Reviews for How to Ruin a Summer Vacation

The average rating for How to Ruin a Summer Vacation based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-26 00:00:00 Jeff Kuiper Ok, before I start reviewing the book I have to say a couple of things a bout Israel. I live in Israel. My mom lived in the US for 20 years and moved to Israel because of my dad, therefore I read only english books and speak english better then I speak hebrew.. Sad I know. I started reading this book knowing it will be a fun read about a book that's written from Americans perspective about Israel. About Israeli's and American's being together. While I was reading this book I understood that the author didn't really know many things about Israel. Understandable. But when you write a book you need to make sure you have all the right facts. So before I tell you what I thought about the book I have to clarify some things that bothered me throughout the book. first of all, in the twenty first century teenagers name's aren't usually Osnat, Ofra. It's more like: Maya, Mia, Noa, Dana, Natalie... 2. I am 19, which means that I am a soldier.We, soldires, are not, I repeat, are NOT bodyguards or work in any security company. We do not stand in airports with guns, outside of clubs (which we don't call disco- number three of the list that bothered me) checking I.D's and being called when there's a fight- That is for the police to take care of. What we REALLY do is: guard our country. Not the clubs or hotels, but the country itself! So reading about soldiers being like bodyguards just had me wanting to explain to you all that it's not true. 3. We don't say disco anymore. My dad didn't even say disco when he was a teen. When we want to party, we call it A PARTY. Like-"hey, let's go to a party" not "hey let's disco"..... Just no. 4. People don't lick one another at clubs. Sorry to burst you guys' bubble... Well I guess weirdos do, but it like never happens here. Now about the book: I, actually, really liked it. When I started reading it I thought it will be horrible, but I instantly liked it and read it in one sitting. Amy was, sometimes, annoying and too much to handle. I liked that she grew throughout the book. I LOVED the cute relationship between Avi (a typical guy name, even now lol) and Amy. It took some time but I'm happy it happened. I can't wait to read the second book and see what happens to Amy when she's in the US. I hope Avi will be involved. Overall it was a fun read. I found myself laughing and smiling to myself most of the time. I really recommend this book. But again, I had to explain some stuff.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-03-20 00:00:00 Samuel Garcia Damn, I haven't written a review in forever. Seriously, I am like 13 books behind or something. So, I am going backwards, reviewing the freshest ones first. Here goes. This is my second Simone Elkeles book. I read Perfect Chemistry, and enjoyed it, but for some reason it took me two years to pick up another Elkeles. I'm not sure if How to Ruin a Summer Vacation was the right one for me. Young Adult books are supposedly marketed for teenagers, but I'm not so sure about that one. Just looking at my friends here on Goodreads, most of them are women who love YA just for the escape it provides from life. Even as an honest-to-goodness teenager, I know very few of my peers actually read YA for fun. I am truly an anomaly. Maybe not here on a book site for nerds, but in real life, definitely. Anyway, what was my point?.....oh, yes. To me, Amy was annoying and stereotypical as a shallow, overdramatic American teen girl. Mehbe to "older" readers of YA (I'm not calling you guys old...just more matured), Amy provides a sense of humorous nostalgia. "Ah yes, I remember those days when I would freak out on people for absolutely no reason and cause people to cry for my own twisted sense of self-satisfaction!" But, gah, Amy was annoying She was almost a caricature, her emotions and reactions were so exaggerated. My God, my mother has my permission to beat me down with a hose if I ever acted that way. Don't get me wrong, I am pretty over-dramatic, but I don't assume I am getting drafted into the Israeli Army just because my father is taking me there on vacation. And she was so bitchy and moody and selfish and self-absorbed and lots of other whiney bad things! Anyway, besides my intense dislike of Amy, I will grudgingly admit, there were some funny parts, and I was grinning through a lot of it. The romance was pretty heated towards the end, even though I cannot see the reason why anyone would want to kiss Amy apart from finally getting her to shut up. It wasn't a bad book. I learned a little bit about Israeli culture (my public education failed me in that regard). The star reduction was entirely because of Amy. If you can stand her, there is a good chance you will love this book.