Eden Summer by Liz Flanagan

Eden Summer by Liz Flanagan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Shy, gothy Jess and stunning and popular Eden are best friends. They've supported each other through some of the hardest things you can go through – death, bullying, love, heartbreak. They know everything about each other.

But then Eden goes missing and Jess knows she has to find her, and fast, because the longer someone is missing, the more likely it is they won't be found. So Jess starts exploring her memories, things Eden said and did in the last few months and she starts to realise that maybe they don't know each other as well as she thought.

Set in the beautifully described stunning countryside of West Yorkshire, an incredibly pacy page turner as the clock runs down on the likelihood of finding Eden alive.


I really wanted to love this book, after picking up a sample of the first chapter I was hooked and couldn't want to continue the story.

This has everything needed for a great mystery/thriller, Eden has had a lot go on over the last few months and is finding it hard to cope with the loss of her sister. Jess and Eden's boyfriend Liam are there to support her through this time. One day when Jess arrives at school she finds out Eden is not there and she never went home last night.

I began racing through this book as I was eager to find out what had happened to Eden, I really enjoyed the chapters, where we learnt more about Eden through Jess' memories and thoughts. I did have issues with this book though. I thought at times the pace wasn't good, I started to switch off a bit in the middle as I felt it was just a bit repetitive and slow. It was slow compared the the pace before, it did pick up a bit towards the end again.

I also thought that Flanagan could have done so much more with the story line, I thought the final was a little flat. It felt like we had been building up to finding out exactly what had happened and the reader was left with an anticlimax. I was disappointed with this as I thought it could have been so much better, it could be down to the title being a young adult book and perhaps the content needed to be a bit 'milder', however I have read other thrillers in this genre with more punch and Eden Summer just didn't give me this.

Jess' relationship with Liam was a little predictable, but it was still enjoyable. I did think at times in the story Jess came across a little desperate, a bit of a cling on and that trait in her personality was not likable. She needed to develop into her own person and not believe that she is nothing without Eden. This annoyed me about her.

Overall this is a good YA, I really like that this is set in the U.K and it British. There is not enough UKYA and this is a great addition to the genre. I would like to read future work by Flanagan as I think she could be big in the YA genre. I would give this 3.5* due to my issues with this book.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.