Fireworks

So people asked for it, so they shall receive. This is an extremely late review for Fireworks.

Title: Fireworks

Author: Niki Burnham, Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski, and Erin Haft (I can't believe I remembered all of those off the top of my head...)

Summary:

Hot sun. Soft white sand. Bejewled flip-flops. Crashing surf. That shirtless blond lifeguard...Summertime is the essence of sexiness, sass, and fun. In this juicy collection, four fabulous, bestselling teen authors each show us a different side of summer romance, from the first flush of a seaside crush to the sting of a breakup on a traveling teen tour. Get out your sunscreen, slip on your shades, and prepare to be dazzled by these sizzling stories.

Rating: Rating varies from story to story, I'll explain in the review.

Review:

I'm writing this review a bit differently than the rest... which I think is perfectly fine, since it's a book of short stories. I'm going to share a couple thoughts about each story and then say a little something about the book as a whole.

1st Story: Miss Independent by Lauren Myracle
I think this story was alright. Not exactly memorable, but really cute for what the whole book is about... summer. I think I really liked how I could relate to the main character and I really liked how there was a cute, happy ending, even if it was a bit predictable. My third favorite story.

2nd Story: A Nice Fling is Hard to Find by Sarah Mlynowski
I think this was my second-favorite story out of all of them. It was really corny, but it was still extremely cute and funny, which is what kept me interested. I also used a quote from this story in a real-life situation, which always scores a book some brownie points. Still, like I said, it was corny, but it was cute. Which worked in this case, where it wouldn't work if this were a full-length novel.

3rd Story: Cabin Fever by Erin Haft
My least favorite story out of the four, but it was by no means bad. I liked the formatting, and the way it was written made an entirely unbelievable story into an only semi-unbelievable story. However, it was corny and predictable, which may have worked with the Sarah Mlynowski story, but it did nothing for this one. Still, it wasn't bad.

4th Story: Night Swimming by Niki Burnham
This story completely blew the rest out of the water... it was by far my favorite, and I'll tell you why. In one fourth of the book I found myself actually caring about the characters and what was going to happen. I also loved the way Niki Burnham put some sort of conflict in there that was a bit deeper than a summer fling, but still found a way to incorporate the fling into it. I could also relate extremely well to the main character, and overall I was just really amazed with the story.

So, as an overview, the fourth was my favorite, and I fully intend on reading something else by Niki Burnham as soon as I am able to check a book out from the library and not let it sit on my shelf for three months. Either that, or I'll buy something when I go to Barnes and Noble tomorrow...