Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Once, Anna made a happy threesome with her two best friends - brother and sister- Matt and Frankie. But in the year since Matt's sudden death, things have been off. Yet, Anna finds herself planning for the Absolute Best Summer Ever with Frankie, for their stay in Zanzibar Beach.

Wild and boy crazy Frankie comes up with a plan so Anna can have the perfect summer fling while at the beach. What Frankie doesn't know is that Anna already had that perfect fling, that it happened the year before with none other than Matt. But that's a secret Matt took with him to the grave thanks to the promise he extracted from Anna that he would be the one to tell Frankie.

But, at a beach haunted by Matt's presence, Anna and Frankie might just find the courage to let go and move on.

Okay, I have very mixed feelings about this book. I never grew to like Frankie and I ended up thinking that Matt was a bit cruel in making Anna keep this secret, cruel and kind of cowardly because he not only robbed them of time together but he also sort of robbed Anna of her right to grieve him as she needed to.

Anna I liked and I liked Sam and I liked the setting, but my anger toward Frankie and Matt sort of seeped into the rest of the story. That being said, Twenty Boy Summer is a beautifully crafted story, the language feels lovely, rich and evocative and that's something I really liked about the book.

Also loved the cover, it suits the book perfectly.
3/4