Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

When seventeen-year old Wendy sets out to find her missing brothers, her journey leads her to a mysterious cove inhabited by a tribe of renegade surfers. Wendy is instantly drawn to their 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. 

WHOAAA

I was just looking for a quick summer read to squeeze in before it officially starts feeling like Autumn and BAM! Totally taken by surprise! This book had me sooo .. I just can’t even. Sheinmel is brilliant. This story is the perfect recipe for a book you can’t put down. 

Goodreads Raters, Get A Clue

The main complaint coming from readers that gave this book a low rating, is that the character were dumb and making dumb and reckless decisions. Um.. HELLO! They’re teenagers! Adults are even constantly making stupid decision after stupid decision. Heck, I’m one of them! 

When you have teenage renegade surfers, runaways, and drug users, of course you don’t expect anyone to make wise choices. They acted as expected. Yes, I’ve gone with the wind before. Yes, I made impulsive decisions. It happens. I commend Sheinmel for capturing reality. 

Characters

The story is told through Wendy’s eyes and at first I thought I’d have a problem with that seeing as how female protagonists aren’t really my thing. But surprisingly each character was adequately described and I was able to identify with each person. Sheinmel was very descriptive and did well with the development of her characters.

We even got to know her brothers well despite them actually being in the story. 

Storyline

Missing people, a scavenger hunt, setting on the beaches of Cali, a love triangle, a drug dealer, grief, identity issues.. all great ingredients for a successful story. The contents are so simple but it’s the combination that is pure genius. I seriously couldn’t put this book down. I’m not one to freely issue out 5 star ratings. But this book gets one simply because I enjoyed it so much and at some points it seemed so relative and realistic. 

If you’re looking for a quick read but still want to be entertained, this is it.