Review | Summer Unplugged by Amy Sparling

Summer Unplugged by Amy Sparling
Series: Summer Unplugged #1
Published By: 336Love
Published On: December 18, 2013
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 128
Format: eBook
Source: Free From Amazon
Rating: ★★★

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Bayleigh is addicted to her cell phone and her mom has had enough. After catching her sending a less than lady-like photo to a boy who barely knows her, Bayleigh's mom sends her away to her grandparent's house for the summer--sans cell phone, laptop and Ipod. Bayleigh thinks the summer will be torture without social media...that is until she meets the boy next door.


After her mother catches her sending a picture, and not the kind you want your mother to see, to a boy, Bayleigh’s difficult behaviour is finally too much for her mother. As punishment, Bayleigh is sent to stay with her grandparents for the summer, in the middle of nowhere, without any of her beloved technology.

This book definitely exceeded by expectations. I found this book for free on the Kindle store so I really was not expecting much from it. It seemed to me like it was going to be the typical, overdone story of the girl who gets sent away as punishments and she meets a boy so it isn’t all bad. Technically, that is exactly what it was, but it was done in a much more enjoyable way than I had anticipated.

I liked Bayleigh and Jace, both as a couple and as individual characters. Bayleigh is your average teenage girl, struggling with her feelings for a boy who’s a bit of an idiot, and so is a very relatable character. Jace is a bit of a mystery, but who doesn’t love an attractive mystery man? Together, they make quite a good couple, even if there was a hint of instalove.

The one thing I didn’t like about Bayleigh was her depression over being separate from technology. I know I wouldn’t be thrilled about being away from all of my technology but she was constantly complaining about it. It really started to annoy me, to the point where I was close to shouting at my kindle. Surely she could have found something else to do instead of complain about how bored she was without her phone.

I really did not like the situation with Ian. Though it may be relatable for many young girls, it showed Bayleigh to be very naïve and easily controlled by the boy who was treating her badly. I know this may be a common real life scenario but I really hate when this type of behaviour is portrayed as typical from young girls and in this book it is seen to be the norm, and somewhat acceptable in the beginning.

While I love a bit of a mystery man, I would have liked a bit more information on Jace. I know this was only a short story and is the first in a series but it would have been good to know a bit more about Jace before the last few chapters. This not knowing about his background made it more difficult to connect with his character.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but it is not something I would read again or recommend to friends. I may continue on with the series to see if it improves but with each book being around the 100 page mark, I don’t hold much hope.