Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
From a two-time National Book Award finalist comes a riveting romantic drama about the gilded lives of the super-rich and the high price of fitting in.
"This is a glittery gem of a book. I was utterly transported to Fire Island--to endless summer days, girls in sundresses, that rush you get the first time you fall hard in love. I fell so hard in love with this book." --Jenny Han, New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I've Loved Before
It's the summer of 1976 on Fire Island, where sunbathing, lobster bakes, and the Bicentennial celebration reign.
Jean, a sometimes cruel, often insecure, and always envious rich girl, is accustomed to living in her glamorous older sister's shadow. So when Gil Burke, a handsome newcomer with uncertain ties to one of the most powerful families in the exclusive enclave of Sunken Haven, notices Jean--not her sister--Jean is smitten.
Then Fritz, a girl from outside the gilded gates who humiliated Jean in the Island's tennis championship last year, meets Gil. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and she quickly falls Gil herself. Soon the girls are competing for much more than a tennis trophy, with higher stakes than either of them can imagine.
Through the alternating perspectives of Jean and Fritz, Adele Griffin captures the angst of feeling like you don't belong and the urgency of first love with vivid language and perceptive wit.
Praise for The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone
" An] intricate, intoxicating novel." --The Washington Post
"A gripping read with a seriously ominous ending . . . One of the most unique books I've ever read." --The Guardian
"An acute examination of a young woman's troubled mind." --The Boston Globe
"Readers will be fascinated with the novel and caught up in the drama right up to the end." --School Library Journal, starred review
"A terrific experiment, something fresh and hard to put down. It gives a sense of both the artistic temperament and the nature of madness--and the sometimes thin line in between." --Booklist, starred review
Synopsis
JEAN:
Could it be true? Instead of a summer playing handmaiden to Daphne, was I being delivered something entirely different--a summer in the spotlight? A summer starring Gil Burke and me?
Summer flings and sexy romances were Daphne's territory. Not mine. I was the one you didn't pick.
I swatted off my hope like a bumblebee, knowing it was already too late. I'd been deliriously stung.
FRITZ:
People always joked about summer romances because they didn't last. Summer romances were made out of ice cream and cotton candy, intensely sweet before they melted into nothing. But I'd never thought of Gil as a summer thing.
Gil was my real love, my real first. We were outsiders together, we had each other, we didn't care that we didn't belong.
Synopsis
A riveting tale of romantic suspense with a shocking twist ending set within the gates of a Fire Island colony of the super rich.
Jean, a privileged, sometimes cruel, often insecure, and always envious girl, is accustomed to living in her glamorous older sister's shadow. So when Gil Burke, a handsome newcomer with uncertain ties to one of the most powerful families in the exclusive enclave of Sunken Haven, notices Jean, she is smitten. Then Fritz, a girl from outside the gilded gates who humiliated Jean in the island's tennis championship last year, falls for Gil herself. Soon the girls are competing for much more than a tennis trophy, with higher stakes than either of them can imagine.
Through the alternating perspectives of Jean and Fritz against a backdrop of sunbathing, lobster bakes, and the Bicentennial summer, Adele Griffin captures the angst of feeling like you don't belong and the urgency of first love with masterly prose and a sharp, intricate wit perfect for fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars.