A pretty fun and at times exciting read taking place in summer camp!

I was at first a bit hesitant about the book because I just wasn’t a fan of the author’s second book, They’ll Never Catch Us. But I decided to just give it a go and hope that it was as good as They Wish They Were Us! And I can tell you… that yes it was as good as her first book! A bit slow at times but it picked up and I really enjoyed it. I am going to be trying to write a review.. but my feels are all over the place and well, so so tired.

Goldie was quite an interesting character, though I wasn’t a fan how she was cropping everything just up inside of her. And how she made some dumb decisions. I mean, I am sorry, but why would you say yes to that? If someone I loved did something dumb? Take your own responsibility. But I did also love how she tried to solve the mystery, how she tried to make things work, how absolutely sweet she was with the little kids in the camp, how hard she worked, and how tough she was.

The friendship between the girls? I really liked it though at times I was just unsure about it all. I mean, they seemed like epic friends, but at times you just saw things bubbling underneath. Not beautiful things, but jealousy, regrets, and other things that aren’t healthy. But for most I did like it. I loved how these girls withstood distance and mostly only seeing each other online. When they were together it was like nothing had happened. Well, OK, maybe not this time. XD Out of the two girls I think Imogen was my favourite. She just seemed to be the more stable one of the group, and I loved how she tried to make sure that Goldie knew she was there for her. If she wanted to talk.

There is also the whole rich camp versus poor town. How the people in the camp view the peeps in town (as if it is just all a play and nothing worth giving) and how the town people viewed the rich people (spoiled, bratty, bleh). It was quite interesting how that was woven in the story and also how it affected Goldie.

Loved that we got Then and Now parts. That gave us more insight in what happened before and why things are happening in the camp. Yes, we don’t just find out about Goldie and what happened in that year, but also about other things. Especially since Goldie was pretty silent about what happened this one helped a lot.

The summer camp parts? Oh man, makes me wish having those kind of summer camps here. Though maybe not 4 or 5 weeks, because that would mean no more rest of the vacation (we only get around 6 weeks here). But I would love to be part! Live in a cabin for a few weeks. Colour war. Swimming or kayaking. Hikes. Tons of other fun things! Much better than the camps I have been on. Which featured tents (and not the best ones) or sleeping together in one big room. Give me cabins and lakeside views any day.

But the book really really started quite slowly + I just got a bit tired of the whole, should I tell them or not thing. Like, girl, just talk already. So I did something I only very rarely do, and that is go to the last 40 pages and read those. After reading those and getting some nice twists and turns I decided to read back the rest of the book and that is how I fell in love with it again. I guess sometimes you need to know how it ends so you can read how it started.

The ending was one heck of a ride and I just felt so much for these characters, but also the town. All that time…

All in all, despite some smaller things I had a ton of fun with this book and it was perfect for Spooktober!