Review: Sleepaway Girls

Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita
Whispering Pines #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Readers
Release Date: May 1st, 2009
Source: Library
Date Read: 3/17/15 to 3/19/15
297 pages
Rating: ✰✰✰

When Sam's best friend gets her first boyfriend, she's not ready to spend the summer listening to the two of them call each other "pookie." Sick of being a third wheel, Sam applies to be a counselor-in-training at Whispering Pines camp in the New York Catskills. But what she doesn't realize is that it's not going to be all Kumbaya sing-alongs and gooey s'mores.

If Ashley, the alpha queen of Whispering Pines, doesn't ruin Sam's summer, then her raging crush on the surfer-blond and flirtatious Hunter just might. At least she has playful Cole, who's always teasing her, but is oh-so-comfortable to hang out with, and the singular gang of girls that become fast friends with Sam - they call themselves the Sleepaway Girls.

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Sleepaway Girls was a fun, but sometimes embarrassing read. I have to admit, even though I was most definitely not the target audience, I still somewhat enjoyed this fast read. Plus, I always wanted to go to sleep away camp, but instead I was stuck with computer camp, speech camp (???), and yeah. But hey I did go to the outdoors YMCA camp! So even though I have no idea what it means to be a counselor, I think that's the closest I can get.

Whispering Pines is a camp in Upstate New York, and it's apparently amazing. There are a number of counselors, and counselors in training, which is what our main character, Sam, has become. Sam has never attended Whispering Pines before, so she feels so out of place. Plus she doesn't want to be recognized for a commercial she had to do for her mom's company, because it is oh so embarrassing. Nevertheless, she makes a lot of friends, and her clique are called the Sleepaway Girls, hence the title.

Of course, with alllllllll social groups, there's a bully, Ashley, who I hated so, so much throughout the novel. I honestly don't think I've hated an antagonist more than her. She constantly picked on and pranked on Sam, and I was so rooting for Sam to just stand up for herself and get back at her. These moments are very cringeworthy. Ugh, it made me feel so much second-hand embarrassment. 

AND THEN THE ROMANCE? More like I like this really hot (but bad, obviously) guy who's flirting with me, but then this other cute guy likes me. Man, come on now. I'm just glad Sam came to her senses with the first guy, because I could not even handle those parts. It's not like they were doing anything like kissing because these are all 15 year olds (I know, so young, man), but still the parts were uncomfortable (yay for awkward teenagers).

And then everyone was pretty much paired off with another boy who liked them back, because it just happened that way? IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? 

Well, this was definitely a fluffy reads. I felt that there were more uncomfortable, embarrassing moments rather than fluffy moments with Sam and Cole (that cute guy). Although I say that, Sleepaway girls is still a fun and fast read, even though I wanted to stab Ashley all throughout the book. But as I said, this focuses on 15 year olds, and I am 21, and I cannot handle all this awkwardness or the mindset of a teenager that is portrayed here.