artsy musings of a bibliophile

There are certain books that take from you as much as they give you. They drain you emotionally, drawing out your mentally weakened form and transforming your thoughts into fire, igniting a passion in you like no other. The passion to live life to its fullest. These are the books that make me think and think hard about what life has to offer to us. The possibilities are endless. Last Summer is such a book.

Last Summer began with a glum feel to it, a resentment boiling inside Chloe for the way her life is turning out to be with no control over the outcome. So Chloe does what she can, she pretends but she knows she cannot hold out for long. With parents who can go without saying two words to each other for a week, who could?

Short of hanging out at their summer home in Sandy Shores, Chloe figures wandering around the lake and the forest will be good enough. Then she finds Logan in the abandoned cottage and it's like she's been introduced to a new challenge. Now Chloe has someone to look forward to during the persistently dull summer and to do something more than just daydream about the childhood summer days spent carelessly with Jessica, a long lost friend. And finally, to say goodbye to isolation.

However, for Logan, what started as an undeniably euphoric moments might be the very moments which will make him regret ever taking up the habit in the first place. Withdrawal seems like the only plausible solution but of course he isn't strong enough to do it himself. So when help willingly arrives in the form of Chloe, Logan is hesitant and suspicious. He sees Chloe as a poignant reminder of all things home and a craving stirs in him. But Chloe is strong and she believes that she can help Logan out of his addiction.

Spending time together makes them realize that it could easily turn into something more. And it does, by developing into something deep. With both their souls bared to each other, what will they do? Will they last or will it be their first and last summer together? The book is told in alternating point of views and I really liked reading what was going on in their minds.

Last Summer wrecked me emotionally, tickled my toes with its sexiness, saddened me with its reality and kept me on my toes about its ending. It turned out to be a book about surviving the worst and relishing the best. Last Summer has a plot unlike any other book I have ever read. One of the must reads for 2012. I appreciate what Rebecca A. Rogers has done with the issue of drug use and she definitely have a very fluid way with words.