Review: Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler

Hey friends! I have such a great book to share with you all today! Keep reading to hear all my thoughts on this perfect summer read 🙂

About the Book:

Lara’s had eyes for exactly one person throughout her three years of high school: Chase Harding. He’s tall, strong, sweet, a football star, and frankly, stupid hot. Oh, and he’s talking to her now. On purpose and everything. Maybe…flirting, even? No, wait, he’s definitely flirting, which is pretty much the sum of everything Lara’s wanted out of life.

Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers.

Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she’s finally got the guy, why can’t she stop thinking about the girl?

Cool for the Summer is a story of self-discovery and new love. It’s about the things we want and the things we need. And it’s about the people who will let us be who we are.

My Review:

Cool for the Summer was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I was all for the bisexual representation it included! Going into this, I was expecting something along the lines of Perfect on Paper, which I read earlier this year, but Cool for the Summer was much more summery. 

Cool for the Summer follows Lara, who’s had a crush on Chase Harding; the star football player who’s tall, strong, sweet, and finally reciprocating her feelings. Everything seems to be going great until her summer fling, Jasmine turns up at her school for senior year and shakes things up.

I’m not typically a fan of the love triangle trope, but it really worked for this book. Here, it’s more of the main character evaluating what she wants in a relationship and really thinking about who she sees herself with more, rather than the love interests fighting over her in every scene. Lara was also such an easy character to root for. She’s confident, driven, and acts like a typical teenager (something that is rare in YA for some reason.) Jasmine was a great love interest, and I was so invested in the “will they won’t they” throughout the whole book. The lingering looks and longing glances were absolutely swoon worthy. 

Overall, I loved Cool for the Summer so much!! It’s a perfect read for the summer (duh), and a great book to pick up for pride!

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Thanks for reading! And if you’ve read this book, let me know what you thought of it! I’d love to know.