Book Review | Open Road Summer | Emery Lord

Title: Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon | Goodreads | B&N
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release date: April 15, 2014
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, Walker Childrens!)

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

THIS BOOK. You know sometimes when you read a book and it’s just so incredibly swoony and fun that you just get all the happy butterflies? And maybe, if there’s a little cheesy business, you flat-out ignore it because everything else was just such a good time? I read books like that a lot, and OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord was one of them for me. I love reading books that are good times. I also love reading books that have some emotional meat along with a really wonderful romance. OPEN ROAD SUMMER was that, too. And yeah, it was maybe just that little bit perfect in the way that a lot of contemporary YA books are. But I’m not complaining. (Honest.) Emery Lord’s debut was the perfect summer read (even though I read it in the springtime), and I’ll be reading whatever else she’s got up her sleeve.

So OPEN ROAD SUMMER is the story of a few things: One, it’s the story of two best friends who are on a road trip together. Two, it’s the story of a troubled young woman and a grieving young man finding romance where they least expect it. Three, it’s the story of teenage celebrity and all of the sacrifices young famous people have to make in their personal lives. Four, it’s the story of straight-up swoony fun. Reagan is the troubled young woman. Her BFF is Lilah, aka Dee, basically Taylor Swift but with a different name (obvs). Reagan has some pretty awful things in her past and she’s been making trouble and lashing out ever since. Dee’s big tour is starting, though, and Reagan accompanies her to get some perspective and a clean slate. Matt Finch is the swoon-master and Dee’s opening act and the grieving young man. Everyone has some baggage. There’s drama and kissing and emotions, but the ending is not sad. Like I said, good times.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about OPEN ROAD SUMMER was the way it balanced the romance and the friendship. Yes, Reagan and Matt are perhaps the heart of Emery Lord’s book, but Reagan and Dee are a lot of it, too. They have a wonderful, strong friendship that spans many years and many changes. They couldn’t be more different, but they are different in a very complementary way. I loved reading about them and the way they supported each other. I also obviously loved the romance between Reagan and Matt. I got the tingles reading about them and the way they connected so slowly and hesitantly. BEST.

OPEN ROAD SUMMER also contains one of my favorite plot devices of EVER: ROAD TRIP. I mean, Reagan, Dee, and Matt are not road tripping it hardcore. They are road tripping in state-of-the-art tour buses and then staying at nice hotels. But there was this incredibly fun summer vibe with the country music and the outdoor concerts and the buses that really appealed to me.

I know that a lot of the focus in OPEN ROAD SUMMER is on Matt and Reagan–and I’ll talk more about them in a second–but I also really appreciated Dee and the way her own personal life was portrayed. I felt so bad for her, having to dodge all kinds of personal questions and deal with a legit heartbreak in the spotlight. The stress she’s under is intense and I felt for her. I also LOVED her. She’s a super friend to Reagan and Matt, and I was a big fan of hers. I’d buy her songs from iTunes.

Now, I know that if you’re reading this the chances of you knowing something of Matt Finch are high. He’s worth all of the swooning and YA boyfriend-grabbing people are getting into. There’s nothing that tugs at my heartstrings more than a guy who is confident and funny but also sensitive enough to get a tattoo of a Bob Dylan song that reminds him of his mom. (Also, GREAT SONG.) I loved that he and Reagan have to deal with personal shizz before they can be together for real, and while I didn’t really buy the wrench in their relationship–I thought they had plenty of fire and spark between them to create their own drama without needing an outside element–I found their pairing very satisfying. They had great banter and energy. It’s hard not to love them.

Friends, OPEN ROAD SUMMER has been getting so much great buzz and it deserves every good thing people have to say about it. Emery Lord’s debut is fun, sweet, a little sad, and has a perfect summer vibe. I can’t recommend it enough.

Check out some other reviews of Open Road Summer by Emery Lord!

April & Jen @ The Starry-Eyed Review: “I loved Open Road Summer. It had everything I was looking for.”

Andi @ Andi’s ABCs: “It had all the highs and lows of a great contemporary book. I laughed and swooned and cried and felt those deep feels that only a truly great book can make you feel.”