Book Review: How My Summer Went Up In Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

How My Summer Went Up In Flames

By Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Release Date: May 7, 2013

Source: Library

Summary: First she lost her heart. Then she lost her mind. And now she’s on a road trip to win back her ex. This debut novel’s packed with drama and romance!

Rosie’s always been impulsive. She didn’t intend to set her cheating ex-boyfriend’s car on fire. And she never thought her attempts to make amends could be considered stalking. So when she’s served with a temporary restraining order on the first day of summer vacation, she’s heartbroken—and furious.

To put distance between Rosie and her ex, Rosie’s parents send her on a cross-country road trip with responsible, reliable neighbor Matty and his two friends. Forget freedom of the road, Rosie wants to hitchhike home and win back her ex. But her determination starts to dwindle with each passing mile. Because Rosie’s spark of anger? It may have just ignited a romance with someone new…

Review: I've seen this one around for a while and it looked like the perfect summer read. So, I decided to pick a copy up when I was at the beach and spend a lazy summer day reading about someone else's summer adventures. 

Rosie's always been the type to act before she thinks, but this time she's gone too far. When she figured out her boyfriend had cheated on her, she set fire to his things in his driveway...only to catch his car on fire. Now, Rosie has one temporary restraining order and two very upset parents. The only way her parents can think to keep Rosie out of troubling is sending her on a cross-country road trip with their family friend Matty and his two friends. Rosie is not happy with how her summer has turned out to be, but things on the road start to heat up and the summer may not be as bad as Rosie first thought...

The premise of this book sounded like something I would love. A romance gone wrong, only to lead a newer, better romance on a road trip? Sounds like a perfect YA summer read. If only Rosie weren't so full of herself, maybe it would have been. For some reason, it was like every single guy in Rosie's life was in love with her, which got annoying after about the third guy. Rosie's personality was entertaining, but sometimes it was just a bit too much and a bit too unrealistic. 

I did, though, enjoy the guys on the road trip. Each one had their own personality and added something fun and quirky to the road trip. And the stops they made along the way to dropping one of Matty's friends at college were definitely unique (they stopped at Dollywood. How awesome is that?) and added a lot of fun to the story. 

While the road trip and characters were enjoyable, there wasn't a whole lot to this one. What you see is what you get, which is a fun summer read. How My Summer Went Up In Flames is also a quick read, so while it may not be amazing, it's still fun to knock out in one day.