Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Publication Date: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Farrar
Genre: YA, Contemporary 
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Synopsis: A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them. 

My Rating: 3/5 stars

My Review: Second Star is about a young girl named Wendy Darling who goes in search for her lost brothers. What she finds is a bunch of teen surfers who live in an abandoned house. As Wendy runs away from home, she does her best to find out what happened to her brothers, and if they're still alive.

I had a really hard time rating this book. In my personal opinion, I didn't like it much. It reminded me of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and even though its a classic, I hated that book. This type of book is the type of contemporary that I don't enjoy. Yet I feel like this book would be a hit or miss with people and you either love it or hate it.

This book a retelling of Peter Pain in the present. Honestly I love the story of Peter Pan, but I couldn't really make the connection to this book. I know that Pete is portrayed as Peter Pan in this story, but other than that I couldn't catch many connection between the two stories. I mostly chose to ignore this aspect of the book.

I found this book to be really confusing at most times. There was a lot of unanswered questions and the ending still makes me confused when I think about it. It sort of has a similar ending to the book as Catcher in the Rye where you find out the character's problem and that they're doing better but we don't get any details as to the how, and why that happened to change their mind, or what happens next. 

The thing that made me like this book was the romance. While everything else felt very unrealistic or silly, I found that the romance was fairly realistic and reasonable. I'm not talking bout running away with a boy or living with a complete stranger. What I liked was the part where Wendy was heartbroken after Pete broke her heart, but instead of being dramatic or stupid, she ends up having a rebound and falling in love all over again. This doesn't happen in many books and I was really happy to see it occur in this novel.

While I found the characters mostly boring and annoying. The way the author described surfing was really wonderful, or at least it was to a person who's never surfed before. Her words made me wish that I was by the water surfing along the characters. Her world-building is absolutely fantastic and you feel like you could step right into each scene.

Overall, while I loved the world-building and some aspects of the romance, this book really wasn't for me, and I did not like it much. I would only recommend this book to people who love books like Catcher in the Rye, or at least that type of contemporary, and even then I would warn them that this book is most likely a hit or miss.

Happy Reading,
-Aneta