I was given an ARC, by NetGalley, of Girl Out of Water in exchange for an honest review.

At the heart of this story is a need for its main character--Anise--to learn how to grips with her abandonment issues, and all that those issues entail.

Anise's mother is a free spirit who, for reasons related to her own relationships, has basically disappeared from her daughter's life. While Anise has learned to cope with this loss (without actually dealing with it), she's still uncomfortable with the possibility that she's forever broken .

An impromptu trip to Nebraska--spurred by a need to help her mother's sister--sets Anise on a journey of discovery. Within that journey, she finally is able to grow and accept the loss of her mother's presence, while also understanding that that absence does not mean she is personally incapable of having healthy relationships in her own life.

End of the day, Anise had a lot of growing up to do and, luckily for her, she was able to do so with the support and love of those around her.

If you are looking for a fun summer contemporary that will have you racing for the beach and the warm sand, Girl out of Water is probably one of the best reads that will definitely perk up your summer days!

Anise has lived her whole life on a sunny beach in California, where she grew up with her dad and her friends, including Eric, the guy she recently has realized that she has feelings for. She’s spent years surfing, and is really good at it, too – in fact, it’s her favorite thing in the world. She loves waking up to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the seagulls circling overhead, and then putting on her wetsuit and running out to greet the day with some morning surfing.

So when she hears that her summer vacation isn’t going to be what she expected – tons of time with her friends, who would be going off to colleges and boot camp, plenty of amazing surf time, and Surf Break – a massive beach party and concert – at the end of the summer, she didn’t know how to react. Her aunt Jackie had been in a bad car accident that left her in the hospital and unable to walk for the summer, meaning someone would need to be at her house and help care for her and Anise’s three cousins. The only problem? They live in Nebraska.

“A few hours ago, I was on the beach with my friends – surfing, talking, kissing Eric, and now I’m here, on a plane, taking me away from all of it.”

Needless to say, Anise feels a bit resentful – after all, she loves her family, but this is her last summer to spend with her friends on the beach, surfing, relaxing, and enjoying herself, and maybe taking things to relationship level with Eric.

As the weeks pass and Anise finds herself almost the sole caretaker of the three cousins- two nine year old twin boys and a twelve year old girl, she finds herself drifting away from her friends back home. There is no beach in Nebraska, so Anise has been going to the park with the kids and spending time at home, avoiding her social media accounts as well, so she doesn’t see her friends having fun without her.

Then she meets Lincoln, and her summer turns itself around.

Lincoln challenges her to learn how to skateboard, which Anise feels like she might be great at, considering that she’s an amazing surfer. However, it seems to be a bit more challenging than she anticipated – but she refuses to give up, since she bet Lincoln that she learn by the end of that week.

As time goes on, Anise keeps learning how to skate, while getting closer to Lincoln. Eventually, she has a hard time keeping herself away from him at all, and develops feelings for him that confuse her, since she thought something was beginning with someone else back home.

“Calling Lincoln not so bad looking is like calling the Pacific Ocean damp.”

The two of them embark on a summer romance that will melt hearts, and Anise finds herself wanting to shy away from her friends back home even more. At the same time, she’s busy taking care of her aunt and her cousins, and wondering if she will be able to convince her dad to let her go home early to make it to Surf Break. But when she does go back home at the end of the summer, what will happen with her and Lincoln? And how will things go with her friends?

I loved the relationship between Anise and Lincoln in this book – and I think it had something to do with the fact that Lincoln was not at all your typical male love interest that you see in so many YA books. Instead, he was snarky, witty, and so much fun. He took Anise places, like on picnics, to help ease her homesickness, and you could tell that he really had feelings for her.

“‘That first day I met you at the park, it was so obvious that you were out of place.’ He shoots me a goofy grin. “A literal fish out of water.'”

I had so much fun while reading this book – I’ve never really been into surfing, which is a big part of the novel and of the main character’s life, but I felt like it was a part of my life while I was reading, too. Anise’s character was so well written that I liked her from the beginning of the story, even during the moments where she was awkward or plain out feeling selfish, because it showed what a real and genuine person she was.

There was a big issue throughout the book about Anise’s mom, who is absent most of the time. Her mom has been known to disappear for almost a year or two at a time, leaving behind both Anise and her dad. She has always had an issue settling down in one place, so instead she takes off on a regular basis, trying not to be tied down. But of course, it is difficult on Anise, since she has had to grow up without a mother. There are some really painful parts in this book where she wishes her mom was around and she isn’t, and it’s kind of heartbreaking.

“If my mom were here, she would know what to do. But she isn’t here. She’s never here when I need her, which is why I’ve learned not to need her.”

Aside from the family issues that Anise has had to deal with her whole life, she is also being torn away from all of her friends and being forced to spend her summer before her senior year not doing her favorite thing in the world – surfing. But after some time, and with the help of Lincoln, Anise makes the best of her situation, and she actually starts to enjoy being in Nebraska a bit.

There’s a little bit of a love triangle going on with Anise, who has feelings for Eric, and then she meets Lincoln and develops feelings for him, too – but it isn’t a love triangle that takes away from the main plot of the book, and is quite tastefully done, in my opinion. I think because the characters in the book are so well rounded, it kind of adds a little bit to Anise’s personality.

I have read so many YA summer contemporaries, but this is probably one of my new favorites. It was such a wonderful book that made me long for a nice afternoon on the beach under the warm sun!

The character development is a little bit less than I was expecting from this story. However, it is written in first person from the perspective of a teenager so it actually works worth the story. Anise is so well-developed I felt like I actually know her and care about what happens to her, which is generally what I’m looking for. Some of the secondary characters feel pretty flat, but this can be caused by the self-focus of the teenage main character.

The story takes place in the real world. The two locations used the most are Santa Cruz, California (where I have been) and an unnamed city or town in Nebraska (where I have not been). Both locations are described in such a way as to make them thoroughly immersive. The additional locations are also described really well and it was easy to see myself in them, though many of them aren’t places I’ve personally been.

The story itself starts off a little slow. I like to give ARCs until at least 70% before I DNF and this one really started to pull me in around 45%. There’s a lot of back story and setup in the beginning so I got a lot of information and some entertainment (the snark and sarcasm is PERFECT) but the story does move just a bit slowly starting out.

In the end though, it’s a beautiful coming of age story with surfing, skating, love, family and disability rep, which I totally love. I do still have a few questions, but none from the main arc of the story. All the main points were brought together very nicely at the end, even though it’s not quite how I expected it to end. This is a perfect beach or poolside read! I can’t wait to read more from Laura Silverman.

I was pretty bored at first, but I continued because I heard great things and the author is super nice, and I'm so glad I did. Girl Out of Water was AMAZING overall. It cheered me up, and it was exactly what I needed. Anise's anxiety felt so real and just like mine. This was the first time I actually could fully relate to a character's anxiety.

I didn't read the description before the book, so I didn't expect Lincoln to be black and have one arm, but it added more to his characterization. I loved how Anise was forced to tackle the topic of her mother, but how it wasn't the major plot of the book.

In the end, this book easily makes my list of favorites and I definitely would recommend it.

I loved this book, it is a strong debut and the perfect summer read. the title of the book matches what is on the inside, a beautifully written story about a girl named Anise who spends the majority of her time hanging out with friends and surfing in the waters of Santa Cruz. Anise and her father move to Nebraska for the majority of the summer to help care for her cousins after their mother was in horrible car accident. There are strong themes of family friendship and growing up. Anise tries new things, makes new friends and really does grow up in Nebraska. The characters are diverse, and I can't wait to see what Laura Silverman comes up with next.

Anise is a true surfer girl. She does look forward to spending the whole summer with her surfer friends at the beach in Santa Cruz. But then her father announces that her aunt, who is a single mom, has had an accident and needs their help. So for that summer they move to her aunts house in Nebraska.
Gone are the amazing fun plans she had with her friends on the beach! Instead of that, she has to take care of her nephew and cousin. Well..that is a great way to spend the summer...not.
But then she meets Lincoln. A skater who is missing one arm but he is so nice to her, and very charming. She slowly loses touch with her friends back in Santa Cruz, as Nebraska gives her new friends, family bonds and quite some more adventures than she had expected.

What a nice read! I hear quite some buzz around this book, but sadly it was not about the book but just a lot of nasty stuff around it. Seriously...I don't get it. Just give this book a try!!
I really enjoyed reading it. Altough I didn't think it was the most original YA story out there, it was good and well written. I really wanted a book to escape with as I am going trough some health stuff again (to the author: Hi fellow spoonie! ;) ) and this was just the perfect fit. I really liked the storyline. What is worse as a teen to be flown away from your friends to a dull place where you have to do chores you don't want? The main character Anise just makes the best of it though, and Nebraska opens a new life for her. The bond between her and Lincoln was so cute!! He really was a good guy and a perfect match! I loved how the plot went into so many unexpected directions.Girl Out of Water is the debut novel of Laura Silverman and this book made me very curious for her next books.
A very well written and good new YA novel, really enjoyed it and it is a perfect read for this spring!

First of all, I seriously cannot believe that this is a debut novel! Laura Silverman is definitely a pro!
Girl Out of Water is the perfect coming of age novel. This is the story of Anise Sawyer and her unexpected summer away from home. Anise had big plans for her last summer with all of her friends, before college life separates them.
Anise lives and breathes the ocean. She loves surfing and does it every day; which means that going aaaaall the way to Nebraska is LITERALLY taking the Girl Out of Water. (Get it?)
So yeah… Sadly, Anise is unexpectedly forced to spend the summer away from home. Her aunt got severely injured in a car crash, which means that Anise must help to take care of her aunt and her cousins. She is far from her friends, her passion, AND she’s stuck babysitting! Oh, and to top it all off, her friends are back home having all sorts of summer fun, while all she can do is see their pictures. But our main character isn’t the kind of teenager that will get mad and stomp her feet; we actually see Anise dealing with it, while she’s learning and growing through the summer; which is probably my favorite part of the book… her character development!
During her summer in Nebraska, Anise gets stuck babysitting, and takes her cousins to the park. On her trips to the park, Anise meets Lincoln, a one-armed skater boy that will make everyone fall in love. Seriously, Lincoln is such an interesting love interest… can I meet him? Lol! He’s the kind of guy that will help you get over your fears and out of your comfort zone, but he will not force you into doing it. He’s just THAT good.
I really wish I could do a better job reviewing this book, but honestly… let me make it short and clear; Girl Out of Water is a simple yet AMAZING story about love, loss, abandonment, family, friendship and GROWTH. I loved that this book gives family a HUGE role, and the relationship Anise has with her dad, is one I wish I could see more of in YA lit.

~4.7/5~ (review posted on Goodreads on 4/7/17)

I was pleasantly surprised by Girl Out of Water, and the book left me speechless because of the ride that was Anise's journey (props to the author for the unique MC name, by the way). Problems left and right, yet room for fun and lighter moments. Perfect.

Anise's character is definitely relatable, with her strengths and weaknesses alike. I found the keeping-in-touch-with-friends conflict to be the most empathize-able, seeing as I struggle with the same issues myself, so I really got into the book as I was reading. Laura Silverman's writing is good, and conveys the emotions well.

Anise and Lincoln's relationship was interesting, but half the time, Lincoln was attempting to cheer Anise up from her stresses. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, the conflicts center around the main character and her issues (more insight into Anise, yay), but on the other, Lincoln deserved personal conflicts too (it feels weird typing that, and it's not that I want bad things to happen to Lincoln, he just deserved more plot, since he was a good character).

I loved the bond between Anise and her cousins, and it's just heartwarming to see how much she cares for them, especially in the light that Anise feels left out and detached from her life at Santa Cruz. It makes sense how she eventually got lost in everything going on in Nebraska, with Lincoln and everything, but personally, I find it shocking that she'd basically cut off all ties to her friends back home, seeing as she was homesick and they were a huge part of her.

Also, another feeling of mine, it seemed like Anise could've felt homesick more, or at least thought of her home more frequently, because it's just a tad unrealistic to not have one's thoughts at least somewhat connected to somewhere as significant as home. Maybe it's just me, but I would've liked for Laura Silverman to connect the settings more throughout the book. Either way, Girl out of Water is wonderful the way it is, and summer love and family issues are perfectly reasonable to occupy the mind.

The ending was okay. I feel like the final part of it should've made me feel the "ooh the book's gone full-circle" sort of content, but it just didn't provide much sense of closure, for whatever reason.

Overall, great read, and given the chance, I'd probably reread it, just for fun.

I absolutely adored this diverse read. Anise is a fierce surfer. She's content with her beach life in Santa Cruz until her aunt gets into a car accident and Anise and her dad go to Nebraska for the summer to take care of her cousins while her aunt recovers. Anise is bummed about the summer away from surfing but meeting a cute boy, learning to skateboard, and bonding with her family make the transition easier.

Anise was such a real teen character who is grappling with wanting to be helpful to her family but also wishing she was back home with her friends. She makes mistakes, says mean things, and complains because she's a realistic teen dealing with an abrupt change of plans. Anise has an absent mother who occasionally checks in only to leave a few days later. She is sensitive to other people's pain because of the disconnect with her mom. She is also cautiously aware of how her mom has influenced her own relationships and abilities to make lasting connections. She questions if she's destined to run away like her mom does. Anise makes a new friend, and later love interest, with Lincoln, the guy who teaches her how to skateboard. Lincoln's past, losing an arm due to his biological mother's neglect and being given up for adoption, helps Anise start to accept that our parents don't define what we can be. Anise uses her new found friendship to help guide her in accepting her mother for what she is and realizing that her mother won't define her own future.

Anise is also a surfer who quickly picks up skateboarding in ocean-less Nebraska. Though Lincoln starts out as a superior skateboarder, Anise catches up and the two enjoy a healthy, competitive relationship but in and out of the skatepark. This will be an insta-read for teen readers looking for more books about girl athletes. Anise shines in her determination to excel at surfing and skateboarding.

This book will become a beloved summer read. It has diversity (friends from many different backgrounds, a lesbian best friend, a black amputee boyfriend) that rings with authenticity of the actual diverse world we live in. There's no stereotypes or gimmicks. Anise's story, friends, and passions will make readers remember her and want to return to this book again and again.

Deep and insightful, the book was not a let-down like some contemporary titles are these days. There was no insta-love, there was just enough teen angst and the main character was not an air head. Beautifully written. Loved it

4.5 STARS
I really love this book! It brings a fresh twist on the whole YA coming of age story. I find that most coming of age stories are focused on the identity of the character. They find out who they are in the story and everything else is basically just background noise. In this book on the other hand, the main character Anise, already has a sense of self. While she does discover more about herself, the book mostly focuses on friendship and family.
Anise is a flawed main character, but she isn't stupid. She thinks things through, and acts mature even when things are difficult. And while she does make mistakes, they are age appropriate and not something a seven year old would have had more common sense to do or not to do.
There's great diversity in this book seamlessly woven in, and in fact the love interest is both a person of color and has a disability. These things are discussed when necessary but not shoved in the reader's face as a testament that the author used diverse characters, which I appreciate.
I also love the family, friendship, and romance aspects of this book. Each one is complex and detailed. There also are many different types of relationships within her family and friends and each one is unique and fleshed out.
I was also happy to see the way Lincoln's disability was handled. He has one arm and the only time it mentions how that effects him, is when there's something that the reader wouldn't understand how he'd do. For example it never discusses how he skates so well even with one arm, because you don't need two arms to skateboard. But it does discuss how drives because that can be more tricky to do with one hand. I also liked how there was conversation between Anise and Lincoln about him being one armed and how those conversations were there and important, but not the focus of their relationship.
Anise's friendships were also a major focus of the book and I liked how she had a group of friends rather than her one best friend. You could see how each of the relationships were unique, but it was also clear to see why this group of very different people worked well together as a cohesive friend group.
The familial relationships were all good, but I found the twins to be a little too stereo-typically childish to really enjoy them. However, I did appreciate Anise's relationship with her dad, and how he was a big part of her life.
While I liked almost everything about this book, some of Anise's choices frustrated me. For the most part she was very level headed and made good choices, but she seemed to continue to make bad choices in one area. It didn't overshadow the good parts in any way , but it did detract a little from my overall enjoyment of this book.
All in all I'd definitely recommend this book because I had a wonderful time reading it. It's refreshing and new, while still containing the cute, fun elements that I enjoy in my contemporary books.

I thought this novel was fantastic! It’s a coming of age story of Anise who is juggling the love of her family and the love for her friends. She’s also confused about her own mother and the influence she’s made in their lives. I liked the novel as it is not overly heavy in the romance or the drama department and the novel made me laugh and smile repeatedly.

Anise is a surfer and a darn good one at that. Living at a beach house with her father, many of her friends will be leaving after this summer to pursue life after high school. Anise and her childhood friends are looking forward to spending every minute this summer together including the end of the summer, Surf Break Party. As she enters the house one evening, her dad crushes her plans. An accident has left her aunt immobile and she needs assistant. With no one to care for her three children, her dad has volunteered for them to spend the summer with them in Nebraska. No surfing, no friends and definitely no Eric, just when they had their first kiss. Anise is torn between her love of family and her friends, the ones that she feels she so desperately needs. Every day her friends will be together without her, doing the things that she loves, making memories without her, it just will not be fair. I could feel the pain and the heartache that Anise was feeling, some of her friends would be gone before she returns back home and others would be relishing in the stories that occurred while she was in Nebraska. Stories without her in them. Landing in Nebraska, she is torn between loving her family that is awaiting her and hating the situation that she is now placed in. It’s Nebraska, its hot and humid and the scenery is nothing like what she is used to. The children are antsy, they’re nervous about their mother and its summer and they want to do something. Anise is in charge of the children now, her father is working a temp job, and her aunt in the hospital still. Anise is worried about her mother, her mother the-revolving-door, will this summer be the time when the door opens and she shows up or will door continue to be shut? It’s all so confusing and being in this house is even more confusing. Taking the children to the park to get them out of the house, the story becomes richer and extensive as more characters walk into their lives and numerous events transpire.

I liked that Anise is not just thinking of herself but she is thinking of others in this novel. She is committed to her family and knows that they need her but she is also worried about missing out with her friends over the summer. She is torn but she cannot be in both places. She also is concerned about her mother, the impact that she has made on them and how she has affected Anise as a person. I liked the relationships within this novel. The relationships with family, with friends and with the males in her life. I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

I flew through this book it was so easy to read but after turning the last page it left me feeling underwhelmed, the ending wasn’t satisfying although I’m not sure what I would have wanted instead. I have a problem with the beginning and the ending but loved almost everything in between. In the first chapter your introduced to a group of friends who all seem to have a strong bond and a lot of potential. But after Anise moves she stops talking to them and all that potential goes practically nowhere. After she moves to Nebraska the story becomes more interesting Anise is completely out of her comfort zone and family takes center stage as she takes care of her cousins. Her cousins are adorable and just annoying enough to be realistic, I love her whole family her aunt and dad don’t have a ton of page time but are still good, distinctive characters.

Anise is a refreshing protagonist she’s sometimes aggravating and makes mistakes but learns and grows from them, she really cares about her family and tried her best to be there for them. The love interest, Lincoln is a sweetheart he was really nice to read about, he’s so positive and seemed to always know what Anise needed they worked well together. The romance felt natural and developed at a realistic pace, the characters don’t even say that they love each other that’s not something I encounter often in YA standalones.

If your a fan of diverse, character driven contemporary’s with adorable love interests who have dimples then this book is for you. Perhaps you’ll appreciate it more than I did, I still feel as if it’s missing something. Overall it is a great summery book that you could easily read in just a day it has lovable characters, skateboarding escapades and fantastic and immersive writing

A fun summer read! Anise is a likable main character, and I especially appreciate how Laura Silverman focuses on Anise's passion for surfing and her quest to learn to skateboard--two hobbies I haven't read about before. The romance is really well done, and the family dynamics are, too.

Anise Sawyer is a super confident fun loving surfer girl! She loves her dad, friends, and her town. So much so she plans to never leave. It was really nice to be on that side of someone's mind. I am super close to mom and just moving two hours away has been hard for me. It was really amazing to watch Anise grow into someone a little more independent.
I loved her relationship with her cousins so much! She tried so hard to take care of them and show them love. I loved the binge watching and going to the skate parks. It made happy!
Lincoln my love! He was such a strong character. He has had one arm since birth and that did not define him what so ever. He was confident, sexy, and full of himself at times. Let me tell you I was so here for that! He was also considerate and helpful. Never menacing during any of the situations he had to face with Anise. He was pretty swoon worthy. I could go for a whole origin story book on him. Even a sequel that follows him after Anise going on his trip after high school.
There are a few things that bugged me. Anise is very one sided so she said some super nasty things about skateboarders in the beginning. I understand though because it helped show the progression of her growth as a person. She was super about wanting a relationship with someone in the beginning but one look at Lincoln and its like it never happened. It felt a little pointless to me. I had a hard time feeling sorry for her in the end because she did not handle the situation with him well at all. I felt bad for him the whole time even though I was loving Lincoln.
All in all this was a good fast read that took no time to get through! This is a 3.85 stars but will be rounding up to 4!
Favorite Quote
"Thats dimple is like a go*damn super power."

I am so excited I got to read this book. I've been hearing about it here and there and when I saw I got approved for the arc I was super excited. This book is such a perfect summer contemporary. It's fun and exciting. I loved every second of this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Morgan Matson.

Why DNF? Girl Out of Water is not a bad book and that is the hard part about letting it go. I just know that I could (and have) put it down and forget about it. It is in that middle area of its okay but I’m not engaged by it.

I really enjoyed this book an felt like it was a quick read. Anise is a surfer, California raised and loves her free spirited life. The summer before senior year seems promising before she finds out that she is moving to Nebraska to help out with her aunt's children after her aunt was in a terrible accident. Uprooted from her home and her passion of surfing, Anise needs to find a way to enjoy Nebraska and find a way to get through her summer as it is different than she planned. While in Nebraska she meets Lincoln at the skate park and finds out that there is more to life than just surfing. This is a story about growth and understanding of the world. Anise needs to find herself and escape from the shadow her missing mom has cast on her life. Well written and enjoyable.

Not my favorite book, but I think this will be a good title for teens who like the books of Sarah Dessen. Given her popularity, it's always nice to have comparables for her.

This is an enjoyable read, but the writing style wasn't for me. It's a little bit repetitive and the rhetorical questions every few pages got annoying, The characters are relatively bland but pleasant. Overall it's a nice, diverse story.