5 Reasons Why I Love The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls

Hello. So, as you can see from the title this post is about my all-time favorite standalone book, The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls. I read this book for the first time in July, and I've read it almost every month since then [I have a problem...].

If you're reading this, you're probably wondering why this book is my favorite. It's not classic literature, it's not a fantasy epic or a complex drama. Out of all the standalone books in the world, why is this one my favorite? So, I came up with five reasons why it's my favorite. Here's a quick summary so you know what it's about:

One summer will challenge everything the Garrett girls thought they knew about themselves---and each other.

Kat lands the lead in the community theater's summer play, but the drama spills offstage when her ex and his new girlfriend are cast too. Can she get revenge by staging a new romance of her own?

Bea and her boyfriend are headed off to college together in the fall, just like they planned when they started dating. But Bea isn't sure she wants the same thing as when she was thirteen.....

Awkward bookworm Vi has a crush on the girl next door. It makes her happy and nervous...and she can share secrets with Cece---like her hobby of writing fanfiction, but Cece's straight, so it's not like her feelings could ever be reciprocated, right?

As the oldest, Des shoulders a lot of responsibility for her family and their independent bookstore. Sometimes she feels more like a maid than anything else. When she befriends Paige, a glamorous stranger staying there for the summer, she finally begins to prioritize herself, but at what cost?

This book is described [by the author herself] as ''Little Women meets Gilmore Girls'' so, if you like either of those things you might like this book. 

#1: The Characters

Starting off with an easy one here. Good characters are what make a good story to me, so it's no surprise that my favorite book has great characters. The main characters [four sisters] are all very interesting and at least semi-relatable. Vi is the most relatable to me. She's an introverted-but-opinionated bookworm, fangirl, and writer. I mean, was Jessica Spotswood trying to write me, but as a book character? I also relate to Kat in a lot of ways. I definitely have a dramatic streak, and a temper. With that being said, I could relate a little bit to everyone's stories, and I think most people can. I mean, like Des, we've all felt unappreciated at some point, right? We've all struggled with anxiety  and feelings of not being perfect enough like Bea. Like Kat, we've probably all been told that we're overreacting or too sensitive. Or maybe, like Vi, we've felt awkward and weird and been nervous about sharing our writing. Also, all of them grow so much throughout the book. They have great character arcs! 

The side characters are amazing, too. Chloe is a little ray of sunshine and a real kindred spirit for Bea, Paige is interesting [if you want to know what she's like, picture Faith from Buffy except without the Slayer powers], Cece is smart and adorable, and Mase....Mase is the best. 

Like Kat said, it can't be easy being a bisexual Korean-American drama nerd living in a small town. But he does it anyway. #MasonKimIsAnIcon. 

#2: The Diversity

Also, let's appreciate how diverse this book is, without it feeling forced [you know, like, 'oh, look, I have a black and gay character. Yay me. I deserve a cookie.']. Because she wrote them as characters first. Vi isn't defined by her attraction to girls and Em isn't defined by the fact that she's Korean. Actually, here's a complete list of ''diverse'' characters in this book:

-Des is asexual/aromantic [which, if you're not familiar with the term, means she isn't attracted or romantically interested in boys or girls].

-Vi is a lesbian

-Chloe Chang and her family are Chinese

-Cece is bisexual, and she and her family are Cuban-American

-Em and Mase and their family are Korean, and Mase is bisexual

That's about all I can remember. And not one of these characters are one-dimensional [neither are the straight, white characters, but I already mentioned that I loved the characters]. That's pretty impressive. Also, the writing felt feminist. All of the Garrett sisters had their own strong character arcs. For example, even though Kat, Vi, and Bea's stories all involve romance in some way, the story is more about developing them as characters (although, the ships were very, very, very cute). And I loved that. We need more of that in fiction. 

#3: The aesthetic

I've never considered myself very good with aesthetics, but I think I'm slowly getting there. You guys are rubbing off on me [in the best way possible, of course]. While I obviously recommend this book for all seasons [as in, you should go read it right now], it really is the perfect summer read. The cute, summery vibe stays present throughout, and it's set in a small town, which I really love, since I live in a small town [just outside of it, actually, but it still counts]. As in, the type of town where you can walk pretty much anywhere in under twenty minutes. So, it's nice to see that in books.

#4: It Has A Lot of Heart

You guys probably already know that I love deep, hard-hitting dramas. I also love stories that may be deep, but are still happy at their core. TLSOTGG is like this. It does deal with anxiety, and it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but it's also not super dark. That being said, it's not a cheesy, pure entertainment read either. Thus, 'it has a lot of heart' suits it perfectly. I feel like this is why people compare it to Little Women (well, that and the fact that it's about four sisters). It has a definite charm to it, and it's well-written. The dialogue is fairly simple, which makes it a somewhat easy read, but I also felt like the writing was very good quality. And, as Vi herself put it, sometimes you just need a happy ending. 

#5: The Pop-Culture References

Not gonna lie, I think this was one of the things I liked most about this book. It's not like Jessica Spotswood crammed in twenty references in a single page, but it's there

 For example, Kat and Mase are both Hamilton fans (Mase even changed some of the lyrics to make them about cats. Told you he was an icon). Bea references the MCU a few times, and the theme for one of their rafts was Star Wars. Des is an Agatha Christie fan (not exactly pop culture, but it's in the same vein). And Vi? A lot of her story was centred around pop culture. For example, she's a massive bookworm, and reads and references lots of books. She's also a Riverdale fan. She even writes Beronica fanfics, and has a crush on Camila Mendes (although, to be fair, who doesn't?). She's also a fan of this show called The 100 (which I haven't seen. Is it good?). Oh, and did I forget to mention that all four of them are named after Shakespeare characters? Des is Desdemona (from Othello), Bea is Beatrice (from Much Ado About Nothing), Kat is Katherine (from Taming of the Shrew), and Vi is Viola (from 12th Night). Their family's bookstore is even called Arden Books. Isn't that cool?

Well, here are my top five reasons why I love this book so much. Obviously, I highly recommend it. I should give a small content warning, though, if you do plan to read it: There are several bad words in it, including the F-word, mentions of people getting drunk, smoking and/or being on drugs  (though this is shown as a bad thing), and there a few mentions of sex, but it's very brief and not at all explicit or anything.

And, now I'm gonna have to go read more of Jessica Spotswood's books. XD. Also, did you guys know that she's writing Meg's perspective in a WW2 retelling of Little Women? I mean, it doesn't come out until spring 2022 [*screams in frustration*], but at least it's something to look forward to. And I can read all the rest of her books while I wait. *smiles innocently*

So, have you read it? Who was your favorite character? What do you like to see in books?