Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Release Date: May 13, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Age Group:Young Adult

Pages: 288

Summary:  Cricket Thompson's lifetime of overachieving has paid off: she's headed to Brown University in the fall, with a spot on the lacrosse team and a scholarship that covers almost everything. Who knew living in the dorm cost money? An Ivy League education seems to mean living at home for the next four years.

When Cricket is offered the chance to earn enough cash to afford a real college experience, she heads back to Nantucket for the summer. But the faraway island challenges Cricket in ways she hadn't anticipated. It's hard to focus on earning money for next year, when she finds her world opening up in entirely new ways-to art, to travel, and, most unexpectedly, to a future completely different from the one she has been working toward her whole life. A friendship blossoms with Ben, the gorgeous surfer and bartender who encourages Cricket to be free, even as she smarts at the pain of seeing Zack, her first love, falling for her worst enemy.

But one night, when Cricket finally lets herself break all her own rules, she realizes she may have ruined her carefully constructed future with one impulsive decision. Cricket must dig deep to fight for her future, discovering that success isn't just about reaching goals, but also about listening to what she's been trying to ignore-her own heart.

My Thoughts: I really loved Nantucket Blue last year when I read it. I was hoping to love Nantucket Red just as much. I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it just as much as the first one.

We are back with Cricket and its her senior year of high school. Things flash by pretty quick and than it is the summer before college. She decides to go back to Nantucket to work because that is where the money is and she needs it for college.

Cricket gets a job as a waitress and meets a guy named Ben. He was just ok for me. I never really felt connected with him. We also see Zack quite a bit. I really liked Zach in the first story and during most of this one, I just wanted him to go away. I don’t know. I just didn’t feel connected to him either. Part of that may be the things that happen and the new girl in his life. ICK.

I like the list Cricket finds and I liked seeing her put two in two together. I also liked that Cricket isn’t perfect. She makes mistakes and she owns up to them. Jules also grew on me a bit more.

I really love the setting of Nantucket as well. I feel like I’m right there in the sun and with all the tourists.

Overall: I enjoyed this one, a little less than the first. I gave the first one 5 cupcakes. But I loved seeing Cricket grow as a person and overcome her challenges. I’m also ok with how things ended for her. I’m glad she is doing what she wants and not what is expected of her. I loved most of the side characters in this one even if at times I wanted to smack some of them! I really liked this one.

Cover: Love it! Its very cute just like the first one!

What I’d Give It: