It’s no secret that I love a good YA book; in fact, I often seek them out over other genres and age groups because of how great they are. Summer has always been my favorite season, and if you tell me about a book that involves summer, a sleepaway camp, and teens with big secrets then I’m in, no questions asked. Jessica Goodman has come out with a few hot YA books within the past few years and I know The Counselors already has a lot of hype surrounding it. Does it live up to its expectations? 

The book begins with a quick prologue telling us a little bit about Alpine Lake, a summer camp that the protagonist, Goldie, and her two best friends will be camp counselors at before they head to college in the fall. The rest of the story is broken into “now” and “then” chapters, which I found to be interesting but a bit confusing at times, especially because the “then” chapters often left me with more questions than answers.

Goldie is a local, while her two best friends, Imogen and Ava live hours away and lead significantly different lives than her. It’s pretty clear that Goldie doesn’t think of herself as an outsider at the camp or among her friends, despite the fact that all of the campers are from wealthy families and go to elite private schools. The distance between the girls and where they live is large and has caused some turmoil in the past between the three, but this summer they all hope to form a bond that will keep them close throughout college and beyond. What none of them realize is that there might be things that are being hidden that could break them apart for life.

Goldie is hiding something, but she figures that her friends don’t have to know. She already feels ashamed and like an outcast in her community and doesn’t want her friends to look at her differently, or judge her for a decision she made that is now a huge regret. Then things start to happen that make it so she has to tell her friends what happened whether she likes it or not, a local teen is found dead at the camp, and though it is ruled an accident, Goldie is terrified that she or her friends may somehow be connected. 

I’ll be honest and say that there wasn’t a whole lot of substance to this book, though I wasn’t expecting there to be. There was some mystery and intrigue, and as I neared the end, I truly did not know what to expect. What was most important to me was a fun and entertaining read that would put me in a summertime mindset and give me a few chills down my spine. Hopefully if you go into this book with that mindset you won’t find yourself disappointed!

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Penguin Random House

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 19 religious exclamations; 30 mild obscenities; 2 religious profanities; 16 derogatory names; 11 scatological words; 12 anatomical terms; 62 F-Word derivatives.

Violence/Gore: Rumors are mentioned to be circling about a drunk driving incident involving minors; verbal threats are made against a minor several times; a minor makes the decision to drive after he has been drinking whiskey and ends up hitting a minor with his vehicle causing some injuries described in a brief scene; a report is made of a body of a young male being found on a waterfront, deemed an accidental drowning; a minor has the urge to hurt another minor who hurt her; a girl is briefly described to injure her foot; a minor is mentioned to punch a boy; a brief scene occurs where a girl is bumped into, causing her to hit her head on a stove and become unconscious; two girls are trapped in a burning building and one is described to pass out.

Sex/Nudity: A brief sexual reference is made about a teen boy and girl sharing “everything” with each other; minor is mentioned to have been touched on her butt by a boy; a group of girls is mentioned to go skinny-dipping; a boy is mentioned to have engaged in oral sex with a girl at the after-prom; a boy is reported to have mooned a bunch of girls; boys and girls are mentioned to hook up; a boy and girl kiss in a brief scene; a girl is mentioned to be naked from the waist up in front of her friends while she decides what to wear; a sexual reference is made by a boy about a girl; a girl recalls how it felt to have a boy touch her bare skin, how he would rub her back while she fell asleep next to him, their bodies pressed together; a brief scene occurs where girls go skinny dipping and it is mentioned that their breasts are visible above the water; a boy spins a girl around and kisses her; a sexual encounter is implied when a boy and girl are seen coming out of the woods redressing themselves; minors dance and are described to grind on each other; a minor realizes her boyfriend was seeing another girl behind her back; a girl is mentioned to try to seduce a boy; a girl mentions that she hopes she and a boy will have sex; a girl threatens to expose a boy for sexual harassment; a boy and girl lay under a quilt together nude, sex is implied.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death; murder; embezzlement and tax evasion; divorce.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

A minor is reportedly offered alcohol and cigarettes; a woman orders a gin and tonic; minors are mentioned to frequent a bar that serves underage; minors are reported to drink out of water bottles that they filled with alcohol; drinking and smoking are referred to; minors are depicted drinking vodka and rum and coke; a minor drinks and drives; smoking weed is mentioned; minors are depicted drinking several times and are described as drunk or hungover.