Spain or Shine (S.A.S.S. Series #3) Book

This is my third book from this series, and I'm wondering if anyone goes into the program because they actually want to learn and go to a different country. Not because they wanna meet cute boys and party, and in this case, also because she's trying to one-up her overachieving siblings. If that's the case, it's going to get incredibly tiring reading this same plot in every book.

Elena was a relatable character and overall pretty likable. If she was unsure of something, she thought it was best to stay quiet. She wasn't open about her crushes.
Gwen was cool and rational, while Elena's world was colored by her emotions.

I could identify with Elena in that even though Miguel had flirted with her, she had trouble believing he was interested in her. She was used to guys liking her sister Gwen and Jenna and that comparing herself to her sister meant she hadn't looked at herself the way Miguel might.

Elena counted on Gwen to absorb the attention and her brothers to entertain everyone. It was a heavy burden being the center of attention for someone who spent so much time living in her own head.
Elena was shy and didn't speak up in class unless she was called on.

I thought it was cool that they consider you fluent in a language when you dream in that language.

I loved learning about Spain, but this ended up being the least educational book out of the three I've read. I felt like I didn't learn enough about it. There could have been more Spanish words used, and more site-seeing.
Bars have an honor system where you grab what you want and tell the bartender later.
Spanish men don't show emotion, like when Miguel's mom died, so he rarely talked about her.
The siesta custom is mentioned in here, where shops shut down their businesses to eat lunch and take naps. I had heard of that in a recent travel channel giveaway question.

Spanish people dressed up to go out, even if it was just a cafe.
Spanish people take at least a month for holiday.
They celebrate Todos los Santos there, or All Saints' Day, on Nov 1, where they place flowers in the graveyards of their ancestors to show respect for the dead. I didn't like that the book skipped over the holiday. I would have liked to read about it.
Trains were the way to travel in Spain. German trains were on time, but the Spanish didn't stress as much. Miguel said what did five, ten minutes here and there matter over a lifetime. I wish Americans could adopt a laid back attitude like that.
When they asked if you wanted water with gas they meant water with bubbles.


It was a lil odd comparing seeing an attractive boy to stumbling upon a treasure at a yard sale.

Jenna was annoying the way she'd flirt with boys who were around Elena. Alex and her were just friends, but Jenna didn't know that. Alex says hey to her and then Jenna turns the flirt on. Elena is clearly talking to Miguel and she buts in and steals his attention. Although if he's gonna let himself get distracted by another girl when he came over to talk to Elena, then he isn't worth it. That was not a good first impression for Miguel.

I liked the wisdom of "if you're going to attempt something, no matter what it is, it's worth taking a look at the best in that field."

Of course Elena was held after class and Ms. B told her her writing abilities exceed most people her age, so she ended up doing better than the know it all Dylan in the class.

When Miguel asked if she was Spanish, and saying they'd have to work on her Spanish, it totally reminded me of Kostas and Lena in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

It annoys me when side characters don't listen to the MC, and disregard what she says as if she doesn't know what she's talking about. When she tells Gwen that she was talking to Miguel and Jenna walks up and she practically disappeared, because Miguel was focused on her, Gwen says it sounds like Jenna is a flirt. And then how he kept finding reasons to touch her arm and waist while helping her up the stairs, Gwen says maybe Jenna needed help. If Miguel didn't like Jenna, then why was he acting like that? He sure acted like he liked her.

The time frame wasn't working in the book. All of a sudden she'd been there for three months when it felt like a few weeks. Nothing had happened. All she did was go to school, the beach, back to the Cruz' apartment, hanging out at tapas bars with her friends.
And then all of a sudden she could speak fluent Spanish, and understood others speaking Spanish.

I liked that Elena was tired of living in her fantasies, and wanted something real. She knew she'd have to make the next move with Miguel.

An acting technique for stage fright was to imagine a fourth wall in place of the audience to make it seem like you're in an intimate setting. Imagine a wall from a familiar, comforting place. Stage fright was really audience fright, the awareness of people watching you that makes you lock up. If you get rid of the audience in your mind, you'll get rid of the fear.
Acting was the ultimate exercise in imagination. I had never thought of it like that before. I have heard that some of the best actors are introverts.

I thought the overachiever classmate Dylan would play a bigger role. We don't even get to hear what their play was about and if it was good. Although she does realize she didn't have to be like Dylan, or have her as a partner to be great. She could be great by being herself. That was a good lesson for her.

Elena realized she didn't have to be away from her family to do something big. Now that she knew she was capable of doing big things, she wanted her siblings around to share them with her. They weren't her competition; they were her support system. Elena learned some good lessons in here.

The romance in here was just pointless. She likes Miguel, Miguel likes her. He flirted with her once. By the time she makes a move it's right before she has to leave, and it's to invite him to the play.
I couldn't believe he thought she liked Alex, and wondered why she brought him to the play to kiss another boy. I was thinking she hasn't even kissed Miguel, and her one kiss was with a guy she's friends with.

Even Jenna and Alex's romance was pointless. It could have developed from the beginning, but it never went anywhere even though they both liked each other. When Elena says she 'was happy to see that Jenna had eventually given in to her oblivious feelings for Alex' I was like are you kidding me? The night before they leave?!

I wonder if there's really a green flash as the sun sets on the ocean like Miguel mentioned.

When they went boating and she finds out Miguel's mom died, she says he wasn't the perfect guy born from her imagination, but a real person with sadness and flaws. I wondered what flaws because she doesn't know him. At the end, she says Elena said Miguel was a guy with insecurities, and faults but what were they? She doesn't know his insecurities, faults, or flaws.

I had a feeling the book would end with her dreaming in Spanish, so I was glad when it did.
Although the ending had a feeling of sadness and depression to it. It was their last night there, and we knew nothing was gonna happen with her and Miguel.
Miguel wakes her up to see the sunrise and they don't even wake up her friends to see it, or have any dialogue. Majorly disappointing.

Out of the three I've read from this series, this was the most disappointing. It was mostly boring, with nothing exciting happening, and barely anything going on at all. Just her going to school, hanging out with friends, going to the beach. And the 'romance' was barely there.
I wish these books had more romance to them. And that the couples actually ended up together and had an HEA, where the MC plans to return and live there with the guy.
These books are pretty lacking in romance, so if you like yours books heavier on romance, and a HEA, then these probably won't work for you. I think I would have liked these a lot more when I was young.

I kept waiting for the male lead to show up, and he didn't make an appearance until page 69 and the book is short anyway. He says they'd work on her Spanish but then he didn't teach her anything or speak Spanish with her.
The synopsis is misleading. Her siblings are overachievers but how are they? Are they really smart? But she's obviously smart to be in SASS. I expected them to be mean but they were nice and supportive. The author told us they were overachievers but didn't show us how they were.

This was just ok. I like that it didn't have drama like the other two I've read, and there was no annoying love triangle thing where the MC picks the bad guy first, spends too much time with him, and then realizes he's the wrong choice. I liked that Alex was just a friend, and I liked the other characters too. It was a nice group of friends, who were supportive and had fun together, although Jenna could be annoying. However, this was probably the worst in terms of romance. I can't remember exactly how the romance was in Getting the Boot, but that one was lacking too. They might be equally lacking, I don't know.
There were some good lessons in here that Elena learned, and I liked the character growth. When she was late to class and forgot to do a Spanish assignment, I was like oh no, but thankfully that didn't end up being a problem. She was a good student and didn't slack off when she got to Spain.