Review: SUMMER SKIN by Kirsty Eagar

Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar
Published: February 1, 2016 by Allen & Unwin (Australia)
Source: Purchased from overseas (& totally worth the wait in shipping!)

Jess Gordon is out for revenge. Last year the jocks from Knights College tried to shame her best friend. This year she and a hand-picked college girl gang are going to get even.

The lesson: don't mess with Unity girls.

The target: Blondie, a typical Knights stud, arrogant, cold . . . and smart enough to keep up with Jess.

A neo-riot grrl with a penchant for fanning the flames meets a rugby-playing sexist pig - sworn enemies or two people who happen to find each other when they're at their most vulnerable?

It's all Girl meets Boy, Girl steals from Boy, seduces Boy, ties Boy to a chair and burns Boy's stuff. Just your typical love story.

A searingly honest and achingly funny story about love and sex amid the hotbed of university colleges by the award-winning author of Raw Blue.

"Taking a keen look at modern day intimacy in a hook-up culture, Summer Skin expertly shatters notions of slut shaming and the pull of sexual desire. Realistic, modern and moving, the story of Jess and Mitch is as smart as it is hot. Kirsty Eagar has written the feminist love story that girls have been waiting for." Clementine Ford [goodreads]

This book popped up on my radar sometime last year, where I promptly added it to my to-be-read list, making a mental note to pre-order from overseas as soon as it became available.  It's probably one of my most anticipated reads of 2016.  Kirsty Eagar is an Australian writer, who's books I wish were more readily available to US readers.  Her stories are not impossible to get though.  If you have some patience, trust me when I say this, they are so worth the wait -- and Summer Skin is worth every single penny, every single minute, and so much more.

What I loved so much about this story is Jess's unashamed ambition.  She's a strong girl, with a good head on her shoulders, who begins this story wanting to seek revenge for a friend who's been mistreated.  What she does is both bold, and daring, and possibly a bit questionable.  My first reaction was, !!! (insert words I cannot say without revealing too much).  The boy who ends up being the target for her revenge has an air about him, both mysterious yet cocky.  I knew there was a deeper story to his being, and I was determined to figure it out.

It's a slow build between Jess and Mitch, who circle each other for quite a bit, claws out and ready to strike.  But every once in awhile the world falls away and we see a softer side to their harsh edges, something so much deeper and richer, waiting to be extracted.  As the story progresses, so does Jess's lingering questions.  What she thought she knew of herself and who she stood for begins to shift, shining a new light on someone she's not so certain about, but definitely curious to explore.

This story is meant for mature readers, and I highly recommend it to those who seek strong female leads that are not afraid to be who they are.  Not only was this novel my most anticipated read of 2016, it's quite possible my most favorite read of the year, too.  Summer Skin is every bit delicious, empowering, and irresistible.  As soon as that last page turns, I end up wanting more and more from Kirsty Eagar, like always.

Link to buy Summer Skin: Book Depository (free delivery worldwide) 

My Summer Reading in Review

I have had a very successful summer when it comes to reading!  I started out wanting to read a few books, but didn't give myself an exact schedule to read by.  I think this worked to my advantage.. and it also encouraged the laid back, relaxing atmosphere which always entices a good book.

I had the pleasure of traveling quite a bit as summer began... jet setting from Texas all the way to Seattle, jumping in the car and road tripping it to the river, or spending a week at the beach with my family.  All of these vacations were fun, relaxing, and memorable.  And OF COURSE there were great books involved for each one!  Below are a few of the books which stood out as my "favorites" read this summer.  There's still a few weeks left of the season, so hopefully it will encourage you to grab a few and finish out your summer with a great book.

How to Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Written in her wonderfully honest, edgy, passionate and often hilarious voice, Tiffanie DeBartolo tells the story of Eliza Caelum, a young music journalist, and Paul Hudson, a talented songwriter and lead singer of the band Bananafish. Eliza's reverence for rock is equaled only by Paul's, and the two fall wildly in love.

When Bananafish is signed by a big corporate label, and Paul is on his way to becoming a major rock star, Eliza must make a heartbreaking decision that leads to Paul's sudden disappearance and a surprise knock-your-socks-off ending. [goodreads]

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker
Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? [goodreads]

Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar
Imagine there is someone you like so much that just thinking about them leaves you desperate and reckless. You crave them in a way that's not rational, not right, and you're becoming somebody you don't recognise, and certainly don't respect, but you don't even care.

And this person you like is unattainable. Except for one thing...

He lives downstairs.

Abbie has three obsessions. Art. The ocean. And Kane.

But since Kane's been back, he's changed. There's a darkness shadowing him that only Abbie can see. And it wants her in its world.

A gothic story about the very dark things that feed the creative process. [goodreads]

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
Love is awkward, Amelia should know.

From the moment she sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while Amelia, is 15.

Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket, they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in such different places in life really be together?

Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break your heart can still crack you up. [goodreads]

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be---but she still can't shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken. [goodreads]

I ended up re-reading three books this summer, as well. The stories were so good I just wasn't quite ready to say goodbye!

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over. [goodreads] 

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Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols
A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business — until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers — and the consequences could be deadly. [goodreads]

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Easy by Tammara Webber
When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem—their only interactions are through email.

Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees—hoping for more.

Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy. [goodreads]

So tell me, which books have you read and enjoyed this summer? Did you travel anywhere and take a book along for the trip? I love summertime, but I am definitely looking forward to some reprieve from the heat... and all things pumpkin! Bring on Fall!

Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar

Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar
Published: April 26, 2012 by Penguin Books Australia
Received: Purchased from fishpondworld

Imagine there is someone you like so much that just thinking about them leaves you desperate and reckless. You crave them in a way that's not rational, not right, and you're becoming somebody you don't recognise, and certainly don't respect, but you don't even care.

And this person you like is unattainable. Except for one thing...

He lives downstairs.

Abbie has three obsessions. Art. The ocean. And Kane.

But since Kane's been back, he's changed. There's a darkness shadowing him that only Abbie can see. And it wants her in its world.

A gothic story about the very dark things that feed the creative process. [goodreads]

There is something to be said about Aussie YA writers.  I've mentioned it before in previous reviews I've written for Melina Marchetta, Cath Crowley, and even Kirsty Eagar's work; their style of story-telling stands separate from anything else I've read before.  I have this gravitational pull towards them, knowing that when I open one of their books, it's an instant love affair I can't put down.

Night Beach is difficult to put into words when it comes to summarizing it's story.  Yes, it involves a girl who loves art just as much as she loves to surf.  It also involves an older boy who lives downstairs, which shares the same love for surfing.  Abbie is the girl and Kane is the boy.  I went into this story imagining a lustful love affair between these two characters, the unattainable boy for which Abbie can't resist.  What I got, was completely and shockingly different.  The story went so much deeper, so much so that I literally said out loud a few times, "what the *insert inappropriate word here* is going on??!!"  There are elements in this story which literally left the hairs on the back of my neck standing, prickling all the way down to my fingertips holding the book which my mind said to close, yet my eyes kept racing forward - page after page.

This book is every bit haunting and beautiful.  It digs deep inside the creative mind and shows how powerful and ugly it can be.  Abbie struggles passionately with what is reality and what tricks her mind is playing on her.  The same tricks seem to plague Kane, and she spends her time trying to weed through the nightmares, in search of answers that Kane refuses to give.  I know this is such a vague summary, but I really can't explain much more without giving away the plot itself.  You must read this story for yourself and endure this delicious nightmare.

Kirsty Eagar blew me away with her writing in Raw Blue.  She's done it again with this particular piece.  Night Beach reminds us that the world we live in is not always black or white.  The shadows that creep inside our lives throw color -- some pretty and majestic, others dark and haunting -- inside the spaces that are often over looked.  Eagar does such a superb job of placing you inside the twisted mind of Abbie, a girl who feels so real and so normal, yet splashes each page with such fierce emotions.  I was completely drawn to her and could not stop reading until I found that last page.

Though Eagar's work is not published in the U.S., you can still purchase her books through fishpondworld - spending the extra money and waiting a few weeks for shipping is definitely worth it, in my opinion.

Wow. Just wow.

Watch the powerful book trailer, which captures the essence of this story:

In My Mailbox {76}

Only two books showed up in my mailbox recently, but they are two books which I hold very close to my literary heart.  I had the opportunity to read Something Like Normal months ago & fell in love with Trish's debut.  I knew right away I had to own a finished copy.  Look at the pretty!!!  When it arrived I cradled it for a bit, then turned it over only to find Carla's blurb RIGHT THERE ON THE BACK. Oh my goodness.  Carla is the one who first introduced me to Trish Doller, so seeing her words on Trish's book - just completed the moment for me.

That other shiny goodness you see, yup that's Kirsty Eagar's newest contemporary - all the way from Australia!  I adore Aussie YA writers.  There's just something magical in their words which captures my attention.  After I devoured Raw Blue earlier this year, Eagar was put on my "instant read" list.  I can not wait to share with you all my feelings on this particular piece. Holy crap.

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller [goodreads]

Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar [goodreads]

What's in YOUR mailbox this week?

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar
Published: June 29, 2009 Penguin Books Australia
Received: on loan from Bibliophile Brouhaha

Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing … and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago at schoolies week.

And then Carly meets Ryan, a local at the break, fresh out of jail. When Ryan learns the truth, Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy? {goodreads.com}

There is something unique and poignant about Aussie YA Contemps.  I've had the pleasure of reading a handful of them by a few different authors, and each one has gotten a five-star review from me.  Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar is no exception. Once again I have found myself completely blown away by the beauty of this author's style of writing.  I have no idea what's in the water over there, but they are producing some seriously talented writers!

Carly is a surfer girl.  She lives and breaths to be on the swells, catching the perfect wave in to shore.  She's also a girl who escapes to the waves in avoidance of one horrific night that won't leave her memory.  Since that traumatizing event, she's shut off her family and friends.  She's quit school and moved to another town.  Surfing is what keeps her sane now.  Riding the waves alone is what her purpose has now become.

All of that changes when she meets a fellow surfer boy by the name of Ryan.  He's mysterious, yet calm.  He's the one to make contact first with her, and little by little she starts to shed her outer shell and let Ryan in.  Life has become easier by avoiding her past, and pretending it never happened, until Ryan discovers the secret she's kept buried for so long.  Carly's fears are churning inside her on the brink of over flowing.  She's not quite ready to deal with the reality of what had happened, and like before, her instincts kick in to retreat back inside her shell.

This is a story about over-coming obstacles we battle within ourselves.  Every one has personal demons, whether they're caused by someone else, or inflicted by our own doings -- they are there.  We can choose to bury them, like Carly did, letting them eat at us from the inside out.  Or we have a choice to deal with these demons, no matter how unbearably difficult it may be.  If we're lucky, we'll find people like Ryan along the way to help us see the beauty that still lies inside us.

This novel weighs heavy in my mind, and in my heart.  It's the raw, vulnerable words that have stirred something inside me though.  Every once in awhile I'll come across a novel that is more than just a story to me, it's a piece of honest artistry that's been molded between the pages. I am honored to post this review as my first 5-star review of 2012. 

Though this novel is not available in the U.S., you can purchase a PB copy from fishpondworld.
Thank you Linds for being such a strong advocate for Raw Blue and sharing this beautiful story with me.