Review: Coming Up for Air (Hundred Oaks #8) by Miranda Kenneally

 

Coming Up for Air
(Hundred Oaks #8)

by Miranda Kenneally

July 4, 2017
320 pages

Goodreads   Indigo
 

Goodreads Summary:

Swim. Eat. Shower. School. Snack. Swim. Swim. Swim. Dinner. Homework. Bed. Repeat.

All of Maggie’s focus and free time is spent swimming. She’s not only striving to earn scholarships—she’s training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team and cheers her on. But Levi’s already earned an Olympic try out, so she feels even more pressure to succeed. And it’s not until Maggie’s away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the “typical” high school experience she’s missed by being in the pool.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to lose to win?

Review

I have so much love for Miranda Kenneally's Hundred Oaks books. It's an excellent contemporary YA series. If you haven't read any yet you're seriously missing out.

Friends-to-more relationships are the best trope in my opinion. When it's done right they can be so healthy and swoon-worthy. Ms. Kenneally is one author who does it right. Life is complicated and she brings that out in her stories. "People can promise a relationship won't change all they want, but that's part of life. Things always change, no matter how hard we hold on tight." (ARC, p. 84). Her characters have realistic views. Not only that, they also are positive and encouraging.

I enjoyed the swimming aspect of this book a lot. There's a lot of pressure on the characters but they swam for themselves. They stayed focused on their goals even as major changes happened and emotions ran high. At their age, it's easy to feel suffocated (especially given the competitive nature of the sports they're in) but they always had the right mindset. "It's human to think that everyone is always watching everything we do, but they aren't." (ARC, p. 96). In the face of mistakes and changes they still genuinely cared and cheered for each other. They handled each big life transition well. I loved everything about these characters.

It makes my heart sad thinking that this is the last book in this wonderfully relatable series. Despite my sadness, these stories will always stay with me and I'll definitely be rereading these books again and again!

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way. All quotes were taken from the Advance Review Copy I received.