Leah
Written on Jun 3, 2010
I said in my The Boys Next Door review that I had heard such great things about Jennifer Echols that when I saw I could buy her latest book, Endless Summer, along with the first book for a relatively cheap 5€ I decided to take the plunge and give her books a go. I do have another of her books on my shelf - Going Too Far - and after the first two books I've read of Jennifer Echols are anything to go by then I will certainly be rushing to read Going Too Far as well as trying to round up the rest of Jennifer's books. I read The Boys Next Door in around three hours and since I couldn't think of any better way to spend my night I decided to carry on with the next book all about Lori and the Vader brothers and see how it all panned out for them.
Endless Summer follows on pretty much where The Boys Next Door left off (which is mildly unfortunate because it means my review will feature a spoiler about the end of The Boys Next Door, not purposefully but so I can write a decent review). After a long day at a festival, Adam decides he and Lori need some alone time so he takes her to his secret making-out hideout and, rather unfortunately, the pair fall asleep together and roll back home in the early hours of the morning much to the annoyance of both Adam and Lori's parents who then forbid Adam and Lori from seeing each other. That doesn't go down too well with Adam or Lori and they both hatch a plans to make their parents see sense. Adam's plan is to, for once in his life, do as he's told and Lori's plan is to date someone worse than him to make her dad see sense (kind of like the Hannah Montana episode, which I shouldn't admit to having seen). Adam obviously isn't a fan of Lori's plan (would any sane boyfriend/girlfriend be OK with that?!) and it causes ructions in their relationship. The question is, though, do they have enough love for each to survive their parents disapproval but is it all too much for two young teenagers?
I kind of fell completely head over heels for the first book so it was always going to take a lot for book two to live up to it and, to be fair to Endless Summer, it did live up to my high expectations which rarely happens with sequels. Thankfully both Lori and Adam's characters stayed completely the same from the first book so it was relatively easy to slip into Endless Summer. Jennifer Echols actually went a step further with Endless Summer because The Boys Next Door was written solely from Lori's point of view whereas Endless Summer was written from both Lori and Adam's perspective. I thought that was a bit weird at first, because I wasn't expecting it, but after a few chapters it totally worked for me because it meant we could hear what both Lori and Adam were thinking about their parents' decision to stop them dating each other and, further more, what they thought of each other's plans to get their parents back on side.
What I liked best about Endless Summer though was the fact none of the character's changed. That's important because with sequels, characters personalities and way of acting can change completely without warning but thankfully everyone involved in Endless Summer was exactly the same as in The Boys Next Door. Lori was just as fantastic as ever, in fact I'd love to have her as a friend because she seems like she'd be a great friend. Yes, her idea for getting her dad to like Adam was a bit bonkers but I could understand her thought train for that. I'm fairly sure I loved Adam more in Endless Summer than in The Boys Next Door. He is such a well-rounded character it's hard not to love him! Because the book is also told from his point of view, we get to see more of the real Adam; the Adam who struggles with his temper and who has grown up with two brothers who constantly rib him about his ADHD among other things. I was with him when he told Lori her plan was not the way to go, because it really wasn't, and it was easy to see how that hurt Adam - he'd only just gotten Lori and now she wanted to date other guys? So you can see how he would take that hard. Sean and Cameron, Adam's other brothers, are around a lot and I have to say I still don't seen Sean's appeal. Two books in and I still don't really like him. McGillicuddy, Lori's brother, is a bit more prominent in this book and I have to say I do like him, he seems like such a lovely character.
I suppose my only problem with Endless Summer is the way both Lori's and Adam's parents act. I can totally understand the out all night thing is suspicious but it irritated me that they just wouldn't listen to Adam and Lori's reasonable explanations. It drove me bonkers. But overall I did hugely enjoy Endless Summer. No, I don't think it was as good as The Boys Next Door but it was a worthy sequel and it did live up to my expectations, as I said. I suppose it was just Lori and Adam's parents attitudes and reactions that make it lose a star, I can understand their concern but I was with Adam, it was a bit mean for both sets of parents to even entertain the fact that they're falling asleep in the car was totally innocent. Apart from that though this was a really enjoyable - not to mention quick - read. Both books were well worth the 5€ and I'm not going to be buying myself the rest of Jennifer Echol's books as she is a fab writer.