Review: Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca

Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca
Publication date: June 9, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Category: Young Adult - Contemporary
Source: Received from publisher via Edelweiss (Thanks!)
Summary: Before: Kelsey and David became best friends the summer before freshman year and were inseparable ever after. Until the night a misunderstanding turned Kelsey into the school joke, and everything around her crumbled—including her friendship with David. So when Kelsey's parents decided to move away, she couldn't wait to start over and leave the past behind. Except, David wasn't ready to let her go... After: Now it's senior year and Kelsey has a new group of friends, genuine popularity, and a hot boyfriend. Her life is perfect. That is, until David's family moves to town and he shakes up everything. Soon old feelings bubble to the surface and threaten to destroy Kelsey's second chance at happiness. The more time she spends with David, the more she realizes she never truly let him go. And maybe she never wants to. (greads.com)

My Thoughts

Kelsey and David have been best friends for years but tensions rise, at least on Kelsey’s side, as David becomes more popular and garners the attention of more than one girl in their class. (You can imagine how they felt about her.) They both struggle to hold onto their friendship but then misunderstandings and rumors make Kelsey's life miserable. So when her parents announce that they’ll be moving, Kelsey is more than willing to get a fresh start. Flash forward to senior year and Kelsey is happy. She has a group of friends, a hot and devoted boyfriend and is well-liked. The past is behind her. Until David moves to town and she’s unexpectedly confronted with him at her high school. It’s clear neither have forgotten the other and their reunion stirs up a lot of feelings, good and bad.

The book alternates between before Kelsey moved and after (when David shows up) but both are told from Kelsey’s POV. I honestly sympathized with Kelsey 100% and wasn’t a huge fan of David (he needed to do a lot more groveling IMHO). Even though both of them made mistakes and didn’t communicate openly enough with each other, I simply understood where Kelsey was coming from. In the before, girls were underhandedly mean to her and when she tried to tell David this, I felt like he brushed it off instead of taking her seriously. Granted, it is clear through other actions that he cares for her deeply but I don’t think he stood up for her when it mattered. (Guys are so dumb!) When he reappears in Kelsey’s life later, you’d think they would’ve both learned from their past mistakes. Especially him. But it was history repeating itself all over again (and again). He suffers from unable-to-be-alone syndrome so it’s no surprise to me that Kelsey has no idea what’s going on in his head. And he has no right to judge her life when he hasn’t been a part of it for over a year. Clearly this riles me up. (Sidenote: I’ve been in a similar situation where the guy just doesn’t get it and acts as if he’s the logical one while I’m being “crazy”.)

In the end, I do like the book even though the angst dragged a bit too long. But to me, it’s really Kelsey and her relatability that made me enjoy this. And okay, some of the small tender moments between her and David were pretty sweet too.

Do I recommend?

Just be forewarned of the angst and typical boy dumbness. But otherwise, it’s a quick read and if you like books about friends becoming more, this might just be for you!