***I received a free e-arc from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review***

I had given this book a preemptive 5 star rating to try and combat the disgusting attack on the author after literal Nazis started trying to tank her book's ratings. Now that I've actually read it, I see that I don't have to change my rating at all.

GIRL OUT OF WATER follows Anise during her last summer before senior year. She expects it to be a summer like any other- spending time with her friends and surfing- until a family emergency sends her and her dad to Nebraska to care for her 3 younger cousins. This is sold as a romance, and while there is definitely some romance in the book, it's more of a lesser told love story of a family coming together.

There wasn't a character I despised in this entire book. All of them were well fleshed out and had depth, including the side characters which is something we usually don't get in YA novels. All of Anise's friends were distinct even though they might have only been mentioned a half dozen times. I loved how Silverman included mixed families throughout the story.

The romance between Anise and Lincoln (OH MY GOD, LINCOLN!!!!) wasn't overplayed and I like that Silverman didn't rush their feelings or include sex in this book. YA has a problem with the trope of "We just met but I love you so let's have sex" but Silverman did a wonderful job in avoiding that.

I only had two problems with this book and they tie in together. The first was that I felt the last few chapters lost the characters. It almost felt like I was reading an entirely different book and I'm not sure if that was on purpose (to show Anise slipping back into her Santa Cruz life) but it was disorienting and really almost made me drop the rating down to 4 stars. In those finally chapters, I had another problem- underage drinking. I'm totally aware that teenagers drink but it felt very out of place in this book. The "drama" it caused could have totally been rewritten. Honestly, the last few chapters just don't feel right in the book, period.

However, I did love this book. I loved Anise. I loved Lincoln. I LOVED LINCOLN.

Would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to enjoy a sweet, summery, coming-of-age story.

First of all I'd like to thank Laura & Sourcebooks Fire for their support and kindness. Thank you.

This book talks about Anise who lives in sunny beautifal & wave-filled California. She has surfed most of her life and it truly is her one passion. Her summer didn't turn how quite as she expect but I can assure you it was a rollercoaster summer. Up and down, just like how ride a wave. She is moving from Santa Cruz to Nebraska. Plot twist right?

With moves come new people & new boys but old people remain quietly in their usual place. This is a story about the essence of friendships and how your friends can deeply impact your life. Not only friends but family too, if you're close to your family you will for sure enjoy reading this piece of art.

I've never gotten so emotional reading a book before, this reminded me of how amazing & precious the existence of books is. I'm really thankful for these words put onto these pages. Call me dramatic but this was one of the best books I've ever read in my life, it planted seeds in my brain and now i'm going to grow along with this story everyday.

My review will be published on release date on goodreads, Youtube and Twitter.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.
Very readable...great flow. I read this in an afternoon and was pleasantly surprised that the characters were outside even when it was hot. They exercised! They had problems, but they worked them out and worked them out together! Not a fan of the inappropriate language, but understand that it it common with young people. As a librarian, it makes it hard to recommend to everyone.

I had no expectations going into this book, but a came out very happy and somewhat surprised with how much I enjoyed the read.

The Plot…

First off, let me say that I was shocked that Silverman is a debut author. I thought the way she put together the plotline, characters, everything, was fabulous. The basic plot of the story is that a surfer chick named Anise leaves the home she promised she would never leave to go help out her family in Nebraska. Needless to say, this is hard for her, since she’s a senior and it will be her last summer with her friends, not to mention the fact that she NEVER EVER left California. It’s her home and she doesn’t feel the need to go anywhere else. Complicating matters is the fact that Anise’s mother constantly flies in and out of her life, with no need to tell anyone where she is and when she is coming or going. And Anise HATES IT.

Overall, I think Silverman did a great job of incorporating everything into the plotline without making it overly boring, or anything seem too dramatic. The plot was moving and changing enough so that the reader was constantly interested, but yet it slowed down at all the right moments. The way the plot moved made everything seem realistic in a book where just one thing being a little more exaggerated would have sent it from great to cheesy and dramatic.

The Characters…

There were quite a few characters in this book, but I think it’s most important to point out the fact that all of them felt real, and were relatable. Anise, the main character, was literally perfect athletically, but she had flaws in other ways, and although she didn’t admit them to others, the way the book was written gave you an in depth look at them, and I think that helped make her relatable. Plus, she’s tall, so #TallGirlClub (yes, yes, that did actually make me way too happy when I read about it).

The other characters in the book were equally as relatable and fun to hear about. Parker and Nash (Anise’s little cousins) were SUPER energetic, and reminded me of all of the children I have to babysit. Lincoln, the black, one armed skater boy, made me fall in love the second I heard about him. All of Anise’s friends from Santa Cruz (especially Tess)– LOVE!

The one character I had a slight problem with was Emery. Emery is Anise’s 13 (14 maybe?) year old cousin, and I thought she acted wayyyyy too old for her age. I mean, 13 puts you in middle school, and I’m 90% sure she was in 8th grade. The fact that she was always locked in her room and hung out alone with her friends at the park seemed unrealistic given her age. But maybe that’s just because I’m a nerd and don’t have friends. That being said, regardless of the age-reality issue she was still well developed.

Reasons I loved It…

Anise was such a badass, relatable character that she pulled me through the entire time. It was fun to read about her, and basically I want to be her.

Of course, no YA book review is complete without mentioning the relationship– Lincoln and Anise were SO FREAKIN’ CUTE TOGETHER!! I laughed out loud so often, and awwwwed equally as much because it was just one of the cutest relationships ever, and I would totally recommend the book just because of that.

Ugh Moments…

This is hard, because there were no standout “Yuck” parts of the book. However, there’s a reason that it didn’t get 5 stars, and so I need to include this part for completion’s sake. Sometimes, I felt like there was too much going on with Anise to keep track of. I mean, you could easily keep track of it, but she just had so many conflicting emotions and although that drew me in for a lot of it, at other times it sort of pushed me away because towards the start-middle (aka the ⅓ marker) I was feeling “oh no, here we go again, Anise complaining about her shitty life” but I didn’t feel that way a lot, and I think there was great character building going on.

The main reason that this didn’t get a 5 is because it wasn’t a can’t-put-down read until about halfway through. I mean, it was amazing the whole time, but I wasn’t walking around with my book pressed to my nose until then. And for a book to really be deserving of 5 stars, it needs to do that for me.

Diversity Rating…

So obviously I don’t think I could give it a 5 star diversity rating without a minority protagonist, but I think I’ll have to go with 4 stars on this one. Lincoln was black and had one arm and his father was Vietnamese, Wendy (very very small part) was Asian, and Marie and Cassie (Anise’s friends) were lesbian. Although the majority of these people were not main characters at all, I think the book community should appreciate Silverman’s effort to at least represent these people and make sure that everyone knows they exist. It’s especially important that it was never a big deal that these people were different. It just was. And that’s how books with diverse characters should be, in my opinion.

Summary…

I highly recommend to anyone, especially lovers of YA. There was a strong kindling-teen-romance and emotional teen theme throughout, and for me that’s what made it so relatable. The characters were real, and I think everyone can see that while they read.

Laura Silverman's debut novel is fresh and summer-y. Girl Out of Water is also sweet and funny; there is friendships but also family (the family aspect is A+, I love the cousins so much and her dad and aunt). There is a cute boy that became my new book crush definitely.

Also I really related to the main character Anise because right now I'm in college in another state while my best friends and childhood friends are in Cancun, back home. It was really hard at first to move and not see them every single day. I started to see pictures of them going out and wished to be there with them. Now I'm on my third year in college and I go back home on holidays and to be honest, it's like I have never left. And Anise is starting to see this, in the book, and learn that while she might go and leave her town, that doesn't mean her friends and family won't be there when she comes back.

It's a great story. I had a bit of trouble with Anise at some point but overall, this book is definitely one to look out for.

This book was just up my alley.
I loved the writing style, The character development, the plot and the uniqueness of having a male lead with just one arm.
Even do I found Anise kind of conceded and spoiled on the first few chapters she redeem herself by the last half of the book. I really dislike how she was so close off about get out of her cocoon. I understand that we all have our comfort zone, it can be a place, a thing or a person and I understand is hard to un attach us from them. But she grew as she stayed more with her family and she meet new people. Specially meeting Lincoln.
Lincoln is another story I love him since the beginning. He was so open minded and fun. I love how he took everything in a positive way. I think that meeting someone like Lincoln was just what Anise needed.
I loved all the secondary characters too. Her dad was amazing, super chill dad. Her dad, her cousins and friends were amazing too. Anise was such a lucky girl too have all those people around her.
The romance part was super adorable and cute. Not many hot scenes just a few kisses and make out sessions. The story was so interesting that I really didn't miss any sex scenes.
I would of giving this book Five stars but I felt the ending left me wanting more. Like an inconclusive ending. I wished the author would of given us something more about the mom. Did Anise get to see her mom in the future? What about Lincoln and Anise relationship? Did they breakup? Did they stay together? What about Eric? Did they kept their relationship status as friendship? What about when Lincoln leaves would Eric jump at the opportunity?
Now I want to know is the author going to gives us a sequel to this book? I want more lol.

Anise Sawyer has spent her entire life in Santa Cruz, CA, and can't imagine living anywhere but the beach, where she spends her summers hanging with her friends and indulging her passion for surfing. This summer--her last before her group of friends disperses for college and other pursuits--promises to be epic. Epic, that is, until her aunt has a near-fatal car accident and overnight Anise finds herself with her dad, flying to Nebraska to help care for her three younger cousins as her aunt recovers. Anise doesn't expect to find anything in Nebraska will make up for what she's sacrificing, but family is family. But then, that's before she meets the cheerful, confident Lincoln, a one-armed skater who shows her that there are more places in the world to love than California, and more people worth knowing than the ones she's always known.

This is definitely a relationship story, but at it's heart it's more about family and friendship than romance, which I loved. Anise--in all her spunky, stubborn, foul-mouthed glory--is a character to root for, and if the lessons she learns about family and friendship are sometimes hard, the book has a wonderful beating heart in its center.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

This book was okay. It moved really slow in the beginnings, but eventually sped up. I really liked the main character and could imagine what it would be like to have your whole summer planned and then it snatched away. The relationship with her father was a lot of fun to read, they seem like such a great team and I loved getting to see it. It's great to see a character with a disability and for him to be strong and confident. This is a 3.5 star book.

My Review: First off, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book for an honest review.



This book was amazing. From the second I started reading it I was in love with the book. I couldn't put it down. (I know I don't like realistic fiction) But this book is another exemption from my fantasy mind. Unlike a lot of realistic books I've read this one didn't make me cry. Although some parts were emotional, it was mostly a fun upbeat book. Something I've been dearly missing. The book didn't really have a closure ending, not everything was "fixed" at the end, but it was still a happy ending. I love these kinds of realistic fiction because most of the time in real life there is no solution, you just have to deal with it and move on (but it still seems like everything will be okay!



The pacing of the book was excellent. It didn't go to fast, I didn't feel like I was being rushed through the book. And it didn't go to slow, I didn't feel like I was groggily walking through it one word at a time.



The characters are so much fun to read about and they're so well developed, especially Anise. It's clear the struggle she's going through. Then there's Lincoln, who makes you smile whenever you read about him because he can always make the best of the situation. The twins, Parker and Nash, have to be one of my favorite parts of the book. They're always getting into trouble (for Percy Jackson fans- these two remind me of Connor and Travis Stoll.)



My favorite thing about this book is that it talks about a lot of real life issues. Family problems, moving, identity, boy confusion (I can vouch for that one), college, friend drama. Sometimes I feel like realistic fiction could happen but no one can really relate to it. Like Everything, Everything. I love that book, don't get me wrong, but not a whole lot of people can relate to it. In this book there's a little bit for everyone.



I highly recommend this book!

I would like to start off by saying this book made me feel so much anxiety it isn't even funny. (Ok maybe it is a little) I never knew I could get second hand anxiety from a book character. Anise is such a realistic hand flawed character I stressed, worried and enjoyed right along with her. Now I can see people going one of two ways with her.

1. She's a shitty friend and daughter and very selfish.
OR
2. She is a girl who was forced out of her comfort zone over and over again and although she does some shitty things it's obvious she is trying the best she can and learns from her mistakes.

I fell in the second category naturally but for the first few chapters I was extremely tempted to place her in the first one. Anise is used to being the best surfer in her close-knit group of friends. All she knows is Santa Cruz, surfing and her friends. She has never traveled out of the state of California and her trips out of her home town were less than a handful. She has her eyes set on going to a local university and living at home. For all intents and purposes she is grounded and comforted by the familiar. That is until she is forced on an airplane for the first time and sent off to middle-of-nowhere Nebraska to help take care of her younger cousins after their mother is in a near fatal car accident. There is no ocean in Nebraska. There are no friends. There is only scorching heat and an overwhelming urge to run for California at the first chance. Here is where things get a bit tricky. Anise cops an attitude the first few days there, while simultaneously trying to come to terms with the fact that she DOES want to help her family. Just in the comfort of California. Near the beach and her friends. Doing what she wants. (Insert me getting pretty annoyed with Main Character.)

Anise has plenty of problems and zero coping skills to handle them. Case in point her mother that is as flighty as they come. She's a free spirit and always on the run for some new adventure and Anise worries she will become just like her, leaving everyone she loves behind. Pair that with her newfound social awkwardness around people she does not know and she seems to be barely treading water in the new state.

Enter Lincoln. Lincoln was the love interest I've always wanted to see. He is forward, sociable, polite, handsome, and extremely talented. The best part? He's diverse but not in a way that the author just changed his skin color to suite the need for more diversity. Who he is, is very important and I really enjoyed that.

Without really giving anything else away I enjoyed this book and how REAL it felt. The anxiety, the self-distancing that some of us do instead of facing the issues head on. It was all so well done and the ending was although not concrete it was a good conclusion.

Full review will be published on my blog closer to publication date.

Excellent coming-of-age story that deals with loss, abandonment, courage to go on, etc. I loved everything about it, especially the Lincoln character and will definitely recommend this book to others!

4.5 stars. Fantastic debut. This is the perfect "summer read", and it certainly took my mind off the bitter January cold! It's a beautiful story of a girl learning to face new things, be there for her family, and navigate changing relationships. The contrast in setting between Santa Cruz and Nebraska was also really interesting.

This was a story about a complicated family, and I'm so glad to see that represented in YA, instead of a romance focus. The romance that was included was subtle, but it still really delivered. Lincoln was a perfectly-dreamy book boyfriend.

And I also just love sports in YA and stories about girl athletes! I've never surfed or skateboarded but it was fun to learn about.

My only complaint is that it ended a little abruptly. I'd love an epilogue about where Anise ends up! But I'll admit that sometimes it's more fun to imagine.

This was so poignant and wonderfully written. Laura Silverman is so talented, and I hope I get to read more from her in the future!

More thoughts potentially to come closer to publication.

I loved that this book was, at it's heart, about family and what it means. Anise could be completely bratty and self-centered at times, but when it really came down to it she was there for her family. I also really appreciated the fact that her mom never showed up in the book. I think that would have been too cliché and unrealistic, but even though she never came, I like that we got to see Anise sort out her relationship with her mother and come to terms with it in some ways. I also really liked the attention shown to the importance of friendships and being there for people, even when it's not the easiest choice to make.

The romance was absolutely adorable and Lincoln is one of the best characters I have read in a contemporary YA novel. I loved his attitude and the way he took on life and while she definitely grew from the short time she knew him in this novel, I feel like she will become even better of a person for having him in her life.

Beautiful coming-of-age story and one that should be judged on its own merits, not the horrible online campaign against the author during last year's election. Will be purchasing for sure.

In Girl Out of Water, Anise Sawyer finds her final summer before college interrupted when her aunt is in a devastating car accident, which forces her and her dad to make their way to Nebraska to take care of her cousins. Stuck in the triply landlocked state, with three restless cousins, Anise discovers the local skate park and also the charming, one-armed, Lincoln, where she swaps her surfboard for a skateboard.

As someone who isn’t a big YA contemporary reader, I really enjoyed Girl Out of Water. I don’t really know how to describe it. But it was quite peaceful, in comparison, to the other books I’ve been reading. What we have is a heart-warming coming of age novel. Anise thinks she has it all sorted out, but when everything slowly falls apart, she has to take a step back. The more time she spends away from Santa Cruz, away from the sea and her friends, the more she starts to worry that she will become like her mother, who disappears for months on end. Girl Out of Water is Anise realising that, essentially, change has to come and that she doesn’t have to forget the friends she loves and the memories she has in order to make new ones. So the plot isn’t overly dramatic, but it is well-developed. Silverman’s characters were witty, hilarious and diverse. The punchy dialogue and style of writing really reminds me of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything

Girl Out of Water is a story of first love, relationships, loss and change. I have no doubt that this will top the bestseller lists once it’s released. Its decent plot and cast of fun characters make me excited to see what else Laura Silverman will publish in the future.