Review - Punishment Summer by Peggy Rothschild

My life is so crazy I have time for nothing and end up doing nothing. 

One thing I try to do though, is keep reading even if only handfull of pages a day.

What an extraordinary book!

*I received an ecopy by Netgalley*

Honestly, I couldn’t even remember what this book was about, just that it was a contemporary novel, which is find because then I didn’t get spoiled in any way!
But if you’d like to know what this book is about before purchasing it, here’s the 

synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Nicki is sent to stay at her grandfather’s cabin near the town of Punishment in the Mendocino Forest. As always, she hides her burn scars and keeps quiet about the mother who ran out on her. But soon after arriving, she begins to suspect Grandpa is also keeping secrets. Her exile brings an unexpected bright spot: Grandpa’s German shepherd, Queenie. The hunky neighbor boy’s another plus, though she quickly starts to doubt his honesty.

From secret pot farms to human trafficking, Nicki discovers nothing in the ‘Mendo’ is what it seems. When Grandpa takes off and the lives of new friends are endangered, Nicki must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect those she cares about. Before summer ends, Nicki will learn there are some choices she can’t undo.

It’s a good thing Grandpa taught her how to shoot.

I was expecting an easy read and for the first 50 pages was actually quite bored but all of the sudden KABAM Boom Boom. WHAT??!

This is book is brilliantly written, evolving you in way that you are totally submerged in the story by the time everything falls on you. That 50 pages of boringness are the base to everything that happens next, giving you clues and ‘teaching’ our main character so that she can support herself in what’s to come.

Even though I found some scenes or developments too short, quickly overthrown by something else. Like the girl falling for the boy in the matter of two encounters or find out ~ spoiler ~ that her father had beaten her mother/sister and that’s why everything else happened ~ spoilers ~ but overall those little details can be almost overlooked when compared to the big picture.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, by it’s unusual characters – I loved the grandpa! – and placement – Punishement (the city) was a nice surprise – and the overall idea, so well-conceived that you don’t know what’s happening until it’s happening.

If you love being surprised and are into easy flowing reads, please, please, give this book a chance. You will have a lovely surprise!

Rating: 4 stars.

 Tell me what you think in the comments!