I loved this book. Rachel was the best main character. She was SOO funny and so honest. She spent her high school years working really hard, studying, volunteering and being the perfect student. She also works at her parent's Italian restaurant too. Now that she has graduated, she has realized that she didn't have that much fun really....she finds this book that she thinks her Nonna left for her all about seizing the moment and saying yes to new experiences....and she starts doing just that. But saying yes to everything starts to get her in trouble! Her longtime crush finally starts talking to her and invites her out and her friend Miles whom she has known forever starts acting like her likes her too. Rachel realizes eventually that changing her life so quickly may be a little too much....she is absolutely hysterical in her thoughts and actions, and I love all the current pop culture references as well. Great book! Quick read! Just what I needed as it is quite the mood lifter!

She worked hard for the past four years, earning the title of valedictorian and a spot in the freshman class at Northwestern University, but in order to accomplish her goals, she had to miss out on many things. That was why Rachel decided to stop saying NO, and to make this her SAY YES SUMMER.

• Pro: This book was the super-fun rom-com I was hoping for. It was great watching Rachel expand her social circle, as well as, reconnecting with a childhood friend. We went to parties, crossed the boarder, and even climbed over 300 steps together. I had a terrific time sharing all these experiences with her, and I, more or less, had a smile on my face the whole time.

• Pro: There was also some substance to this book. As Rachel said YES, she was experiencing many notable firsts and teen rites of passage. All this YES led to some mistakes, and she sort of lost herself in all of it for a bit. But, have no fear, she quickly found her way back. This idea of risk taking, but staying true to yourself was prevalent, and I quite liked the way Culli wove it into Rachel's tale.

• Pro: I adored Rachel. Her determination, focus, and dedication were admirable, but I also liked seeing her explore new options. I loved being in her head, because Rachel with no filter was fantastic, and I just found her so honest and real.

• Con: Alert! Love triangle! I am not a huge fan of these, though, it was, thankfully, short lived, and I was ok with the way it worked out.

• Pro: Rachel's family was so fabulous! They had some ups and downs with Rachel during her summer of yes, but they were patient, and always loving. I especially adored her Nonna, who was wise, and often, hilarious. She was a straight shooter, and had no problem setting Rachel straight, but she did it with lots of love and affection.

• Pro: I already mentioned the love triangle, and I have to admit, both the suitors were pretty wonderful. On the one hand, there was her crush, who she had pined for throughout high school. On the other hand, there was the boy she grew up with, shared a million memories with, and who she suddenly started seeing in a different light. I will admit, I enjoyed the bit of romance she shared with both of them, and that sort of made me this particular triangle a bit difficult for me.

Overall: You know what I don't regret? Saying YES to this book, because I had the BEST time reading it. It was fun, sweet, touching, and it left me with a gigantic case of the warm-fuzzies and a HUGE grin on my face.

3.5 stars

I really liked this synopsis and the blurb from Kasie West, so I jumped in.

I really liked Rachel. She’s smart and once she realizes that she’s kept her head down all through high school, she’s determined to try something new. There’s a pretty small group of characters here and I will say that Nonna stole every scene she was in.

Plot wise, it was good. There’s a lot of fluff and fun experiences coupled with boys and rekindled friendships. I loved the growth Rachel had and this slice of time was perfect for what she wanted to do.

Overall, it was a quick and super cute read with a character I could easily root for.

**Huge thanks to Delacorte Press for providing the arc free of charge**

I’ve never heard of this author and totally thought that this was a debut novel, but turns out her first book was published about four years ago. I will say though, that this book kind of read like a debut – it felt like there could have been a little more polishing with the flow of writing/ plot and a little more depth to some of the characters.

First, I love this concept. The concept of realizing that the way you’ve been living hasn’t lead you to live your best life. I also think back to the movie Yes Man .. clearly this idea is not new, but the stories that writers can create with the idea can be a lot of fun.

Say Yes Summer kind of accomplished that, but also fell flat a little with really executing and having fun with the idea of a character saying yes to everything and have a bunch of adventures, good and bad.

Our main character, Rachel, realizes how much she may have missed out on while giving the valedictorian speech at her high school graduation. During her high school career, she was always solely focused on school, getting the grades and the extracurricular activities she needed to get into her first choice college. She had everything planned out. Except a social life beyond her one best friend.

This is where I think a little more was needed to really jump start the plot. After the ceremony, her long time crush extends an invitation to a small get together. After saying no, she stumbles across a self-help book about saying yes to basically everything. That puts the idea of summer of yes into Rachel’s mind. And she starts with the party her crush, Clayton, invited her to. It just didn’t feel the most natural.

From this point in the plot, I was expecting fun adventures and deep learning of herself beyond being studious and smart. Honestly, the beginning set up a story where the main focus seemed to be Rachel stuck between her crush Clayton, and her long-time friend from childhood, Miles. Don’t get me wrong, I was expecting some kind of romance. However, I didn’t really expect it to be the main focus. And Rachel didn’t even fully comprehend an important lesson about saying yes or saying no – her grandmother had to tell her; after everything kind of blew up in her face. Although honestly, I might not have figured it out either if I was eighteen again. Who knows.

As for the romance, Rachel messes up big time with both Clayton and Miles. However, after her apology to one of them, he accepts, but then he kind of just disappears. It’s like this character was just put in to make things complicated. When I definitely don’t think it was that necessary. I think it would have been more interesting to make this one character just a friend. An additional issue I had was that the characters didn’t feel fully developed or just a little on the flat side.

I thought the writing was good, just not really good. There were several parts where a character is talking, gets interrupted, and then it’s just a new scene. Even if there was a clear paragraph break, it was still a little jarring to just not have those conversations finished.

Overall, it definitely hit the mark for a simple and cute YA story that was an easy read. While I enjoyed reading it, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if the plot and characters were just a little more developed.

It was such a cute book! I personally relate to the main character in the book. I’m not a huge person on trying new things, but this book shows that it’s ok to say no sometimes but you should also try to branch out. My only problem was I felt like the explicit language was unnecessary in this book. Otherwise I recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet fun read.

2.5 Stars
I was so excited to jump into this fun summer ya rom-com. At the beginning, it was giving me major 'Since you've been gone' by Morgan Matson vibes. The main character focused so much on school and after graduation realizes she didn't do much outside of the classroom. She thinks no one knows who she is and wants to be different before she leaves for college, so she decides to 'say yes' to things during the summer. It starts out with her dropping her responsibility and going on a last minute adventure with a guy she had a crush on for a long time and I was totally on board. But after that one adventure, it seemed choppy and like things were happening too fast. I wish the story was drawn out more for more adventures. There was so much the writer could have done with this but it fell flat. The love triangle Rachel ended up in didn't feel earned. I didn't feel pulled into cheering for either guy because there just wasn't much to go on. Rachel never expressed why she liked either guy or what they made her feel. It bounced from one big thing to another where I felt it could have been fleshed out more. There's also a lot of really deep things going on with each character that is just lightly touched on, like the writer tried to fit too many pieces into a puzzle, and it didn't work. All that to say, It was a fun read, I didn't dislike it, it just didn't meet my expectations.

What I did like: Rachel's relationship with her Nonna; her family restaurant and how that played a role in the story; the feeling of summer and being able to do whatever you want; and her restored relationship with an old friend.

Well, I guess maybe a younger reader would have enjoyed this more. For me it was just okay. Overall it was cute, and an easy read. My issue was that Rachel seemed so immature to me, and her reactions were more like a middle schooler than a high school graduate. ( I have both middle and high school kids). I also didn’t like that for someone who has spent her life aware of the consequences of irresponsible behavior and quite frankly was very judgey of everyone else’s poor choices, Rachel had no consideration for anyone but herself during her summer of yes. In any case, I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t my favorite.

Rachel is a great character trying to find herself and learn to grow. When she decides to say yes to things, it changes not only her but her course of life. This was a cute YA contemporary romance. I also really enjoyed all of the characters in this book and look forward to more quick and quirky novels from this author!!

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhousechildrens for allowing me to read this early readers' copy! I've been wanting to read this after I saw that it had been marketed to readers of author Morgan Matson. Say Yes Summer is a classic short, sweet, coming-of-age novel. It's that perfect book to add too your summer #tbr list!

Rachel Walls is figuring out who she wants to be in life before going off to college in the fall. She has one summer to prove to herself that she's not just the quiet girl who spends all her time doing homework and trying to make her transcript standout as everyone else thinks. She's taking a page out of an old self-help book that her grandma gave her and saying yes to every possibility that comes her way this summer.

Say Yes Summer was a super cute YA contemporary with themes of growth and friendship. As a studious, cautious person growing up, I really related to Rachel. I loved her family dynamic and the fact that she has a job at the family's restaurant. I liked the way the book dealt with female friendship and had her reconnect with someone she’d drifted apart from. It was fun to see her try new things!

As I know some readers are extremely opposed to a messy romantic situation, part of Rachel's saying "yes" is exploring her feelings for two different guys. I definitely support teens who are exploring all their options in life, but there was a back-and-forth between the guys that made me a little sad. Both were great guys and I knew she'd have to reject one (and of course I had my preference.)

But overall I really enjoyed this one and I'm happy that I have found a new author to put on my YA contemporary list!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ ~ 4 stars!

Thank you to Random House Children's Books and Netgalley for sending me an eARC! Ratings and all opinions in this review are completely my own.

This book is written about this overachieving girl, Rachel, and how she decides to spend the summer before she goes off to college by having some fun and saying yes to every opportunity.

I found this to be a very enjoyable, fun, feel-good (and pretty quick) read, which is something we can all use during this time in quarantine... I feel like I can relate a lot to Rachel in the fact that school is a very big and important aspect of my life. I did quite like Rachel <spoiler>until she decided to date 2 boys at once</spoiler> , although I really respected the way she handled the situation in the end. I like the character development and how in the end she was able to find herself despite getting into some pretty sticky situations.

Her reconciliation with Carrie was one of my favorite things, as well as how Culli added the talk between Rachel and Bethany. It made Bethany seem unlike the typical popular-has-it-all trope in what are perceived to be snotty teenage girls, but reminded us that in real life everyone is fighting their own battles, whether we see it or not.

I liked both Clayton and Miles, they have little quirks of their own that really makes the reader struggle to choose which one they liked more (at least for me), and which one Rachel would choose. <spoiler>I have absolutely no problem with her and Miles because I was rooting for that all along ;)</spoiler>

Rachel's family dynamic was also very interesting and real for me to read about, because her parent's weren't afraid to set boundaries for Rachel when they felt like she lost herself.

The reason why this book doesn't have 5 stars is mostly because of the love triangle. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with a MC trying to decide which person she likes more, but what I really cannot stand is when <spoiler>they try to DATE them both at once...</spoiler> Shouldn't they have read enough books or watched enough movies to know that it never ends well? Oh well <spoiler>good thing it didn't happen for very long before they found out</spoiler> I have major respect for Rachel not just trying to get over what happened, but admitting her faults and being (at least in the end) honest.

I would recommend this book to anyone into YA romantic contemporaries! Just beware of the love triangle in case you can't stand those... It was an enjoyable read and I will definitely read more from Lindsey Roth Culli in the future!

2.5 Stars
Not going to lie. It was the "Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Netflix/Hallmark Channel rom-coms..." that got me wanting to read Say Yes Summer. I was excited to for a great YA summer read. I probably should have read the reviews first. If I had, I would have known this book wasn't for me.

Say Yes Summer has something I hate in romances: the dreaded love triangle. Love triangles frustrate me. I don't like people in real life dating two people at once, so I am not a fan of it in books either. It makes a book an uncomfortable read for me. So, even while I was enjoying other parts of this story, I couldn't completely let go and enjoy the majority of it.

I also had a problem with the way Rachel's family responded to her making small changes. They were really judgemental. I didn't see what the big deal was. They acted like she completely changed when she hadn't.

What did I like about this book? Well, I liked that Rachel was at a crossroads in life and was using it to try new things. I loved that she was reconnecting with a friend who had disappeared from her life earlier. I liked Rachel in general. That was pretty much it.

So, yeah. I think this was more of this book not being for me and not a reflection of how well it was written or anything. The author did a nice job with the writing.

i love the concept of this book (i love yes man). it sounded so intriguing! the cover is so cute as well. and for the most part, i enjoyed this book.
i adored the friendships. the characters. the STORY.
imagine my surprise finding out there was a love triangle! that trope never gets old!
only thing stopping me from giving this 5 stars is that this book was very... anticlimactic????? i'm so disappointed by how everything was resolved.

This was a cute and fun book about saying yes to new possibilities. Rachel just graduated from high school and realized she said no to a lot of things. She found Nonna’s old self help book about saying yes to new opportunities. From there Rachel opened up to saying yes to parties, new and old friendships and dating. I thought it was a cute way to find herself and to learn that saying yes to new opportunities can be a good thing. I loved Noona’s wise words during and at the end of the book. The faults I found was the love triangle. I’m not a big fan of those and especially when both guys are awesome. It’s just not right to hurt people. I also would have liked a better ending.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review.

This a perfectly cute YA book for summer. Rachel has always been the good girl, exceptional student, who said no to everything in order to meet her goals. With graduation completing her high school experience she is wondering what is next. When she happens on a self-help book that gives the advice to say Yes to new experiences she decides to experiment. So when the boy of all her high school fantasies asks her to a party, she decides to say yes.

The only problem is that sometimes saying yes to one thing is saying no to some other experience. Will all the experiences Rachel learns that sometimes you have to apologize those you hurt, no everyone has life easy even if their social media says otherwise, and sometimes taking chances does pay off.

Rachel Walls, the class valedictorian, has lived a life that is sheltered and (somewhat) lonesome. She is a student that spent the majority of her time focusing on grades and having a huge crush on the school's popular soccer player. As the start to college gets closer, Rachel makes the decision to follow the book "A Season of Yes!" and decides to have a fun, adventurous summer. (If this book sounds familiar... I'm guessing it's based on "The Year of Yes" by Shonda Rhimes, which is also a great read.) While too much adventure can lead to trouble, I think this book does a wonderful job of capturing the quick, impulsive decision that young adults tend to make. This is a quick, light-hearted read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

SUMMARY

The perfect book to kick off summer! For as long as Rachel Brooks can remember, she's had capital-G Goals: straight As, academic scholarship, college of her dreams. And it's all paid off--after years of following the rules and acing every exam, Rachel is graduating at the top of her class and ready to celebrate by . . . doing absolutely nothing. Because Rachel Brooks has spent most of high school saying no. No to dances, no to parties, and most especially, no to boys.

Now, for the first time in her life, there's nothing stopping Rachel from having a little fun--nothing, that is, except herself. So when she stumbles on a beat up old self-help book--A SEASON OF YES!--a crazy idea pops into her head: What if she just said yes to . . . everything?

And so begins a summer of yes. Yes to new experiences and big mistakes, yes to rekindled friendships and unexpected romances, yes to seeing the world in a whole new way. This book is a fresh and fun take on the coming-of-age novel that explores the quintessential themes of growing up: taking risks, making mistakes, and, of course, love. And who knows? Lindsey Roth Culli's hilarious and heartwarming debut may just inspire your own SAY YES SUMMER.
REVIEW:

I have a soft spot for post-high school books right now, for reasons that are probably obvious if you have read any of my past reviews. Maybe it's preemptive nostalgia for a time that, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, I will probably never experience. Whatever the cause, though, I'm currently rather enamored of books set in the pre-college summer. This one caught my eye for a few reasons. 

As an overachiever in high school, I completely empathized with Rachel's "really? Is this it?" feelings upon graduating and realizing how much she missed out on. No, I never wanted to get wasted with people I would never speak to again, and I still don't (shudder), not to mention my dating prospects were nonexistent - but I still felt myself wondering what it would be like to have had a high school experience that stood out. So as dumb and impulsive as it admittedly was, Rachel's idea of spending the summer saying yes to every available opportunity is something I'm probably just desperate enough to try. Reading about Rachel's new experiences and relationships felt like living an alternate reality of my own life (other than the hot boy suddenly deciding that he liked me...never in a million years) because Rachel's coming from the same place that I would be. That made them fun to read about. And the tone of the story is so unabashedly optimistic and upbeat that you can't help but have fun following Rachel's new adventures in yes-saying. 

So, was this a perfect book? Of course not. A lot of the characters weren't all that well-developed, most of Rachel's decisions were kind of insane, and the strange love triangle dynamic definitely rubbed me the wrong way. But the writing was great, and ultimately, reading about someone else's life-altering post-senior summer was exactly the escape I needed from a senior summer that's shaping up to consist mostly of me sitting on my bed reading books. 

ENDNOTES

Best Scene: Clayton and Rachel's Canada date made me want to hop in my car and make for the Mexican border (which...is 20 minutes away from me so that's not saying much) ASAP. 

What Stood Out: reading this felt like drinking a strawberry milkshake: it's what you drink when you can't handle anything else because it's easy to get down, undeniably delicious, and makes you happy. 

What Bugged Me: Rachel's decision to resolve a love triangle by dating both guys behind each other's backs came off as all kinds of deranged. 

Content: scattered cursing and a few innuendos, but mostly clean. 

Rating: 4/5 Golden Grasshoppers

Jim Carrey’s “Yes Man” meets “Booksmart”: being more open-minded and adventurous to seize your each moment in your life plot works quiet good and we have an entertaining, feel-good, fast reading young adult story! Its story mostly soft, sweet, reminding us of classic teenage binge-watch, enjoyable streaming movies; a quick read for having fun and forgetting your daily stress and brightening your mood for few hours.

Morgan Matson a high achiever, successful student, working her ass of her being A-grader and future college plans. Now summer is coming and graduation day is getting closer but she releases: she turns into a dull girl with her all work no play policy. 80’s one of the favorite popular Cyndi Lauper song starts playing in her ears: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and of course this girl needs so much fun after working so hard for her goals.

So she decides to say “yes” more and seize her opportunities to bring more enjoyment into her life: but this decision comes with a coast: a love triangle! ( since To all the boys: P.S. I still love you divided us two teams between Peter and John, it comes like a formula for any teenage story development.) But I have to admit: I couldn’t find reliable this love triangle. From the beginning that was only one candidate literally screaming Morgan’s face to choose wisely.

After learning to say “yes”: Morgan didn’t have acid trip, driven by Lyft driver school teacher to crush out the party or crush into graduation ceremony at the last minute with high speeding car like Booksmart characters did. Actually she didn’t say everything to yes. Her decisions are logical and she never made anything inappropriate which results with unpleasant consequences. But her family treated her like she is losing her mind. They were truly annoying.

Overall: It is a sweet, fast reading with likable heroine. As I mentioned before romance parts a little failed for me but the conclusion is okay. The parents were portrayed a little unrealistic. But I’m still rounding my 3.5 stars to 4. It is easy, quick, feel-good, have-fun read!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

This is a great summer read about first love. It's a perfect beach read for a teen looking for a novel that explores love, relationships and self discovery.

Rachel has just finished high school as class valedictorian and realizes that she spent her entire high school career focused on that goal. She never attended parties or sporting events and didn't make many lasting friendships. She discovers a book that tells the reader to say "yes" to situations that they would typically say "no" to. In the spirit of that book, Rachel decides to give it a try for her last summer at home before heading off to college. When the boy that she has had a crush all on through high school begins showing an interest in her, she puts her new resolution to the test by saying "yes." Rachel begins to discover her first love, but doesn't have enough confidence in herself and trust that he really likes her. So, she says "yes" to her oldest male friend, a love triangle ensues.

I loved this book from the first page! It did not disappoint in being a perfect summer read. It was evenly paced in a way that we don't often see in books similar to this. There didn't seem to be any "filler chapters" and I loved that. The book wasn't so fast-paced that I felt like I was missing something, but it kept moving at a steady pace that kept me interested and intrigued.

It was amusing, relatable, and descriptive in a way that I loved. The main character, Rachel, was a lot of fun to witness this story through. She had a distinct voice that was beautifully portrayed by Culli. Rachel was very funny and so relatable in many ways. I found myself nodding my head in agreement, and smiling and laughing at so many parts. it brought back so many memories of my high school experience and of thinking a lot of the same things as the main character.

Something that I think made this book stand out to me was the descriptions used throughout the book. Culli has a beautiful way with words. The way she painted each scene and Rachel's experience, in general, was wonderful to me. The descriptions weren't cliche or overly used, but new and refreshing, and still completely relatable. It was creative and new and I loved every minute of it.

My only squabble was the fact that I really liked both of the guys and, although I was happy with Rachel's choice, there wasn't really a good resolve for me with the other one. There was no reason for me to dislike him or want Rachel to dump him like a sack of garbage. I found that I still wanted to have him be a part of her life somehow.

Overall, I loved this book! I will be recommending it to everyone I know this summer!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.