Zoe, Luce, Tali and Joy were best friends at Camp Okahatchee at 15, but time has passed and they've all gone their separate ways. Joy texts them all, inviting them to a camp reunion 2 years later, and they reluctantly agree to attend. Holding onto their good memories of their last night at camp, the four go into the photo booth and are transported back to that last camp night, when it all began to fall apart. Freaked out by their circumstances (who wouldn't be), the girls try to replicate everything that happened that night, figuring that this might cause the forces of the universe to transport them back to current day. In the process, they learn more about themselves, and why their friendship fell apart. They become stronger people, better friends, able to support one of them whose life is in crisis.

I'm a fan of time travel stories (The Time Traveler's Wife, Outlander) but didn't like the premise of this one. I can't imagine a worse time to go back to in a teenaged girl's life. Age 15 is a strange time - too old to "play", too young to work or drive or have the independence that comes later in life. The story felt choppy to me in the beginning, which while it may have been the author's intent to show how disconnected her characters were, but it made it difficult to get into the book or feel much empathy for the characters. There is some satisfaction as the girls' stories are revealed, and they come together in the end to help the friend in need. The book contains sexual situations (some approaching dangerous), drug and alcohol use, and general things that teenagers get up to when there aren't adults around, so this book is suited for high school. I'll give it credit for how it addresses the LGBTQ story line, and think it will appeal to teen girls who like friendship stories. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A sun-soaked summer novel chalk-full of fun, heartbreak, friendships, and bitter secrets.

Opening Sentence: Just do it.

The Review:

Years ago, Tali, Luce, Joy, and Zoe were the best of friends at the summer camp Okahatchee. Though the camp ended, the four swore that they wouldn’t fall out of touch. Years later, the bond no longer exists and the memories are bittersweet in the back of their mind. What changed? What made their friendship fall apart? When they all come back to the camp Okahatchee reunion, some for reasons different than others, something strange happens. They’re transported back in time via a magic photo booth, to the summer where it all changed. Is this a chance to do everything over again, and reconcile their friendship? Or will they be trapped in the past forever?

If you are looking for a summer book, you found it. It has the same light, fun qualities of kisses and sun-soaked water fights, with a unique element that is entirely its own. It brings in an incredible amount of surprises and secrets are being revealed every other page. Romances weave through a rebuilding friendship, and each girl is forced to admit things about themselves that they’ve avoided. The writing is rich, vivid, and detailed, with each scene in perfect clarity. She juggles four different points of views, and while I was confused at some points of who I was reading from (my fault: should have read the chapter headings more carefully), she does so almost seamlessly.

Each character was so different, which is what made their friendship so interesting. Zoe is a tomboy, while Tali is self-conscious and popular. Joy is light and follows her name, but she hides a dark secret that is weighing her down. Finally we have Luce, the responsible one who never steps a toe out of line, or so they think. The complexity of each individual adds so many layers to an already strong storyline. They are realistic and relatable, and all of them finding themselves in the strangest of ways, after being transported back in time via a photo booth. There is snark in this book that made me smile and four different romances that were in sharp contrast.

The storyline is sometimes hard to follow, because of the whole jumping into the past thing. For example, Luce’s romance with Andrew has progressed so much in the future, and I was so confused when he started treating her like he didn’t know her. Then I realized that they were back in the time that their romance was just blossoming. Seeing things happen again gives Luce doubts. Is their relationship too safe, too boring? Is her love for him strong enough to withstand more time or will it crumble when she does this all over again? Tali’s romance was hilarious. She kept finding “tow boy”, a hot worker for the camp, in the weirdest ways on her quest to seduce Blake. First he sees her where she’s waiting for Blake in lingerie, then he rescues her from freezing lake water when she falls in kissing Blake.. Their conversations were funny to read. Their “hatred” morphed very very quickly into pure attraction when they both revealed their feelings. Those were my favorite two romances, but I also really enjoyed the diversity of one of the girl’s relationship.

Altogether, I enjoyed this book. I first read 40% of it at, get this, a summer camp at UCLA. When I went back home I got distracted and forgot about it, but I returned a couple months later to finish. It’s a decent sized book and the fact that it’s so packed with details made it seem longer, so at times I got slightly bored, but for the most part I found it enjoyable. The writing had a slight lyrical quality to it, and there were plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing about the inevitable end. When it did come, it was bittersweet, and though I did see part of it coming, it took it a little further and surprised me. For a debut novel with this complexity and this many points of view, I’m very impressed!

Notable Scene:

“Does it ever make you, well, mad?” Joy asks quietly. “I mean, how unfair it is.”

“Hell yeah. It makes me mad all the time. That’s the whole thing about life, though, right?

“What is?”

“It’s unfair. That you just have to accept things, take whatever you’re dealt and work with what you got. (…) But you get to a point where at least you’re happy for the time you did have.”

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Proof of Forever. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

PROOF OF FOREVER by Lexa Hillyer is a coming-of-age fantasy exploring what happens when four high school friends attend a summer camp reunion.

The flash of a photo booth camera transports four teens back to their last few days of summer camp a couple years earlier. Joy, Tali, Luce, and Zoe have grown apart, but must work together to figure out how to get “back to the future” while making the most of their second chance summer.

A great summer read, this book does an excellent job bridging the classic “group of girls” story with an interesting fantasy twist. This combination provides the opportunity for more in-depth character development than is generally found in either genre.

Librarians will find a couple different audiences for this book. First, fans of “chick lit” and contemporary romance will be drawn to the focus on friendship and relationships. Second, those who enjoy time-travel stories will appreciate the fantasy situation.

With lots of “friendship foursome” books available, consider a summer reading display featuring this book along with others like The Sisterhood of the Traveling books.

To learn more about this new author, go to http://www.lexahillyer.com/.

Published by HarperTeen on May 2, 2015. ( )

I received a copy of this teen novel from the publisher, opened it eagerly, and... almost gave up on it when I realized it was written in the present tense. Oh, my friends, how I hate reading extended narratives in the present tense. Hate hate hate. But I kept going, mostly because I love time-travel premises in all their shapes and forms, and I'm really glad I did. The present tense wasn't the last thing that annoyed me about the book, but it's okay, because this book has THE STUFF - that fierce, unfakeable spark of life that makes a book worth reading, no matter what. The stuff will propel me past any number of eye rolls. I predict I will still occasionally think of this book, with a smile, years from now. And when I was a teenager I would've loved it. ( )