The publisher kindly sent me a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Summer in Sand Lake isn’t complete without a trip to Meade Creamery — the local ice cream stand founded in 1944 by Molly Meade who started making ice cream to cheer up her lovesick girlfriends while all the boys were away at war. Since then, the stand has been owned and managed exclusively by local girls, who inevitably become the best of friends. Seventeen-year-old Amelia and her best friend Cate have worked at the stand every summer for the past three years, and Amelia is “Head Girl” at the stand this summer. When Molly passes away before Amelia even has her first day in charge, Amelia isn’t sure that the stand can go on. That is, until Molly’s grandnephew Grady arrives and asks Amelia to stay on to help continue the business … but Grady’s got some changes in mind …
Stay Sweet Review
I’m always up for a super cute contemporary read with strong female characters. Thankfully, this book has all of those features and is an enjoyable read!
Stay Sweet follows Amelia, who works at an ice cream stand exclusively run by girls in the summer. When the founder’s grandnephew shows up in town and tries to make some changes, Amelia stands up.
I really like Amelia as a main character. She’s determined, driven, loyal and has some deep love for the ice cream stand. I really enjoyed the story because of these characteristics. As far as character go, she really captured me.
On the other hand, I really dislike her best friend. She’s both annoying and just really, really selfish. Even if she’s supposed to be that way, it feels like the opposite of what Amelia would want in a friend.
The pacing of the book is great. Sometimes it felt slow, but I don’t feel as though this takes away from the enjoyment of the story. It’s definitely one of those books that’s the perfect read in between fantasy books because of how easy the story flows.
Another thing that’s really enjoyable is Siobhan Vivian’s writing. She’s such a descriptive writer and I love that! A lot of the time, I felt as though I was at the ice cream stand with these characters!
While I love cheesy romance, the romance in this book is underwhelming. I just feel like it didn’t really fit into the overall enjoyment of this book. So in this sense, the romance falls flat.
Overall, Stay Sweet is a cute and fluffy contemporary read. It will have you craving ice cream the whole time!
If you love books with girl power, and sweet storylines, than I highly recommend you check this book out!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Favourite Quote
Look for green lights, not stop lights.
About the Author
Siobhan Vivian is the author of the young adult novel We Are the Wildcats, as well as Stay Sweet, The Last Boy and Girl in the World, The List, Not That Kind of Girl, Same Difference, A Little Friendly Advice, and the Burn for Burn trilogy, cowritten with Jenny Han. A former editor for Alloy Entertainment, she received her MFA in creative writing at the New School. She teaches creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh.
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[…] by Siobhan Vivian: A book all about ice cream? You can certainly count me in! I really enjoyed Stay Sweet! It’s all about a summer ice cream stand that is run by girls. It’s all about feminism, […]