Backlog Review: Last Year’s Mistake – Gina Ciocca

Posted February 1, 2016 by Andi in Backlog Review, Books, Review / 1 Comment

Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: June 9th 2015
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Is there anything that electric chemistry can’t overcome? The past may be gone, but love has a way of holding on in this romantic debut novel told in alternating Before and After chapters.

The summer before freshman year, Kelsey and David became inseparable best friends—until the night a misunderstanding turned Kelsey into the school joke and everything around her crumbled, including her friendship with David. So when Kelsey’s parents decide to move away, she can’t wait to start over and leave the past behind. But David’s not quite ready to be left.

Now it’s senior year and Kelsey has a new group of friends, genuine popularity, and a hot boyfriend. Her life is perfect. That is, until David’s family moves to town. Old feelings bubble to the surface and threaten to destroy Kelsey’s second chance at happiness. The more time she spends with David, the more she realizes she never let him go. And maybe she never wants to…

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’m a major sucker for best friend to love troupes in books. I don’t know what it is, but I’m drawn to them like nobody’s business. So when I read the description of Last Year’s Mistake I was instantly drawn in. It had exactly what I would want in a book. And I loved the idea of the story having a back story, a past. And I can happily report that it hit the spot.

I guess what I really liked about this book was the relationship David and Kelsey formed right away. They were both these awkward teenagers and they just clicked. They understood each other and I liked that. Kelsey wasn’t always my favorite person. I mean sometimes I questioned just what the heck she was doing, but I also understood her too. She was trying to do anything to be someone else. To reinvent herself in a way her old high school never allowed her to do, but she also wasn’t being true to herself at the same time. Now David I loved the whole time. There was something so swoony about him. Something that made you just want to be his best friend and crush on him at the same time. It was sure who he was and I loved that about him.

I did have 2 issues that I didn’t particularly enjoy which is why this book isn’t rated higher than a 4. I hated Kelsey’s boyfriend. He was a jerk so I didn’t understand why she was even with him. I mean I know he kind of had to be a jerk for the book to work for the most part, but I think he could have been written a little better. I also wasn’t too crazy about the “misunderstanding, school joke” thing from Kelsey’s old high school. It just didn’t seem like it should have been as big a deal as it was. I mean I know kids are cruel, but this just seemed a tad over the top even for young high school kids.

Even with those two things I really enjoyed Last Year’s Mistake. It was definitely my kind of book and I read it when I needed something just like it. Getting to know Kelsey and David and the inner workings of their relationship was fun. I’m excited to see what else Gina Ciocca has in store for us with her writing.