Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Four/five stars

Second Chance Summer is a book full of summer fun, regrets, heartache, heartbreak and, of course, second chances.

After five years of avoiding her summer holidays hot spot, Taylor is left with no choice but to return. When her father suddenly becomes very ill and it is his decision to spend one more summer together, as a family. She is scared to return because of the “awful” things she did five summers ago. Everything was perfect when she was 12 and spent her summers with her best friends Lucy and Henry, but one night everything changed and she ran away from it all.

I really enjoyed this book and was an emotional mess at the end. This was my first Morgan Matson book, and I loved it. The big blocks of memories and flashbacks between dialogue got a little bit confusing and slightly annoying after a while, but it was necessary to the story.

At first, I didn’t really like Taylor. She was a self-centred brat who ran away from situations when life got too hard. But Taylor improved and I ended up loving her. I also admired her strength towards the end. Life started to get tough and, at first, she ran away from something she loved, but eventually she made all the right decisions and stuck by the ones she loved.

The other characters were well written too. I fell in love with Lucy! She wasn’t afraid to say what she thought and could hold a grudge, but she lightened up and become nice, friendly and compassionate. She was someone who I could imagine telling all my secrets too and crying on her shoulder. She wasn’t pushy, and she respected Taylor.

Taylors’ family were weird. They never expressed their feelings or talked, and it was clear that Tay’s mum had a favourite child. Of course, at the beginning, Taylor was convinced she was the insignificant middle child, and I suppose she was in a way. But she was also her father’s favourite. And that has gotta count for something, right? Taylor’s siblings, Gelsey (named after a famous ballerina. Sounds like Kelsey.) and Warren, were also quite self-centred, which probably contributed to the fact that they were not a very close family. But, about half way through the book, the relationship between the three changed, which made me happy!! My family is so close, so I love reading about close families and seeing whether the family is similar to my own.

And finally, probably my favourite character, Henry. Aww Henry. You brought the best out of Taylor. You always have. I don’t have anything bad to say! I loved you and please, looks after Taylor and her family!

Second Chance Summer had me laughing and crying and screaming! I loved it. Cannot wait to read more Morgan Matson books.