Donut Summer
by Anita Kelly
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Young Adult
Type of romance: nb/f
Blurb:
Anita Kelly delivers their YA debut—a sweet and satisfying queer romance about two teens who fall for each other while trying to save the local donut shop where they’re working for the summer.“Relaxing” and “getting a tan” may be on most teens’ summer to-do lists, but for chronically freckled and deeply anxious Penny Dexter? Not a chance. Socking money away for college? Of course. Babysitting her siblings? Sure. Becoming a climate scientist and saving the world? She wishes.
At least she can tackle the tuition money with the seasonal gig she landed at Delicious Donuts. But when she finds out that her genderqueer nemesis, Mateo della Penna, will also be working behind the counter, Penny’s summer of mindless labor instantly vanishes before her eyes. Mateo is ridiculous and artsy, and their favorite kind of donut is Boston Crème (gross!). But the duo’s two-and-a-half-year feud will have to take a backseat when the donut shop is threatened by a corporate takeover.
As their small town faces big pressure, and anxiety threatens everything Penny’s worked for, there’s still one person who remains by her side. And though their taste in donuts is questionable, Mateo’s presence manages to keep Penny calm and focused. Could it be that Penny’s found the perfect, most infuriating person to change the world with?
My Review
I really like the adult books by Anita Kelly that I read, so I was really excited to hear they were publishing a YA book and pre-ordered it immediately. And then when the end of summer was approaching it felt like the perfect time to read this one. I had such a great time reading this one. There’s just something about Anita Kelly’s writing style and the way they write their stories and their characters that just really works for me.
Donut Summer is told from the point of view of Penny, an anxious teenager who decides to work at a donut store for the summer to save up for her college fund. On her first day at her job they find out she has to work together with Mateo. As the summer progresses the two grow closer and eventually fall in love. I really liked reading about these two. They both think the other doesn’t like them and they have some misunderstanding to overcome and figure things out first. There are some very fun and sweet scenes between the two of them. I liked how they are there for each other and support the other.
Penny was so relatable, I also struggle with anxiety and I thought those scenes were written very well. There was a scene toward the end that hit me hard because it was written so vividly I could feel what Penny was feeling and I had to take a break from the book before I could continue. I didn’t really like the bit of conflict toward the end either as I am not a fan of third act breakups. I just wished they had talked things through as they were so good at that most of the times.
All the side characters feel pretty realistic and interesting too, they all have their own lives and things going on. I liked the donut store focus and the small town setting. I liked Penny’s love for nature as I could relate to that so well and the waterfall scene was awesome. I thought Mateo’s genderqueer-ness was well written and they were such an interesting character. I liked Penny’s attempt to help the donut shop. The ending did feel a bit open and I would’ve liked to see more of what their future looked like, but it did feel pretty realistic.
To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. I really like this author’s writing style, the way they write their characters and stories. Penny and Mateo were both such interesting characters and they felt so realistic. I especially could relate to Penny with her anxiety, those scenes felt very well written, but also a bit tough at times as I knew how she felt. I really liked reading about Penny and Mateo and there are so many sweet scenes with them. The donut shop and the small town setting were fun too. The side characters all felt realistic too and all the characters just really came to life.
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