The story came off as a light read. Weak on the romance side but it’s okay. I’ve never read anything about sky diving so that’s a first. It was quite interesting since I have no recollection of having been interested with the sport before. Very nice and informative. It was a very light read but the plot was quite unsatisfying.

The synopsis suggests that this book is great for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Foreman, and i would have to agree. Full of emotion, coming of age, and grabbling with teenage issues, Freefall Summer was a fresh take on what happens when lies snowball out of control.

Charlesbridge Teen and NetGalley provided me with an Advanced Reader's Copy of Freefall Summer. The choice to review this book was my own.

Sixteen-year-old Clancy Edwards has been under the shadow of her mother's death since she was a young child. Raised by her single father, Clancy spends her free time helping out at the family skydiving school. Always looking upwards, but forbidden to jump because of her mother died from a skydiving accident, Clancy comes to certain realizations about her life when a new student comes to the school. Will Clancy make choices that are will ultimately affect her life?

Freefall Summer is full of teenage angst and touches upon certain issues that are relatable to the target teenage audience. The overprotectiveness of Clancy's father is a little overdone, as well as some of the situations that the characters face, but this is nothing new in YA novels. I find it hard to believe that Clancy, with all of the research she has done regarding her mother's death, she did not search a little closer to home to find out the truth. Overall, Freefall Summer is a quick read and one that teenagers may find relatable on some level.

This book had the potential to be amazing. Ultimately, it fell a little flat for me. It wasn't engaging until almost 75% into the book. The last 25% felt rushed and there was some issues that were very unresolved - like the abuse and gaslighting by Theo. This was never addressed as why it was wrong or harmful behavior. It was treated as if it were normal. Between that and the pacing of the book, this was a definite miss for me.

Freefall Summer talks about the need for freedom and the lies that accompany it. Clancy lost her mother at a skydiving accident and since then her father and later her boyfriend have cared for her and looked after her like a baby who should always be kept in sight. But Clancy has an adventure bone that never stops itching.
Clancy is immature, and it only gets worse everytime she tries to prove that she doesn’t need to be spoon fed. She is also a rebel and takes risks for the heck of it.
The plot is okayish and certainly lags behind at places such as exploiting the romantic side of characters. The Romance is pretty normal too and mostly goes from good to bad and finally worse. Clancy just wants a way to do what she wants and would happily lie and betray people on her way.
The skydiving and its details were pretty new to me and I learned quite a bit there. The writing is average, with no major character developments or twists.
Freefall Summer is an easy going, relaxing read and I would consider it as a book to be read while taking a break or when craving for a lighter and carefree read.

I had just read a book that I couldn’t finish because it wasn’t holding my attention so I was really hoping this would keep me interested and I’m pleased to say it certainly did that - I couldn’t stop reading!

Clancy was a character who I liked straight away, she seemed so tied down that I was willing her to break free and do what felt right for her. I was gripped by the events happening before me and filled with a variety of emotions as Clancy navigated her way through a tumultuous time.

Skydiving has never been something that appealed to me and, while I still have no desire to jump out of a plane, I found this side of the storyline fascinating. Finding out more about what goes on behind the scenes of a drop zone was surprisingly addictive!

This was a quick read for me that ticked all the boxes and left me wanting to know what’s next for the characters.

The premise of this book was definitely new and exciting. I loved learning more about skydiving and seeing the characters grow and interact together. The writing was excellent as well.

This was a nice summer read about standing up for yourself and taking risks.
While some of the Protagonist's choices were definitely bad it seemed like she learned her lesson at the end, I feel like the romance and cheating wasn't necessary and detracted some enjoyment from the book but the overall plot and setting saved it for me. The Author seemed really knowledgeable about skydiving and I've never read about skydiving in YA before so that a nice bonus.
My Rating is: 3.5 Stars
FTC DISCLAIMER: I received this book in exchange for an honest review

I tried getting into this book but I couldn't find myself reading this book and finishing it. I don't know if it was a disconnect to the main character but I couldn't get into it like I wanted to.

I tried to read this book THREE TIMES. I kept thinking I should like it, and yet I just didn't care enough to get past the 12% mark. I felt like this was a story I've read before.

I liked the cover of Freefall Summer and I will admit that it was the sole reason I requested it from NetGalley. Later, I looked at it on Goodreads and saw that it had below three stars and I panicked a little. Another book that may be hard work to get through. I have to say though that I have no idea why it is rated low on Goodreads because I thought it was great.

It is the story of Clancy who has made it her life goal not to let her dad worry. Her mother passed away when she was six and since then here dad has tightened the reins on Clancy; rather than push against them she has allowed him to wrap her in cotton wool. Things start to come to a head when she starts to have bigger dreams than just living a humdrum life in her little town. She wants adventure, she wants to study in a university far away. More than anything she wants to discuss this with her dad but she still feels like she can’t.

Freefall Summer is a great coming-of-age story about learning to be grown up with your parents and crossing that invisible line of child to adult. It has wonderful family dynamics and a great storyline of breaking the mould that someone has set for you.

Freefall Summer by Tracy Barrett is available now.

For more information regarding Tracy Barrett (@writingtracy) please visit www.tracybarrett.com.

For more information regarding Charlesbridge Teen (@CharlesbridgeYA) please visit www.charlesbridgeteen.com.

I didn't have many expectations about this book. I was drawn to it because of the skydiving aspect, but was disappointed by the plot and character development.

Review will be posted on March 28th, 2018

"What I really wanted was to see what it felt like to not always be a good girl, to do something that would upset my dad if he knew about it."
Clancy works at her dad's skydiving business packing up the parachutes while she saves for college. A lot of the book happens at her dads business and is around skydiving in general. Her best friend Jules is also around a lot but doesn't always give the best advice when it comes to relationships. She also has a boyfriend who gets along great with her dad but doesn't always ask her opinion on things before asking about them. (This bugged me so much.) Then we also have Denny who is a skydiving student who Clancy becomes friends with.



Okay, so let's get to the not so great parts of the book first:

The communication between Clancy and her dad, not the best, but realistic in my opinion. For a change, a parent was involved, but he took helicopter parent to the extreme.
Clancy's boyfriend is rather controlling and it's obvious that they just aren't going to work out long-term.
Clancy's secretiveness and not telling the full truth about certain things that leads to some problems.



Now for the things I did like:

Clancy's friendship with the other people at her work.
Her friendship with Denny, it was really nice and I liked how Clancy really got out of her little bubble that he dad had made for her.
At the beginning of each chapter, there was a rule from the Whuffo's Guide to Skydiving which she had been writing since middle school.
How the loss of Clancy's mother was dealt with in a very real way for a lot of people (in my opinion) we avoid the topic in general or just glaze over it and that's what's happened for most of Clancy's life.
I also liked how Clancy mostly stuck to who she was deep down and didn't give into certain pressures.



"What I did know was that when people say your life can change in an instant, that's only half the story. It's not just your life that changes. It's you. You become a whole different person."


Overall I enjoyed most of this book. I read contemporary's for fun and if it has a realistic element to it I'm even more likely to read it. This book deals with three different elements a loss of a parent, an overly involved parent and relationship problems. These were done fairly well and in a realistic way, yet this book was still fun and a rather light read. I also liked learning about skydiving because I really don't know much about it and it kind of scares me and interest me at the same time.

I can't wait to see what Barrett writes next for YA as this one was pretty good.

I thought the dad was over the top protective. Overall the book was ok, not great. I did struggle through it at times.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book, and was unable to relate to the characters.

I think I can best sum up my thoughts as: eh. This was mostly a forgettable book for me, with underwhelming characters and poor relationships on all levels. The only character I really liked was Denny, and I thought he was underdeveloped. But I actively disliked Clancy, the main characters, and ALL the relationships in the story - familial, friendship, romantic - none of them were anything to aspire too. Plus I hate cheating plotlines, so that was a two-fold disappointment. I thought the story had potential - I loved the skydiving elements, and the Guide definitions at the beginning of the chapters, but the characters let me down.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen year old Clancy Edwards isn't your average whuffo (that is, a non-skydiver). In fact, she'd love to join her father, and everyone she's worked alongside since she was a baby, and leap from the plane with only an open parachute to bring her gently to the ground. At least, she thinks she would. There's also the fact that her mom died doing just that... so maybe she's not meant to be a skydiver. Maybe she's meant to keep both feet on the ground.

Still, she'd at least like the chance to make up her mind for herself. But with her overprotective father and her overprotective boyfriend Theo treating her like she's made of glass (and years younger than she actually is), it looks like she'll never get to make that choice. And it's all starting to get on her nerves.

So when skydiving student Denny shows up and assumes she's also 18, she doesn't correct him. He doesn't treat her like she's going to break. He thinks she can do whatever she puts her mind to... and that causes friction with her and Theo.

When Denny suggests maybe another location--you know, one not run by her overprotective father--might be the place to make her first jump, the lies start to catch up with her. But so does her own need to feel her mother in the place she loved the best--the sky. Being underage is just a little hiccup in the plan, right?

Besides. There's no way they'll treat her like a child after she proves to them she can make a solo jump from 3 miles up.


This book really grated at me. I loved Clancy, and I even understood where her dad was coming from. Losing someone the way he did, it makes total sense he'd be overprotective. But I. Hated. Theo. Like, so much. And I hated how much her dad liked him, because he was "so polite". Yeah, but he was also kind of a dick.

I wasn't even all that much a fan of Denny. I mean, I liked him...

But Clancy and the sky. That's where the real story here is. And I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. No spoilers, but it's well worth reading!

**Provided through NetGalley for free as part of Wish For It in exchange for my honest review**

If you like paternalistic and creepy boyfriends and fathers, you might enjoy FREEFALL SUMMER more than I did. I could understand why Clancy’s widowed father would be overprotective after his wife and her mother died skydiving. He elevated helicopter dad to a bad art form. He constantly projected his own needs and issues onto Clancy, in an enmeshed, not menacing, manner. If writer Tracy Barrett had addressed the unhealthy dynamic better, I might have bought into it.

Boyfriend Theo, more than Clancy’s father, gave me an uncomfortable vibe. I felt like I was reading about a relationship from the 1950s. I also didn’t like friend Julia laughing off her boyfriend’s racist comments, which was worse that not calling him in the comments.

I did like Denny, perhaps my favorite character

The secret about Clancy’s mother fell flat and made me dislike her father even more.

Barrett’s writing wasn’t awful and the premise of the story was a good one. I wish she had done a better job creating better characters.

The best part of this book is the Whuffo's Guide to Skydiving and how it helped give me an insight to a sport I didn't have any knowledge of. The skydiving aspect of a whole from the descriptions of days at the DZ, the staff, and the jumps really gave this book something different from other YA novels. I see this book to be less of a romance and more of a drama/coming of age story despite how it is marketed as a romance. The chemistry between Denny and Clancy as well as Clancy and Theo both fall flat. The romance aspect between both couples of the novel is cliche. However, I did enjoy the transformation of Clancy and how she finds her voice as the summer progresses.

What I liked best about the book was the Whuffo’s Guide to Skydiving! Freefall Summer is fine for a YA read if readers are prompted to think about what is wrong with the relationships.

Clancy seems so outspoken in her mind. Why not try talking (not yelling or screaming) at her Dad and her boyfriend? Young women need to know that They need to speak up for what they want and do not want.

See what happens when we don’t disclose? It is tough to tell a friend you no longer want the same relationship you once had, but it needs to be done. Life lesson! Also I want to tell all young people to ask the age of the person you are involved with early in the relationship!

I didn’t like the “surprise” news about Clancy’s Mom and felt it really didn’t fit well with the storyline.

Many YA readers will enjoy the story and will not see the characters as models to follow.

I received an arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.