Summertime, my favorite season of all. Why? Because I am most motivated to read in the summer while we are camping, sitting around the bonfire or on road trips! Every year I participate in the Carnegie Library Summer Reading Program- Its for kids and adults, and they always have fun themes and the last couple of years a BINGO sheet to complete. On one square there is “Reading a Classic” (I am going to read “To Kill a Mockingbird”) and on other squares it might say reading a book you normally wouldn’t, or taking a walk. This years theme takes a unique approach- its about healthy living and eating as well as reading. So there is even a square about checking out a recipe book and another square on making a healthy recipe.

I have been forcing myself out of my comfort zone and trying to read some books I normally wouldnt. I am really into Janet Evanovich as well as the Sookie Stackhouse Series (You might know that as TruBlood) and just about any modern romance novel. The last few books I have read, however, have been mystery and murder novels.

Last week, when I went to the library I visited the “New Arrivals” section and checked out a few of the newest on the scene. One of them was The Drowning Girls, by Paula Treick DeBoard. I wouldn’t say that I am particularly in love with the novel, although it kept me reading on. I think what really got me was the ending, its as if it just dropped off the face of the earth without truly acknowledging any of the questions.

The novel is about a family who moves into “The Palms” which is a high class society with “Stepford-like wives and their obnoxiously spoiled children.” The mother, Liz, who is one of the two main characters in the novel, is determined to find a way to make their new life work. The summary of the book says it best, “in a place where reputation is everything, Liz discovers that even the friendliest residents cant be trusted.” This family quickly begins spiraling out of control as they get mixed up with the residents of The Palms, and their issues.

What I will say is that the characters were defined well and I was able to relate almost exquisitely. I enjoyed being able to flip flop between the characters to truly see the whole picture, know what each character was feeling, their side of the story. The author does this well; in some novels it almost gets too overwhelming when trying to tell the story through two or more different perspectives.

Overall, I wouldn’t call this novel light reading, there truly is some depth to it. Its a book that you will want to set aside for when you can truly focus on it. I think that is why it took me a while to read it, I couldn’t just pick it up for a quick 10 minutes, I had to devote longer periods of time so that I could truly be in sync with the characters and the story. In all, I would give this novel 3 out of 5 stars.