This cute YA follows a high school senior as she follows her dreams and works in conservation. She stays with her gay uncle, is grieving the loss of her best friend and stumbles upon love even though she is not sure if she is ready to fully leave her ex behind. I think YA readers would enjoy this one. It was a bit predictable and the meet cute wasn't as cute as I would have hoped, but it does have some interesting themes and characters that go beyond the most basic of YAs. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

Who knew a book that keeps bringing up whales would be so good? I love the main character. While she's gone through a lot in losing her best friend, she tries to keep momentum in her life by checking off her bucket list and plans she had. I could totally feel the chemistry between love interests. It's great to see how the story plays out. Loved the author's writing style. This was an easy read and such a beautiful story.

The Edge of Summer is a cute read to start off the summer with. If you need to get summer vibes going to Cape Cod with our main character Cor will definitely take you there. If you enjoy audiobooks, I would definitely recommend this one. I read along while listening and the narrator did a great job with this book.

Cor is grieving her best friend and decides she needs to complete their bucket list before she heads off to college. Both of them wanted to save whales, so the marine biology internship was her dream come true. I really enjoyed this aspect of the story. We really do harm whales with a lot of things we do, but they are amazing creatures. I loved that the author put effort into this side of the book and I did learn quite a few new things about whales.

Then we get to the Cor losing her best friend side of the story. While this is a YA book and we do read about it, I feel like this kind of stayed on the surface. As a teenager, Cor, is supposed to get caught up in friendships and love, but I would've loved for this side to get just a little more attention. Her romance with Mannix is sweet and I enjoyed him as a character.

All in all, The Edge of Summer was a cute story, but I don't think it'll be one I think about a lot now that I've read it.

Loved the whales! The conservation information and the overall aspect of nature in the book was amazing. The characters (esp the main) and the romance left something to be desired. If your here for the whales totally recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me advance access to this title. I really enjoyed reading this story and look forward to reading more from this author. As a reader, I am really motivated by character driven stories and I found myself quickly becoming immersed in these characters’ lives. Full review to come.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A story of whales, summer, and even a bit of loss. I enjoyed most of this book, but maybe it's my age reading YA, the main character was definitely doing things that were dumb teenage things that made complete sense as to why others were hurt by it. But getting past that, overall it was enjoyable!

I really enjoyed this book, and especially toward the end, I couldn’t put it down. My favorite parts were about the whales, and I love how the author increases awareness for what they go through due to us humans. But I also enjoyed the story of a flawed character dealing with guilt.

This was very Sarah Dessen feeling and I really enjoyed it. A cute little summer romance that becomes big feelings. A little bit of family, friendship, loss and growth. I also enjoyed learning a little bit more about whales. I'd recommend for anyone looking for a sweet summer read.

The Edge of Summer was a light contemporary romance novel about two teenagers learning what matters most to them.

The book follows a 17-year old high school student, Cor, as she struggles with both guilt and grief following the death of her estranged best friend Ella. When Cor decides to do a marine biology internship during her summer in Cape Cod, she meets a charming lifeguard named Maddix who quickly sweeps her off her feet. Soon she finds herself forced to choose between her newfound romance and honoring all the promises she made to Ella in the past.

Seeing as it is currently summer, now is the perfect time for this book to be released. It’s a quick read that manages to be a feel-good story while also dealing with themes of loss and grief. Both Cor and Maddix are going through a lot of emotional turmoil of who they want to be vs who their loved ones expect them to be. It’s a very relatable issue and I have no doubt that it will speak to the book’s target audience.

Throughout the novel, there’s this repeated theme of Cor seeing and hearing Ella speak to her. This is something I see in basically any book about grief and it’s gotten to the point where I’m wondering if this is an actual common phenomenon in humans after experiencing loss, or if it’s simply a writing tool that authors have continuing using to help push their stories along. I can’t tell how I feel about it yet.

My only real complaint about Summer’s Edge is that I didn’t think Cor went through enough character development. There are several scenes from the past that reveal her as previously being selfish, sensitive, and afraid to stand up for herself and others. I thought the point of these was to show how much she’s grown by the end of the novel, but when I finished the book, I still felt like she was all of these things, just slightly less so. She is, however, only 18 years old. She has a lot of time to figure herself out.

Seeing that this story was set in Cape Cod was one of the biggest reasons I picked it up. It sounded fabulous and I was so excited. Though I didn't have many expectations for the book, it didn't quite turn out to be what I had hoped and expected. I wasn't a fan of the characters, which is a mood killer for sure. There were also minor subplots and themes that I don't care for. Overall, this book just didn't work for me.

I absolutely loved this book. Our main character is returning to the beach that her best friend just died at a year before. She is armed with a plan to make things right after that tragic day. The only issue was that her plans didn’t include falling for the cute lifeguard .

I quite enjoyed this coming of age story set on the beaches of Cape Cod. I have a huge thing when it comes to the name of my male MC and Mannix severely missed the mark. Not a fan whatsoever but was still able to enjoy the story. I don't think I had ever quite realized just how magical whales are and it was exciting the way the author was able to add that element to the story without making it sound like a Save the Whales extended commercial!

After reading the synopsis, "for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson", I decided to ask NetGalley for a copy and got an eARC in exchange for a review.

After losing her best friend to a drowning incident the previous summer, Coriander (Cor) goes to Cape Cod and spends the summer with her Uncle Jack while taking a marine biology internship. It isn't too long before she meets Mannix, the sexy local lifeguard and wannabe chef. Cor develops new friendships with some of his friends as well as others at her internship. Throughout the summer, she has a to-do list she tries to complete. But falling in love was not part of that list.

I absolutely LOVED the setting of the town. It was a PERFECT beachside town. I enjoyed how Emma, Cor's friend that she lost a year prior, was still there for her and helping her through her friend's first summer without her. I enjoyed her budding romance with Mannix, how neither of them planned to fall in love and it ended up happening.

I didn't enjoy the conflict later in the book, but not because of the writing or because it didn't feel real. I just didn't enjoy that bit of selfishness that Mannix displayed. And I'm not really into marine biology, so there was that. Though, I'm still glad I read the book.

This is a quaint little Summertown romance that is just a pinch heavy with Cor dealing with her friend's death still, but all-in-all, it's a good summer read/beach read. Add this to your list.

DNF

I hate to DNF books, especially ARCs, but this one was not for me. I thought this book sounded really interesting, and I loved how whales were such an important part of the book. As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, I couldn't. I'm not a fan of insta-love, and this book was major insta-love. The main character, Cor, got on my nerves. She was very unlikable. I put this book down and debated with myself about finishing it, and I decided to read some other reviews. Based on those, the sexual content gets worse and the main character seems to only get more frustrating. That was what ultimately led to my decision to DNF. It looks like a lot of people enjoyed this book, but it just was not for me. I would also hesitate to hand this to a younger teen due to the language and sexual content. If you love whales, books that deal with grief, and are okay with insta-love, you might love this book. Overall though, I can't really say I recommend it.

Whaley great book alert 🐳 I was so excited when I found out about this book, as it is nearly impossible to find stories with whales in them. Coriander is spending the summer interning at a marine research center on Cape Cod to help study whales and aid in disentanglements. First of all, that would be a dream job. Fun fact: I actually originally went to school to work with marine mammals so this book was right up my alley! I loved watching Cor grow over the summer and how her relationship with Mannix developed. I also loved how the author emphasized the importance of safe fishing practices and what goes into saving entangled marine life. I truly felt like I was right there with Cor, seeing the whales up close and definitely fell in love with Fraction. If you are a whale lover like me, put this one at the top of your tbr. Thank you netgalley and Little Brown for my copy!

A must read for whale lovers.

Coriander (Cor) Cabot is working through a bucket list of sorts, trying to complete a list she and her best friend have been planning for years. Except the best friend died the year prior and Cor has not come to terms with her grief, the loss of her friendship and the loss of the person she was when the friend died. She is working in Providencetown, RI at a Marine Institute when she sees the whale she and her friend "adopted", the one with half a fluke missing. Cor feels drawn to this whale and her need to reconnect with her friend, to make it up to her friend.

Like Cor I have felt drawn to whales for as long as I can remember. Class projects were done about them. I wrote papers in college for them. While I never actually went on to become a marine biologist (crippling fear of the ocean will do that...), I still gravitate toward whales and dolphins and they continue to fascinate me. While this is also a summer romance, it is also a coming of age tale.

Overall I enjoyed the book, I read it in 2 sittings. I wanted to return to the book every free moment I had to find out what happens.

I read Erica George's debut Words Composed of Sea and Sky and found a strong new voice of young adult stories. When I saw her sophomore book The Edge of Summer on Netgalley, I was quick to request it. Once again, the setting is Cape Cod and this time around there is a strong focus on saving the whales. This focus is intricately wrapped through out a story of grief, sweet romance, and character growth.

Coriander (Cor) Cabot has had the dream of saving the whales since elementary school. She shared this dream with her best friend Ella but the past year really tested their friendship and ended in tragedy. Now Cor is left with their to-do list and a whole lot of guilt. This summer she is staying with her Uncle Jack in Cape Cod and interning at the Marine Biology Center, which is where she and Ella always planned on doing their internship together. From day one her guilt is overwhelming her to the point where she may just screw up the one thing she has always dreamed about. Plus, there is also this cute distracting local boy named Mannix.

Cor is both blaming herself and trying to come to terms with what happened to Ella. This plays a huge role throughout the story and it impacts Cor's growth as a character. The Cor that we meet in the beginning is not the same as the one at the end. Her sense of longing and wanting to be accepted all play a role in what happens with Ella and during the summer that follows. There were a couple times that I just wanted t shake Cor and tell her not to be so selfish. She felt like a real teenager who was something with something which I think demonstrates Erica George's strength as a writer.

Erica George's other strength is the setting she creates. I felt like I was in Cape Cod seeing the whales myself. And this says alot of her writing as I have never been there. I have always wanted to go on a whale watching trip and reading this just cemented that for me. From the descriptions, I could see why Cor was so in love with the area and what it brought to her.

The area also brought Mannix to her and he honestly may have been too good to be true. He's sweet, hardworking, and takes an interest in what Cor is doing. This includes saving the whales. While their relationship was cue, I felt that Cor took Mannix for granted some times in the same way she had with Ella. She expected both of them to just always be there to come back to and is unreliable with them. She recognizes this behavior with her relationship with Mannix but, still has difficulty controlling her impulses. And this is a point where I wanted to shake her as a character but also where she felt most like a teenager.

Erica George is quickly becoming an author that will remain on my radar. In The Edge of Summer, she gives us another character who may drive you crazy but who can also be relatable as a teenager. She also presents an beautiful setting and isn't afraid to delve into more difficult issues. Topics such an endangered animals, grief, unsupportive family, friendship, and first love are all examined in depth. I look forward to enjoying more books from Erica George in the future.

This book was a fast fun read! I definitely enjoyed it, even though at time the main character did seem selfish with mostly everything that she did. There are a few trigger warnings so please look them up. Definitely a good book to pick up to pass the time!

DNF @ 82%

I'm going to start this review off by saying that I know I am not the intended audience for this book so that may have been why I could not relate to this book. I normally will power through once I reach 70% in a book but I just could not stay interested in this one. Cor was just generally a unlikable character who treated people terribly and I just could not fall for the insta love. While it did talk about grief I just feel like there are better books out there. Again teens may relate to these characters I just did not care enough about them to finish.