Summerland. Finished 2-26-19, 4/5 stars, fiction, pub. 2012

Unabridged audio read by Erin Bennett. 13 hours.

A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. What begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny’s boyfriend, Jake, and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt–but the emotional damage is overwhelming. Questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel.

As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents, the secrets kept, promises broken, and hearts betrayed.  from Goodreads

When I posted my first Goodreads Cleanup post on Christmas this was the first book listed, the one that’s been on my Goodreads wish list the longest.  I am proud to say that I listened to it and liked it, thus meaning many more Goodreads Cleanup posts 🙂

It begins with the death of a talented junior and it follows the stories of the three in the car with her when it happened and their parents, all friends.  To say this is a bit sad is an understatement.  The cover and title make it seem a bit more happy than it really is.  It felt a bit like a soap opera, but not in a bad way.  I love that the narrator was someone from the small community of Nantucket.  She was giving us an insider’s look at what went down and it worked.

I liked it, but since I didn’t really feel an affinity for any of the characters I can’t say I loved it.  I did feel sympathy, lots of it actually, but no real connection.  Still a good story, but a bit of a downer for me.  I’m glad I read it.  Any story that takes me to Nantucket is worth reading.