Review: Spill Over by Jolene Perry - Juhina

Title: Spill Over

Author: Jolene Perry

Publication date: July 11th, 2012

Publisher: Next Door Publishing

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Challenges: Contemporary, SARC

Source: Author
Format: Digital ARC

Pages: 128

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"I'm not in New York.
I'm friends with a girl.
I'm living on a boat... with my dad...
At this point, I figure anything's possible."

When an assignment overseas gives Antony's Mom the opportunity of a lifetime, she sees it as a chance for Antony to get to know his dad - a guy strange enough to live on a boat. Near dreary Seattle. Antony’s sure that the next few months will feel like a lifetime. He and his dad can’t even fill up a five minute conversation on his birthday call.

Then he meets Amber, the girl from five boats down, and his prospects perk up. But when it becomes very clear, very fast, that all she’s after is friendship, Antony wonders if he’ll survive the next three months.

He is absolutely. Completely. Totally. Displaced.

And then tragedy hits. 

By now you should know that any book I read by Jolene Perry is going to be fantastic, and Spill Over is no exception. Spill Over is told from a male POV and I usually have a problem with that but not when it comes to Perry. This is the second book by her I read that has a male POV (Night Sky being the first) and I loved every single page of it! Jolene always excels in making her characters dynamic, real, and just full of life and emotions that you instantly fall in love with them. 

Here we've got Antony, the son of a single working mother. He and his mom are very close and travel the world because of his mom's job. He's never known his dad. But when his mom tells him he's spending the next couple of months with his dad, who lives on a boat in the middle of no where, his world turns upside down. At the beginning, Antony was portrayed as a spoiled rich kid, and that he was. But you could still tell he's not one of those materialistic womanizing jerks. When he moves to the boat he meets Amber. Now here's when some of the drama begins. I honestly felt that Antony was so real and just so transparent and honest with Amber. He himself even wondered what she's turning him into. He was so adorable the way he fell for her. However Amber was so cautious and just so innocent that it frustrated me at times. I get that she's afraid of what Antony represents: A rich kid who always gets what he wants. However over time I was getting tired of her always doubting what she has but boy Antony totally had his issues too. Especially with the mysterious Héléna. 

I loved that it was set on a dock, close to the water. I love different settings in contemporary novels and this was excellent. I also loved Antony's POV and seeing everything through his eyes. He was a very honest and enjoyable character and even through his thick headedness at times, I still found him very likable, along with Amber. His relationship with his mom and then his dad was also great. Jolene Perry did a fantastic job portraying Antony's struggles, his life, and his relationships. I would definitely recommend it to all contemporary fans! Be sure to check this out as well as her older and upcoming contemporary novels!

Reviews of other Jolene Perry titles on the blog

The Next Door Boys

Night Sky

Knee Deep