Road Trippin' July Miniviews #12: #16thingsithoughtweretrue & How My Summer Went Up in Flames

#16thingsithoughtweretrue by Janet Gutler

Publication Date: March 4th, 2014

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 283

Source: Purchased

Rating: 4/5

Well this one was a surprise. I totally pre-judged #16thingsithoughtweretrue as a light and fluffy road trip book. And it's definitely far from that. First off, it was very easy to relate with Morgan our MC. She's absolutely obsessed with Twitter and the amount of followers she has. As far as she's concerned those are her friends. She's also a Youtube star. But not because she wants to be. Her ex-bff posted a video of her dancing around in guys briefs that quickly took off. Obviously it was very embarrassing but it also ostracized and alienated her. I think because of that Morgan's attitude is very poor and isn't the most likable character to begin with. The crap doesn't stop there though. Within the first few pages Morgan's mom has a heart attack. Which of course is an absolute shock but also starts to change a lot of things in Morgan's life.
Morgan doesn't know who her dad is. Absolutely nothing about him. For some reason her mom has kept everything about a total secret. But with the uncertainty of her mom's health, her mom starts to part with some information about her dad. And Morgan knows she needs to meet him.
This is where two new and unexpected friends come in. Amy, a weird and quirky girl that Morgan works with and Adam their manager, who Morgan isn't overly fond of. But when her mom becomes sick he turns out to be a complete comfort to her. Anyways, when Morgan decides to go across the boarder to Vancouver to find her dad Amy and Adam offer to come along. When she surprises her dad and shows up at his door, well things don't turn out exactly like she thought they would.
I did really like Morgan. You could tell she was hiding behind her Twitter account. She can be a little cynical and not terribly nice. But once Adam and Amy come into her life they teach her to just be herself because she's a pretty awesome person. Adam is super cute. I love my nerdy guys and he totally fits the bill. Morgan and his relationship eventually starts to form as more than friendship and I totally ship it. It's just adorable. Amy is this little pixie like girl that never stops talking. She's hilarious and doesn't hold back. But in a good way. She gets Morgan to open up. I really loved her.
This is a great story about self discovery that really packs a few unexpected punches right into the feels. Just when you think everything is going good, pow, right in the gut.   

How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Publication Date: January 1st, 2013

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 320

Source: Purchased

Rating: 3/5

This one was a fun read and perfect for summer. It's a road trip book that takes you across the southern US. I had some LOL moments and overall really enjoyed the characters. The MC, Rosie was very annoying to start off with. So her behaviour and general attitude unfortunately gave the book a rough start for me. But once she got on the road she started to have a few epiphanies and smarten up. So the reason why Rosie ended up on this road trip was because she caught her boyfriend cheating on her and in normal rash teenage hormonal response she set a box of his things on fire. In his driveway. Beside his car. Which caught on fire. She than might have called and texted him repeatedly. So she earned herself a restraining order. Matty, her next door neightbour and best friend thought it would be a good idea for her join in was his friend, Spencer and older brother, Logan on their road trip from New Jersey to Phoenix where Logan was starting college so she could cool down. Matty is also in charge of her cell, so she doesn't "accidentally" break her restraining order.

As with a lot of road trip books the MC tends to do some soul searching and come to a better understanding of themselves. And this was no different. Rosie starts off as a bit of a princess with a bad attitude. She doesn't tend to think about anyone before she speaks. And her rash decisions seem to get her into sticky situations. But being stuck in close quarters with three teenage boys, two of who she's just meet, has it's affect on Rosie. She slowly starts to realize that she can't pull that crap with these guys without being called out and it starts to change her persona. What was also a surprise about How My Summer Went Up in Flames was the lack of romance. I was a little skeptical when Rosie firsts meets Logan. She's instantly attracted to him and he has that indifferent, I'm going to pretend you don't exist attitude. So I figured we'd get some insta-love between them. But actually no. Logan turns out to be a really good guy and there is definitely a few intense moments between them. And it's obvious they both want more. You'll just have to read until the end to see how these guys end up.
Like I said, really fun road trip book. I'd actually look forward to a follow-up. The ending leaves you satisfied but hoping we'll see more Rosie in the future.