Second Star

Second Star

By Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Published on May 13th 2014
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Source: Publisher

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

Second Star is a book that sticks with you.  I went into this book knowing that it was sort of a Peter Pan retelling- and the retelling portions of this are quite obvious.

Don't get me wrong- there are absolutely things that I didn't really like about the book.  The main character is pretty dumb at times.  She does some pretty stupid things in the name of finding her brothers.  She makes bad choices (and hello she takes a pill for crying out loud and has no idea what it is -- that doesn't end well). I didn't find myself particularly LIKING any of the characters.  I am okay with that though, I don't HAVE to like the characters.  I just want to feel SOMETHING (good or bad) about them.

There is a huge twist in this book, one that makes you wonder what in the world you read.  I know a lot of readers were really turned off by this twist.  I have to say though, I really enjoyed it.  It totally caught me by surprise- I didn't expect where this book ended at all.

All in all, this was a good book, and one that I remember with positive feelings.  I can't say, though, that I would go back and read this book again.