This is a perfect family, living the American dream; coming from nowhere and working their way up. They are white, privileged and old money democrats. With freckled noses and square chin they can take on the world; but can they face the demons within themselves?

This is the story of Sinclair family, three generations living their own independent lives through the year but spending their summer together every year; year after year. Till the time, the narrator- Cady has an inexplicable accident.

Cadence Sinclair Eastman aka Cady is our narrator here. From the start, she comes across as any teenage girl would have been, spending an idyllic summer with her cousins who are also of her own age. There enters Gat and changes this whole equation between these cousins. He is an outsider, loathed by the family but for Cady, he is her healer.

You would think that will progress like any other pre-adult romances with rich girl meeting a not-well-to-do guy and facing hurdles till they conquer them. On the outset that’s what it looks like till Cady’s accident happens; which gives a jolt to her senses as well as readers’.

As countless reviewers before me had said that once you reach the end of this story; immediately you would be scrambling for the first page. That was so true for me as well.

But what worked for me was the tone and narration of the story told from a fifteen year old girl who seem to be pretentious and like any typical spoilt brat her age. Like any teenage girl, she’s adamant of not paying attention to her mother, not caring a damn about her extended family; till the gravity of their action (or rather reactions) hit her. This is beginning of a mature and more worldly wise Cady being an adult finally – equally responsible and responsive.

May be it’s just morbid coincidence that all young adult novels I have read over the past two years, mainly focus the circumstances around finality of life and how these ordinary seeming teens dealt with it. But hey, I’ve enjoyed reading all of them and the same can be said holds true for this wonder find too.

Surely looking forward to read more of this author since this has perked my interest about her other work.