Waiting for August Review

If you could go back in time to change a piece of your past, would you? Often there are times whereon event sticks with us and ultimately effects our life choices. But is the event something worth changing? That’s the main point in today’s book review of Waiting for August.

In my goal to read more indie published books in 2020, I took to Instagram to search for books. In my search, I found Waiting for August. Immediately, I was intrigued by the synopsis. I needed to know how this story would play out. So instead of me rambling on, let me just get into the review.

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Waiting for August

Author: Jessica Shook

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: n/a

Publication Date: June 7, 2019

My Rating: 3.5 pens

Goodreads Synopsis: Would you change the day you regret most, if it meant giving up the life you know?

For seventeen-year-old Maggie Thayer, summer days are magical, full of book browsing, late-night swims, and Levi James. But when tragedy strikes on August day, the magic vanishes and her future is altered forever.

On the 10th anniversary of that devastating day, Maggie is living a lackluster existence. Until she wakes up the next morning…but 10 years earlier. Maggie is 17 again, and Levi James is still the boy of her dreams. And the world is still full of possibility.

As she relives that day, knowing what is to come, will she make different choices and try to change the future she knows? Does she even want to?

Fans of Rainbow Rowell and Lauren Oliver will enjoy this story of young love with a touch of magic.

Topics and Triggers: First love, Do-overs, Relationships, Sexual Assault and Harassment, Death, Grief

Source: Owned Paperback

Purchase Amazon US | Amazon UK

From the synopsis, I was thrilled to see how this story would play out. I mean who doesn’t wish they could change something from their past? It’s almost every teens dream, right?!

I like that this story starts off setting up the story in the past. We get to know all of the characters and their relationships with each other right from the beginning.

The plot is split into 3 different sections: the past, the future, the past revisited. The story starts off strong. But the sections are much longer than I anticipated which made the story drag on for me until I got the past revisited section of the plot. It also takes a long time to get to the main plot of the story which is another reason that I feel the story dragged on.

There is a lot of detail that helps the reader with a sense of time, but descriptors are a bit awkward at times making me pause as I was reading.

There is a lovely set of characters in Waiting for August. Though the main character, Maggie, often acts older than 17 in the beginning, I think she is a kind-hearted narrator that is perfect for this story.

We don’t see a lot of the other characters throughout the story unless Maggie is telling us about them. Which does lead to some forced character descriptions. However, I think that each side character plays an important role within the story that is shown very well within the pages of this book.

Friendships, First Love, Living in the Moment

Waiting for August is a fun contemporary that answers the question “what if you could change that past?” It’s an intriguing story from start to finish that immerses you into the story from the beginning. The characters are fun to read about as you watch them enjoy the last days of summer and experience grief. However, it takes a long time for the main plot of this book to start which is a bit deceiving from the synopsis. I did enjoy the way the story plays out, though there are a few unanswered technicalities about how certain events truly happened. I look forward to reading more by Jessica Shook in the future.

Find out Maggie’s choice by purchasing a copy of Waiting for August today at Amazon US | Amazon UK