Review: Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Publication Date: May 13, 2014
Page Count: 288
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Source: eArc received from publisher in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Cricket Thompson's lifetime of overachieving has paid off: she's headed to Brown University in the fall, with a spot on the lacrosse team and a scholarship that covers almost everything. Who knew living in the dorm cost money? An Ivy League education seems to mean living at home for the next four years.

When Cricket is offered the chance to earn enough cash to afford a real college experience, she heads back to Nantucket for the summer. But the faraway island challenges Cricket in ways she hadn't anticipated. It's hard to focus on earning money for next year, when she finds her world opening up in entirely new ways-to art, to travel, and, most unexpectedly, to a future completely different from the one she has been working toward her whole life. A friendship blossoms with Ben, the gorgeous surfer and bartender who encourages Cricket to be free, even as she smarts at the pain of seeing Zack, her first love, falling for her worst enemy.

But one night, when Cricket finally lets herself break all her own rules, she realizes she may have ruined her carefully constructed future with one impulsive decision. Cricket must dig deep to fight for her future, discovering that success isn't just about reaching goals, but also about listening to what she's been trying to ignore-her own heart.

Nantucket Red picked right up where Nantucket Blue left off. The storyline progressed through Cricket's entire senior year at a rapid pace to get to the events that lead up to another summer spent on Nantucket. I knew from the synopsis that things were going to change for Cricket and Zack. After all of the upheaval and turmoil of the previous summer, I thought things were looking up for them. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about their breakup, but I was ready to roll with the changes and see how the summer went.

Cricket returns to Nantucket for the summer to make money to help pay for college. She immediately gets back together with her friend Liz, a character who's honesty and personality I really enjoy. Jules was there too, of course, and she and Cricket were still working on mending their friendship. Cricket and Jules often ended up running into and/or hanging out with Zack and his new girlfriend. It hurt Cricket to think that Zack moved on from her so easily, and she tried to be understanding, but it was hard when Zack's new girlfriend is Cricket's enemy. I didn't like the way things went bad between Cricket and Zack. A lot of it had to do with immaturity, but it was still so hard to read about.

Believing that she was getting over Zack, Cricket started hanging out with Ben, the bartender at the restaurant where she works. Ben was older and had also been through a bad breakup recently. Even though Cricket and Ben really hit it off, Cricket came to realize that she wasn't as over Zack as she thought. Cricket did a lot of growing up over the summer, and she learned a lot about herself. She also came to understand that she needed to do what was right for her, and not have to live up to everyone else's expectations.

I found Nantucket Red to be just as entertaining as the first book. Cricket's entire future was up in the air for most of the summer, but I like how the story eventually played out. The focus wasn't entirely on romance - friendship played an important part in the story, as did the beginning of Cricket's transition into adulthood.

Overall, Nantucket Red was a really great read. I loved the characters, the plot, and especially the setting. I also enjoyed the author's descriptive writing style. If you read and enjoyed Nantucket Blue, then you should definitely pick up Nantucket Red. I think you'll like it just as much as I did.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars