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I’d said that this would be one of my last YA reads, but I’m already starting to miss them, so that might change.

Open road Summer was a book I had some difficulty with. I really liked parts, but others were much harder to get behind, like Reagan, the protagonist.

The story, which is told from the point of view of Reagan, is about her and her best friend, country music star Lilah Montgomery a.k.a Dee. Reagan has decided to spend the summer touring America with Dee. She’s had a few problems recently involving a break-up and a run in with the police. Dee has her own problems which get markedly worse when a photo of her, which she looks naked in (but actually isn’t), is leaked to the press. This photo threatens to wreak havoc on her wholesome image and her management formulate a plan where fellow musician, Matt Finch will accompany Reagan and Dee on the road and be the support act at her concerts. Dee’s management think that if she and Matt are seen together publically people will think she and Matt are an item and the negative media attention she’s had will be somewhat abated. I couldn’t really see how that would work myself, so it seemed like an obvious plot manoeuvre, really. Matt Finch is a friend of Dee’s so she’s happy to have him accompanying her on tour, but Reagan isn’t pleased. She’s suspicious of Matt right from the start and doesn’t want him there butting in on what she thought would be quality time with Dee. Even though she mistrusts him to begin with it soon becomes clear that there’s an attraction between Reagan and Matt, but because of personal demons Reagan doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea of her relationship with Matt going beyond anything platonic. This is YA so it was pretty clear that it would go further, at some point. The central theme then, is whether Reagan can move beyond her past and begin the relationship with Matt that she clearly wants.

Reagan was a difficult character to like, but it was obvious that she was hurting and I could sympathise with her a lot. Her mother had left her when she was still quite young and this had shaped her view of the world.

As much as there were things about Reagan to not like, such as her hot temper and tendency to slut-shame, there were plenty of things I did, like the loyalty she had for Dee. As much as Reagan had been shaped by the negative events in her life she still held respect for herself, which I personally know is a hard thing to do when it feels like the world is against you.

Dee’s character complimented Reagan’s in that she was the opposite. Oftentimes she was childlike in her naivety and sometimes felt a little too one-dimensional.

Matt was a good character, sensitive when he needed to be, but also resilient. It did seem a little far-fetched at times that he continued to try and win over Reagan when she made things so difficult, though. In the same circumstances other guys would have given up, but he held on, which made his character likeable as he obviously saw something in Reagan

A couple of plot manoeuvres didn’t come across as authentic which is why I haven’t given it a higher rating. I did enjoy it though and thought Reagan was a very complex character. I was forced to look more deeply at her to understand her motivations and I appreciated this complexity.