Fresh New Voice of YA- Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
"When Anna was little, she and her mother used to search for sea glass, but since they looked at night, they called it moonglass. Now, ten years after her mother's mysterious death, her father is working as head lifeguard on the same beach where her mother grew up and her parents first met and fell in love.

Reluctant to get close to anyone (including her father) and not pleased about having to start at a new school, Anna begins to spend more time alone, running the length of the beach and wondering about who her mother really was. After meeting a lifeguard named Tyler, she slowly lets her guard down and together they start exploring the abandoned houses that dot the beach.

But when learning more about her mother's past leads to a painful discovery, Anna must reconcile her desire for solitude with ultimately accepting the love of her family and friends."- summary from Amazon

Kirby has a wonderful debut novel that's a great summer read with depth. Usually, summer reads mainly deal with a romance, but that's on the backburner here. The main plot is all about Anna coming to terms with her mother's death nine years ago and dealing with the pain she's been feeling.

There's such a great balance between light and dark in this book, which can be hard to do. I loved the beach setting and Kirby does an excellent job really making the reader feel like they're at the beach too. The prose is descriptive and flows so well.

I gotta say that while I loved Anna and Tyler, my favorite character would have to be Ashley. She was just so funny but could be pretty insightful too. Tyler isn't seen too much and I kinda wish there'd been more scenes with him, showing off the chemistry he and Anna have. I loved their scenes together and Tyler just sounds like such a great, hot guy. I want a hottie lifeguard now, lol.

Overall, a fantastic debut with a gorgeous cover. I urge everyone to put this on your summer wishlists!

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding.