I know I wish I could have worked at Meade’s, it sounds like a great shop with a lot of camaraderie. But a place too good to be true needs some obstacles to overcome and that is exactly what this book does. The author leaves a lot of clues leading up to the major issue the main character has to face, not only for the shop but also with Amelia’s best friend.

The issue I had was the constant expectation for the MMC to add males to the shop's staff as he stated he intended to make things multi-gendered. I feel that had Grady actually done so, it could have added some drama to the story.

Nevertheless, this is a such a sweet book, absolutely perfect for reading in the summer. With good writing, a great plot, and complex characters, this novel is worth picking up. The romance, the Amelia's journey, the whole “girls just wanna have fun” vibe make you want to start your own ice cream stand.

A cute book to read in the summer time. I adored the friendships. I enjoyed reading about the origins of the ice cream shop, the process of ice cream making and the status of the shop. The romance fell flat. The characters were okay. The writing was fine. The ice cream shop is what shines through.

This book is about the sisterhood of the Mead creamery girls. Every summer the all the girls old and new love working at the ice cream stand. But this summer is different. Molly Mead passes and her nephew takes over (mead creamery has always been all girls). When head girl Amelia and nephew Grady become close it confuses things for her perfectly planned perfect summer.

I adored this book it is a new summer favorite. I love the closeness of the girls and their traditions. I could have done without the romance but it is the perfect sweet summer read

I smell summer.

If you’re tempted to lie in your backyard, under the sun, to get tanned or simply enjoy the outdoors, I certainly encourage you to consider taking this book with you.

The concept is fairly original. Who would have thought that an ice cream stand would mean so much to so many people and have its own developed back-story?

And yet it does.

The fact that Molly started this business during WWII to cheer up her girlfriends whose boyfriends or brothers or fathers were at war is admirable and interesting. Since I got to know her a bit, I found unfortunate what happened to her, although that part is crucial for the story to move in the direction the author wanted.

The writing is decent but dry—never lyrical. It made me feel like I was reading a textbook at times, so no particular way at all. It left me indifferent for the most part.

Because of that, it’s hard to get attached to the characters like it is possible when authors use figures of speech or lyrical descriptions to affect us and make us really understand what the characters are feeling, but it doesn’t change the fact that Amelia is as sweet as ice scream, if a little naïve, and a lovely girl who is impossible to dislike, unlike her best friend, Cate, who seems to bask in negativity.

There are probably a hundred other new books more fantastic than this one to read to get in a summer mood – I am, of course, thinking of the new release The Summer of Jordi Perez in particular – but it doesn’t mean that this one isn’t worth your time still.

If you’re interested in reading a light story that will actually teach you some about managing a small business while entertaining you, give this under-the-radar story a shot.

The summer before a group of close friends go off to college, they make a pact to have the best summer yet working together at the local creamery. When the owner suddenly passes, and a young nephew takes over, some problems start arising. I loved the mixture of time periods, flash backs from old letters and diaries, and overall found the book to be a delight, and will be on the lookout for more books from this author.

Stay Sweet is a book all about teens and ice cream that belies it’s true feminist nature. Siobhan Vivian has put together a fantastic read that is just fluffy enough, just feminist enough, just romantic enough, and just nostalgic enough to make you feel all the summer feels.

Stay Sweet centres on 17 year old Amelia Van Hagen, who’s been working at the local ice cream stand, Meade Creamery, for the last four summers. The stand is run entirely by girls, and steeped in girl-power traditions. Working at Meade Creamery means you work hard, but you make girl friends who will help you out, in good times and bad, whether you need advice on a new lipstick, a romance, or you’re going through a hard time.

Amelia sees these summers as formative. This is her last summer as a Meade Creamery girl, and it’s bittersweet to be saying goodbye to not just her favorite job, but also her town, and her best friend Cate as they move on to separate universities.

Things change rapidly when Meade Creamery’s owner and founder, Molly Meade, passes away and leaves the ice cream stand to her great-nephew. Grady Meade is a business major, and he decides to try his hand at keeping the stand alive.

The problem? No one has the recipes for Molly Meade’s famous ice cream. Oh and also, Amelia’s original, coveted job as Head Girl (aka the manager) is threatened by Grady’s presence. Grady is trying a lot of new things to make changes to the stand that threaten it’s place as a Sand Lake institution.

HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THIS BOOK? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS:
The focus on a female friendships. Without a doubt, this is my favorite part of the book. Amelia and Cate are the oldest girls at Meade Creamery, so they’re known as seniors. They were both in line for the Head Girl job, so there’s tension there. Responsible Amelia has always felt a little inferior to Cate, so even she questions why Cate – the more fun, flirtatious, and popular girl didn’t get it the job. This tension made for a really authentic friendship story.
Ice cream. If you love anything about ice cream, you’ll love reading this story. From homemade waffle cones to the science of ice cream formation to perfect scooping, this book is a dream for an ice cream lover.
50s teenagerdom. Stay Sweet cycles between Amelia’s story and Molly Meade’s story, which Amelia accesses through her diary. It’s cute to see how it all comes together. Author Siobhan Vivian actually bought vintage Seventeen magazines to get the voice of Molly just right.
Realistic romance. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that a romance brews between Grady and Amelia. I love how it’s slow and a secondary plot. It’s swoony enough that you want them to have that happy ending but realistic in that they’re both teenagers at the cusp of something new.
Entrepreneurship. Between Molly Meade starting her own ice cream stand to Grady trying to take over, there’s a lot about running a business in this book. But it’s not boring, I promise! Stay Sweet gives you a really good sense of how much work and passion needs to go into doing something you love.
It’s unpredictable. Full disclosure: I went into this book thinking it would be a cute, flirty summer romance. And it IS. But it’s also WAY more than that – it’s empowering and feminist and about taking control of your life and making it work for you. And doesn’t everyone want that in their summer romance, too?

THE FINAL WORD:
Look, I know a YA book about girls who work coveted jobs at an ice cream stand already SCREAMS Tiff. So I guess it’s no surprise that STAY SWEET by Siobhan Vivian is definitely going to be on my best-of list for 2018. Perfect for any contemporary reader who loves summer romances, but especially ones who appreciate that a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream can have hidden depths. Stay Sweet reels you in with it’s ice cream and cuteness, then draws you deeper with the complexity of it’s true flavour: feminism. And it does it all in a way that leaves you wanting another whole scoop (or carton!) of Meade Creamery after you’re finished. (Sequel, please?)

This is a cute summer read!

I liked the characters in this story. Amelia seems like a simple girl, but she handled tough situations really well. She didn’t expect to be made Head Girl at the ice cream stand, but from the way she reacted to problems, she earned that position. Cate was a great contrast to her. She was much wilder with a carefree attitude, but very outspoken.

The story had some great twists right at the beginning. Molly’s death was quite a surprise. It made the story very serious for a while. But then it picked back up. It was also a twist that the stand was no longer be run solely by women. This was a great twist since women in higher positions in business is an important topic in the world today.

I also loved how the story included some of Molly’s perspective in the form of her diary from when she started making ice cream. It demonstrated that though Amelia and Molly were born decades apart, they were connected through their dedication to the business. This also kept Molly in the story after she died.

I really liked this story. It would be a great beach read this summer!

Review I went into this book with pretty high expectations. It sounded like the perfect fun and cutesy young adult contemporary. However, this storyline was just so ... bland. On the surface level it was entertaining, with some light humour and angsty teen drama. But that's about all it offered. The romance wasn't that believable. I wanted to buy into Amelia and Grady's relationship - but there was just NO chemistry. Their moments together were so bland and, if I'm being honest, I wasn't looking forward to them. I was more so rooting for Amelia finding the recipe to the secret Home Sweet Home ice cream.

Now - despite the above paragraph coming across quite negative, I would recommend this book to younger readers. It's definitely on the lower end of the young adult spectrum, in fact there was a huge middle reader vibe. But the protagonist is 19 ... so it is a bit confusing but it does have some good moments! And I was craving ice cream the whole time!

I didn't finish this book. I found the tone and the style off-putting, and I only made it through a couple of chapters. I did like the premise of the book, just not the execution.

This book had all the promise of being a fantastic contemporary about friends, ice cream, running a business, and romance. But the book only truly thrived when Amelia was sharing her passion and love for her job. That was inspiring, to see her determined to honour her late boss and save the company that means so much to so many people. The descriptions of flavour and setting were fantastic, so much so that it made me want ice cream.

But my god the romance was disappointing. It’s one of the central plot lines, and it was not fleshed out enough for it to be believable. Grady is rude, sexist, and pretty closed off for the majourity of the book and then BAM! Romance. I don’t understand how Amelia grew to have feelings for him because he treated her poorly (and there was literally no hint of a romance aside from her finding him attractive).

I thought the mysterty of what happened to Molly and the love of her life was fascinating, and did end up to have an unexpected reveal. But for a book about friendship, the friendship between Molly and her friends was better than that of Amelia and her friend. Amelia’s friend is pushy, and takes advantage of the situation. Frankly, if I were Amelia I’d be pretty upset with how someone who was supposed to be my best friend treated me. Yes, Amelia is flawed. But she is trying to save the ice cream store.

The book is described as being feminist, but there are some very stereotypical characters: pretty girls being mean or being shallow or slacking at work. I had hope not to see those stereotypes here.

"Stay Sweet" had so much promise, and did have good points. But overall I found the romance and friendships to be quite frustrating. I saw what was trying to be accomplished with this book and I loved seeing the mystery unravelled, but overall I did not enjoy it.

When I first started reading this book, I had high hopes for an enticing plot. And while I did like reading the book overall, sometimes, I would get a bit bored, waiting for something big to happen. It wasn’t until the end where big strides were made in change, and even then, readers don’t get to see how it pans outs. Which is okay for a standalone, but in this case, I wanted to see more action than what I got. The diary entries of Molly Meade were interesting, though. It gave readers a bit more history regarding Meade Creamery.

As for the characters, I didn’t really connect with any of them. But I did respect their development throughout the book, like Amelia, Grady, and even Cate. They all start the summer uncertain of aspects within their life, only for it to be more rectified by the summer’s end. I did admired Amelia’s gumption at the end of the novel. It was great to see her find her passion! I think that’s the time when she really shined (at least, for me).

Well, that’s all I have to say about Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian. While the novel didn’t grab my attention sometimes, I thought that it was good overall.

I knew I needed Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian the second I heard about its publication. This book has everything you could possibly want: summer vibes, ice cream, feminism, and friendship. I loved the ice cream parlour setting, and the main character is a strong leader. This book is cute and has an empowering message, and I would definitely recommend it.

This book is just the summery read that I’ve been waiting for. It tells the story of a summer spent working at an ice cream parlour founded in 1944. When the original owner, the only one who knows how to make the ice cream, passes away and the business is taken over by a boy, it is up to Amelia, the current Head Girl, to try and save the business. I loved the diary entries from 1944 that explain how the shop is founded. It is almost as though the book is two stories in one. I also enjoyed reading about the rituals the girls partake in each summer, since the little things are what make the story so wholesome. The romance is a bit unnecessary in my opinion, but it doesn’t take away too much from the plot.

The setting of Stay Sweet is absolutely perfect. It takes place in an ice cream parlour run entirely by girls. I loved their teamwork and the strong bond between each of them. Since the history of the creamery is so rich, it makes the setting that much more intriguing and even creates some suspense. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with this setting before, and I definitely enjoyed the summery vibes it brings.

Amelia is a likeable main character and an excellent leader. She is so hard-working and determined to preserve the creamery. I enjoyed how she is respectful and uses her power as Head Girl for the best. I did find her to be a bit too submissive at times, however, and she just does whatever Grady says, even if it means abandoning the girls. I would have liked to see her stick up for herself a little more and defy Grady, especially since the book is meant to emphasize the power of women.

Stay Sweet is a cute summery read about managing an ice cream parlour without the original owner. I loved the setting and the journal entries from 1944. The main character is likeable, and she is the perfect person to manage the shop. Overall, this book is the perfect read to get you ready for summer.

What I really liked about this book was Amelia's emotional growth. She starts the book almost kind of whiny. Amelia doubts her ability to be a leader, doesn't think that she's very fun, and is wondering why she was chosen to be the manager of the ice cream stand. As the book progresses, Amelia discovers her passions and becomes more confident, which I really loved seeing. I also really liked the diary entries from the owner of the ice cream when she started making ice cream during WW2. I did feel like there was a point where there were too many, but I do really love the diary-from-the-past trope. The fact that the love interest is in college and is studying business was another element of this book that I enjoyed. (I'm in university and studying business so maybe I'm biased.) Stay Sweet has a bit of an entrepreneurial focus, in that you see all the work it takes to run a successful small business, which is something I have rarely seen in YA.

What I didn't really like was the pace of this book. I found that it dragged in places, making it really easy for me to put down this book at times. I also found that Amelia's lack of self-confidence de-motivated me to read this book at times.

If you're looking for a YA contemporary book with subtle feminist themes, you should definitely pick up Stay Sweet!

I loved this book! The characters seemed completely real, even though some of them made me really angry at some point. The story is really sweet and interesting - I wish it hadn’t ended so fast! Most of all, I loved the atmosphere of this novel. I think that Siobhan Vivian has a way to describe certain moments that included the readers, which I really liked. I felt like I was a part of this story and I became really invested in it for this reason. I’d definitely recommend this novel!

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. It had me craving ice cream the whole way through (and I loooooove ice cream)! Amelia was a great main character - I loved her determination, drive, loyalty and undeniable love for the ice cream stand. The romance was a little underwhelming for me, and I wasn't a huge fan of the other major characters in this novel. But all in all it was a solid contemporary that emphasized girl power - and I'm all about that! I would definitely pick up a final copy, recommend it to friends and check out this author in the future! Thanks SimonTeen :)

Couldn't read this book, as there is no Kindle version available and I can't read off a computer screen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this book, I was really excited because the synopsis sounded really interesting and I've been loving books set in the summer recently but unfortunately I wasn't able to get through the entirety of this one and ended up DNFing it.

The characters to me just felt kind of flat and one dimensional and the story itself was slow and dragged a little. I was also cringing at times with some of the writing and it felt as if it was written for a younger audience, more specifically younger YA. I did however enjoy the ice cream aspect and the summery vibe, I just didn't really find anything else that I liked that kept me wanting to continue on with the story.

This is the first book I've read (or partially read) by Siobhan Vivian and I'm not really sure at this point if I will end up picking up any others by her.

This was absolutely wonderful! I loved how much girl-power there was! And all the relationships were wonderful. I will definitely be getting myself a copy.

Okay, at first blush this book seems like a fluffy summer romance, in the style of Morgan Matson. The first quarter of the book leads you to believe that's the way the story will go. But then a slow burn begins, where Amelia starts taking charge and shows grit, determination, and persistence in her effort to save the Meade Creamery. When she gets ahold of Molly Meade's wartime diary, we get to know more about the background story of the Creamery. The ending is full on feminist awesome, and totally satisfying. Also? I really want to taste Home Sweet Home ice cream.