Book Review: Meet Me at Midnight by Jessica Pennington
Everyone talks about beach reads, but if your summer vacay is to the lake instead of the shore, then you still need some books to read by the water. Some popular YA lake titles include Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson and Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West, but why not add this title to the mix?
This week’s title is Meet Me at Midnight by Jessica Pennington
Sidney and Asher, two rival swimmers who spend every summer pranking each other at the lake, are determined to make their final summer the wildest yet. But when their feud gets their families kicked out of their lake houses, they unexpectedly team up to prank a common enemy—the woman responsible. As their truce turns into something deeper, years of rivalry give way to an undeniable attraction neither of them can ignore.
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I read both of the lake-themed YA books mentioned above so in an effort to vary up my summer reading list, I chose this title and I’m so glad I did. The pranks, the fun, the love-to-hate each other trope, everything was a great mix for a summer lakeside read. This title reminded me so much of early 2000s young adult books and provided just the right amount of nostalgia with the descriptions of summer activities. Now, I’m a beach person instead of a lake person, but this had me wanting to find a cute little cabin to rent with friends and enjoy a nice day on the water.
Spoiler-free Review
It never ceases to amaze me how some people can come with such great pranks. Archer and Sidney are no different. The creativity of their pranks on one another is very amusing and you could tell right off the bat that they don’t actually hate each other. Instigating the truce didn’t take away the pranks, just re-routed them to focus on the previous landlord and we of course got lots of descriptions of previous prank scenarios.
I thought the dynamic between Sidney and Archer was great and I was able to root for them pretty early on. Being in forced proximity always adds some extra tension and I loved that the parents just turned a blind eye to the teens and let them figure it out for themselves what they knew all along. Combining these hijinks with summer activities like tubing on the river, boating on the lake, grilling fish by the campfire, you couldn’t ask for a more cozy tale that will have you missing camp days and vacations with your family. I definitely recommend this book if you want something light-hearted and oh so fun.
For a spoiler review, keep on reading!
Spoilers! Be warned!
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Okay, I warned you!
My favorite thing about this book was that Archer was always in love with Sidney. He was always single during the summer and none of his pranks were ever too mean. He teased Sidney, but genuinely wanted to spend time with her as well. When he brought Sidney back to his regular home and she got a glimpse into who he is during all the other seasons, it was painfully obvious how mad he was for her. He could’ve been extremely obnoxious whenever he saw Sidney hanging out with other guys, but he kept his cool and let Sidney figure out what he already knew.
I really loved that the families ended up sharing a house together. I truly didn’t understand why they didn’t do that from the start. It added so much to the book to have Sidney and Archer using the jack-and-jill bathroom to send messages to each other and to sneak into their bedrooms. I also enjoyed that they already committed to the same college before this summer started so there wasn’t the wondering what they would do with their relationship once the summer ended.
I wish we got some more flashback scenes from that first summer or other previous summers so we could see instead of be told what happened. I also thought the ending dragged out much longer than it should have and could’ve easily been condensed to a chapter or two after the summer ended. Those two aspects made this a four-star read for me, but I enjoyed how quick and again, fun, of a read it was.
