pettiness between the two, as a lot of YA novels I’ve read lately will have the two girls in a group fight, not stick together.
Cynical Cindy Says
I rolled my eyes quite a few times because I couldn’t understand why Rosie did some of the things she did. But, overall, Rosie was still a great character who accepted the consequences of her actions and grew up over the course of the book.
With road trip fun, great characters, and lots of laughs, I highly recommend this book!
4 out of 5 teacups
Alice in Readerland 
I need to read more contemporary..I know I keep saying that and I will! LOL
Thanks for stopping by & commenting! :)
I just saw this as someone’s WoW yesterday, and from the description alone I didn’t think it was for me… I don’t normally read contemporaries. But I have to say, your review totally changed my mind. This sounds so good! Will definitely look for it when it comes out. :D
Thanks, that’s one of the best complements anyone can get on their review! :) I hope you love it when you you read it!
This book sounds so cute and I love that cover! Her outfit is so cute! I think I’m going to have to pick this one up when it comes out, thanks to your great review!
I adore the cover too! :) Aw, thanks, I hope you love it!
I’m really excited to read it! I wasn’t too sure on it at first, but as I read more and more reviews, I keep thinking it will be even better :) Lovely review!
I hope you love it when you read it! :)
Sounds like a lot of fun, I’ll have to pick this up in the summer :)
I hope you love it! :)
OOH I’m really intrigued now that you just said that Rosie was opinionated and really witty and sarcastic. I absolutely LOVE characters like that, and I’ve had mixed luck with road trip books, so I hope this is in the better category of the ones I’ve read.
Glad you enjoyed this one!
I hope you love it when you read it! :)
I’m glad you enjoyed this! I’ve been looking forward to it for a while now, I’m definitely eager to get my hands on it. Great review, it was really helpful! :)
I hope you love it when you read it! :) I’m looking forward to your review!
Is it strange that when I saw this cover I felt like I could smell gasoline. I am so weird. Lovely review, I am totally adding this to my pool/beach pile for the summer.
This would make a fabulous pool or beach read! :) I hope you love it!
This sounds GREAT! I’ve been dying to read it and even more so when I saw how you have recommended this…and now even more so after your review :) It sounds like a cute and hilarious book…you can’t really fail with road trips, I think. Rosie might evoke some eye rolling, but she sounds great as well. Love the review, Alice!
I love road trips! :) I really couldn’t understand some of the decisions Rosie made, but she grew by the end of the novel and was still a great lead! :)
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I can’t wait for my library to get this book. Oh, man. It’s one of my most anticipated debuts of 2013. It sounds even better than I was expecting. Your review has just made me more excited. !!!
Thanks, I can’t stop recommending this one! :)
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