Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book! I was super excited to read this book purely based off of the description and it definitely did not disappoint. I would recommend this to all young adult readers! It’s a great coming of age novel.

I decided to read another #youngadult long overdue #netgalleyarc. This was about two estranged cousins forced to complete their #grandfathers #travelbucketlist to receive their inheritance from him. Can they get along long enough to receive the money and survive the additional surprises their grandfather sends them through letters he wrote before he died? A #heartwarming ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ novel that I know I would have enjoyed reading in high school. 📚📚📚 #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #booklover #bookrecommendations #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview #my2023readingchallenge

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of NOT OUR SUMMER. Review has been posed on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I adored this book about two cousins. I love stories that revolve around messy family dynamics and misunderstanding and this book really delivered on both. Definitely an author I want to read more of in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This is a fantastic story about family and healing the wounds inflicted from past generations. I figured out the "twist" early on, but was still delighted when it came.

I think I got too far into this book without reading the summary. I judged the book by its cover and ultimately didn’t end up enjoying the book at all. The two main characters were annoying and at times way too self-centered for me to fully understand what their motivations were to do all the dumb things they did. The writing was good but the girls themselves were not.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had an amazing plot, but I felt the characters were a bit hard to connect to.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

I enjoyed this! It was a good read, and I wish I could give it a half star because I think I'd prefer to rank it at about a 3 and 1/2 stars instead of simply 3.

It was a quick and easy read, and it had a lot of fun moments! I loved the letters from grandpa, and the idea of them living out what he wanted to do + his memories was such a sweet idea. I think the real issues for me with this book was I just didn't like the characters, and I thought the fact that we didn't know why their moms hated each other until about the last 5 chapters was silly. I think the climax came out of no where, as did the 'secret' that we find out.

I did enjoy it overall, and I think it was a cute and easy read, it just had some plot + character issues that I didn't enjoy.

I got an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, NetGalley.

This book begins at the funeral of a loved grandfather who was a homebody. Estranged cousins K.J. and Becka, through their grandfather's will, are forced to spend the summer together at the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, whitewater rafting in South Carolina, diving in Key West, and participating in a local rodeo. The two grow closer, almost like friends. But when their grandfather's latest leather reveals a bomb of a secret their mothers (who are sisters) have been keeping from them, will they continue with the journey to get their inheritance.

First off, the only main thing I didn't like was K.J. smoking. I don't like books where are the main characters smoke. That's just my personal opinion.

I did like to see the journey these cousins took. It was enjoyable to follow with the alternating chapters between the two girls. They were realistic, and nothing really felt forced.

K.J. might come off as white trailer trash, but she is still a likable character. Her cousin, however, is more image-conscious than she is.

This is a story about two cousins who have been virtual strangers throughout their life coming together to complete their grandfather's bucket list wishes. A good read.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I thought this was a fun read. It was super quick with a cute romance and very entertaining. This book brought so much joy and enjoyment. Such a happy read!

A book with rival cousins, a bucket list of things to check off over the summer, and a ridiculous amount of fun? This was all it took for me to want to read this book!
I had an absolute blast reading this book.
It was fun, easy going, greatly paced, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Basically when their Grandpa dies, cousins KJ and Becka has to forget their family feud and go on five adventure road trip if they plan to inherit anything. It talks about betrayal, finding common grounds, walking the thin line between what's tight and what's been taught, the newness of a tentative friendship, and most of all, having the experience to mature and understand world as it is.
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My Rating [4/5] 🌟🌟🌟🌟
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First of all, KJ was a spitfire and I loved her character so much! Her relationship with her mom and Carter was something of a refresher to be honest. The unapologetic trait gets her into trouble, but she stayed true to herself and the playfulness when around Becka was adorable! Becka was a softie inside a hard shell amd the more she spent time with KJ, the more she realised that not all that's told could be true.
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I loved the relationship growth between the girls. It was messy, it was real and it was amazing. All the back and forth banter, the moments they realise the other might be cool? I lived for those moments! I really liked the relationship between KJ and Carter, and Becka and her mom. It wasn't perfect, but they made sure the other was taken care of. They were there when things got hard. I especially squealed at that ending and when KJ did something out of her character!! But that ending gave the girls more incentive to do better than the family feud. Overall, this book was something I needed and loved with all my heart! It was wholesome, cute, heartwarming and heartbreakingly real with it's content. I'm so glad I read this one to be honest.
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Tags : Coming of age, No romance, Road trip/travelling, Difficult family relationships.
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Thank you @netgalley for the gifted review copy!

(actual rating: 3.5/5)

'Not Our Summer' is a novel with a premise I've never really seen done in books, only movies or TV shows. Becka and KJ are estranged cousins - their mothers are sisters who fell apart following an incident with Becka's father. As a result, the cousins don't get along much either. That is, until their grandfather passes away, leaving an inheritance with a catch: the girls have to go on a series of trips that were on his bucket list to get it. The real question is if they will be able to stand each other long enough to succeed.

Honestly speaking, the plot of this book was a bit slow. I didn't feel any real development in Becka and KJ's relationship until about halfway through the novel, and even then, it was quite graudual. I mean, I guess this was the most realistic way that the plot could have grown, because anything else would have felt rushed or underdeveloped.

The 'big reveal' that happened towards the end of the book was *extremely* predictable. I saw it coming from a mile away and it was quite satisfying to see how things turn out exactly the way I thought they would. It wasn't, however, boring as I had expected, and if anything, was actually really natural and memorable in how it came to a conclusion.

The characters, to me, at least, felt basically the same. Yes, they had different backstories and situations and problems that they were dealing with, but ultimately, they were written in the exactly same 'voice', if that makes sense. There were little things about them to make them seem like different 'people', but they were essentially the same 'character' - just two people to tell the story through.

While telling the story through the two different main characters did add a certain amount of detail to the story since it was told from their first-person perspectives, it didn't add much that couldn't be added with an omniscient third-person narrator, which, in and of itself is pretty sad to think about.

Overall, while I did really like the story and felt that it was centered around an interesting concept, this book was firmly mediocre for me. There was a certain emotional disconnect between the book's characters and what they experience and the reader, likely due to the copious amounts of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. That being said, it did make for a somewhat enjoyable read, and was fairly quick as well. I would probably recommend this to you if you like movies or dramas with similar plotlines.

Not Our Summer by Casie Bazay was a fun summer read suitable for teens 14 and up, Id say.
Not that it is entirely unsuitable for your early middle schooler, but it might not be relatable for them just yet.
I liked both main characters in their own right and enjoyed seeing their growth throughout the story. Their fighting and bickering can get a little annoying at times, but hey, that's family... especially if you had been estranged for a long time. And maybe I am just annoyed by it cause they are teens, and well, I am not. That could have something to do with it... The teen in my house enjoyed the book and wholeheartedly recommends it to her friends.

I adore this book! Both characters hooked me in different ways, right off the bat. Plus...who doesn't love a road trip! It's a light-hearted adventure, with the perfect amount of depth in the enemies-to-family storyline. Feel-good and fun story that will leave you craving a vacation!

My thoughts on this book are a bit mixed. The first half was very though to get through for me. I just wasn't enjoying either of our characters and I got frustrated by the fact that we just didn't know why they hated each other so much. That kept me from being able to sympathize with them. The second half went much better though. I do think the two characters going from hating each other to liking each other was kind of quick and wasn't really developed well. However, in the second half we also got the reason why they hate each other and I didn't get it. I mean, I totally understood why their moms don't like each other anymore but why their children hated each other so much that they each thought the other was the absolute scum of the earth just didn't make sense to me at all. The ending I actually liked quite a bit and the traveling aspect was also a lot of fun. So yeah, all of that combined comes to a three star for me.

I absolutely adored this book, themes are centered around death of a loved one, family drama, relationships. I would recommend it to everyone