How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: May 7, 2013

First she lost her heart. Then she lost her mind. And now she’s on a road trip to win back her ex. This debut novel’s packed with drama and romance!

Rosie’s always been impulsive. She didn’t intend to set her cheating ex-boyfriend’s car on fire. And she never thought her attempts to make amends could be considered stalking. So when she’s served with a temporary restraining order on the first day of summer vacation, she’s heartbroken—and furious.

To put distance between Rosie and her ex, Rosie’s parents send her on a cross-country road trip with responsible, reliable neighbor Matty and his two friends. Forget freedom of the road, Rosie wants to hitchhike home and win back her ex. But her determination starts to dwindle with each passing mile. Because Rosie’s spark of anger? It may have just ignited a romance with someone new…

I really expected How My Summer Went Up in Flames to be different. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but... for lack of a better choice of words, my ship sank. My OTP didn't happen. I feel slighted. I'm pretty sure this has never happened to me like this. I mean, of course my ships have sank before... but it's never felt this ridiculously off. Like, why did she even go for the other guy? I don't even understand the appeal, you know? But I've got to talk about something else for a bit.

I wasn't sure I would like Rosie in the beginning. Sometimes she seemed okay, but other times she was just out of nowhere impulsive and kind of annoying. She was definitely 900% high strung, that's for sure! She could be hard to deal with, even for me.

I love love loved the character of Matty, who was a my ship. I freely admit that I wanted Matty and Rosie to happen - because the guy she chose is nothing in comparison to Matty, who was super sweet. He could also be super nerdy, and he was just ridiculously adorable. He seemed like a little kid sometimes, but then others he acted like an adult. It was part of his charm.

Logan and his brother were okay, but they didn't really stand out as characters. They had a few moments, but most of the time they were kind of in the background. All of the boys were super endearing, though. As a group, they really worked well together, and I liked the dynamics of it.

The road trip was fun too - it's always fun when you squish a group of people in a car for a trip! I always love road trips. The time progression was a bit weird, though. It felt like the trip went on forever, and that everything that happened was months old. Which is not necessarily a bad thing!

All in all, How My Summer Went Up in Flames would have totally been better if my ship had sailed, but it really wasn't a bad book in spite of it. Just a bit sad.