Roxy's Reviews: Review plus Giveaway! "Girl Out of Water" by Laura Silverman

Fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen will fall in love this contemporary debut about finding yourself-and finding love-in unexpected places.

Ocean breeze in her hair and sand between her toes, Anise can't wait to spend the summer before her senior year surfing and hanging out on the beach with friends. Santa Cruz is more than her home-it's her heart. But when her aunt, a single mother, is in a serious car accident, Anise must say goodbye to California to help care for her three young cousins.

Landlocked Nebraska is the last place Anise wants to be. Sure, she loves her family, but it's hard to put her past behind her when she's living in the childhood house of the mother who abandoned her. And with every Instagram post, her friends back home feel further away.
Then she meets Lincoln, a charismatic, one-armed skater who challenges her to swap her surfboard for a skateboard. Because sometimes the only way to find your footing is to let go.

Girl out of Water by Laura Silverman

Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: May 2^nd, 2017

ISBN: 9781492646860

Formats: Paperback, ebook

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound

About the Author: LAURA SILVERMAN earned her MFA in Writing for Children at the New School, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Girl out of Water is her first novel. You can follow her on Twitter at @LJSilverman1.

Connect with Laura: Website | Twitter | Instagram

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

I thought this was a wonderful debut novel from Laura Silverman! The descriptions of the settings and people seemed to pop right off the page, that's how real it all seemed to me. Here are a few other things I loved:

Anise's relationship with her father. What an awesome guy! Honestly, I would read a book with his story. I kinda wanted him to get together with Anise's aunt, because how perfect would that be for Anise? But this wasn't really his story, so I guess I can't be too disappointed with that lack of development. Still, I loved how Anise's dad always treated her with respect and gave her the freedom to make her own mistakes but wasn't afraid to lay down the law when Anise was acting irresponsibly or selfishly.

Lincoln. He made me laugh quite frequently with his humour and charm. I loved that he had a physical disability, but that he didn't let it stop him from doing anything he wanted to do. I loved how kind and friendly he was to Anise and her cousins. And I loved how he broadened Anise's horizons, showing her things and doing things with her that she would never have seen or done on her own. He almost makes me want to travel to Nebraska!

Anise. Although she did frustrate me, a lot at times, she was still a pretty cool chick! I would love to have her lifestyle, living on the beach and surfing and hanging out with cool friends. Except for the whole mom/abandonment issue, she's got it pretty good. And I loved how even though she was stuck in Nebraska for the summer, once she got over the whole downer of it, she embraced skateboarding as a challenge and gave it her all, practicing and falling and getting back up until she started to really appreciate it. Her determination in that regard was admirable.

There were a lot of great things to love about this book, but overall I felt it was a bit long and at times I was annoyed by Anise's internal dialogue and lack of communication with not only her friends in Santa Cruz but all the other people in her life. I also wanted more closure at the end - so many questions! But still, a wonderful summer read for those who enjoy coming-of-age stories.

My rating: 3.5 stars