A Midsummer's Nightmare

Title:  A Midsummer’s Nightmare

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher:  Poppy

Publish Date:  5 June 2012

Pages: 304

ISBN:  978-0-316-20212-1

Source:  bought

Genre:  Young Adult, contemporary, romance

Series:  none

Rating:  liked

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

What will happen to Whitley when her world is turned upside down?  Whitley is used to things going a certain way with her father.  She usually spends the summer with him at the lake house.  She is excited to do just that, but there is that little thing called high school graduation that she needs to attend to.  After graduation, she attends a party and has a one night stand with a cute guy.  At least she thinks it is a one night stand… 

When her father comes and picks her up for the summer, she is blown away by the news that he is getting married and has moved away from the lake house.  There goes her perfect summer.  Not only that, but her soon-to-be step-mother has two kids, one of which happens to be Whitley’s one night stand from graduation.  Whitley doesn’t like this change at all.  Her father’s new family is just too perfect, so she acts out.  Whitley is spiraling down a dangerous path.  Will her new family and friends be able to save her from herself?  What will become of Whitley’s relationship with her new step-brother?

I don’t usually read contemporary novels.  I don’t know why I don’t.  I had pre-ordered this book and was pleasantly surprised when I read it.  Kiplinger had a way of sucking you into the story.  I thought Whitley’s character was well developed.  I liked the interaction that she had with her new step-family.  This was one of those books, when I finished it, I wished there was a sequel because I wanted to know what happened with Whitley, Nathan and Bailey.  I will definitely keep Kiplinger on my radar.