(ARC) REVIEW • The Dream (This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills)

[note note_color=”#008d89″ text_color=”#ffffff”]This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills • October 4, 2016 • Henry Holt & Co BYR (Macmillan)
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Sloane isn’t expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that’s exactly what happens.

Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera’s twin brother and the most serious person Sloane’s ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins’ late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins’ lives.[/note]

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Macmillan for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “My immediate priority is air.”

Sloane just moved to Florida from New York, and she’s dragged to a party where she’s not interested in mingling with the locals. In comes the twins—Vera and Gabe—and Sloane’s world begins to change. She’s welcomed into their world and gains friends—something she had never experienced so deeply in her life. She navigates this new life of hers with a bit of awkwardness and love.

Why You Will Enjoy This Adventure Ends

• You will fall in love with this group of friends.

Sloane did. I sure did! Vera, Gabe, and their friends are not hard to fall in love with. If you grab the attention of Vera, this sweet social media star who is super friendly, you’re immediately welcomed into her group of friends, which is what happens to Sloane when she defends Vera’s twin brother, Gabe, from a bully. When she lets Sloane in, she grabs Sloane tight. Old friends, new friends, Vera values all her friends the same—with a lot of love. This is a group of friends who value each other above all. No matter what, they will never turn their backs at each other. They’ll go to the moon and back to make each other happy.

They go the extra mile to help each other. Sloane just met these people, and she’s willing to track down a painting that was loved by the twins. She’ll put all her resources in to make them happy. Isn’t that what you want from your friends?

• The dialogue is witty and sharp.

These characters know how to talk. You’ll find yourself flying through these sections because they’re non-stop. It’s not hard to be entranced by these characters.

• Sometimes you just don’t know how to deal with your feelings.

That’s Sloane. She’s the girl who doesn’t know to react to certain feelings. She’ll crack jokes when she’s uncomfortable or doesn’t know who to react. She’s the type of person who warms up to people really slow because she never had a close group of friends like Vera and Gabe. This is something most readers can relate to—reacting a certain way because you’re uncomfortable. (It’s like when I’m complimented, and I don’t know how to react.)

• You’ll laugh at the fandom-obsessed father of Sloane.

Sloane’s father is far from the dads you know in your life. He’s an author and a What dads do you know is in touch with fandom? Not I. Seeing Sloane’s father fall into major fanboying made me laugh. It was ridiculous to see a grown man heavily invested in a teen TV show that’s similar to Teen Wolf, but I couldn’t stop smiling at these scenes.

• Emma Mills’s writing is fantastic.

I know many people had issues with The Curious Tale of the In-Between because of how dark and creepy it was. The Peculiar Night of the Blue Heart is not as dark or depressing as the other book. Yes, it explores dark topics like death and abuse and possession, and I felt slightly creeped out by what happens. However, I never felt like young readers would find it overly scary (to the point of nightmares) or not be able to process these topics.

Should you read This Adventure Ends? Yeah. See why everybody is raving about Emma Mills’s writing! It’s sweet and cute. It’s heavily focused on the friendship (oh, the beautiful friendship!). It has ridiculous characters that are hard to believe sometimes, but it’s just fun! You’ll breeze through this cute book.