Coming Up for Air by Miranda Kenneally
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book): Swim. Eat. Shower. School. Snack. Swim. Swim. Swim. Dinner. Homework. Bed. Repeat.
All of Maggie's focus and free time is spent swimming. She's not only striving to earn scholarships—she's training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team, and cheers her on. But Levi's already earned an Olympic tryout, so Maggie feels even more pressure to succeed. And it's not until Maggie's away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the "typical" high school experience she's missed by being in the pool.
No one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate.
After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to sacrifice in the water to win at love?
MY OPINION: ***
I've made it pretty well-known that I'm not the biggest fan of this series but I actually enjoyed this one quite a lot more than I was expecting to. The characters were slightly more likable and the plot was more interesting than those of the previous novels.
Maggie is a dedicated swimmer who doesn't have time for anything other than swimming. She's inexperienced in life and and has never had a boyfriend. She's only ever kissed one boy in a game of Spin the Bottle, and she wants to experience the love that everyone else around her seems to be going through. She decides to ask her best friend, Levi, to help her gain some experience before she goes off to college where she has heard that nobody has serious relationships and only "hooks up" for fun.
I liked Maggie. Her character wasn't annoying and I liked her dedication to her swimming. I liked how she overcame her biggest enemy and realized that she should be racing herself instead of other people. I liked how her swimming journey symbolized how she was changing as a person as well, because she began as a backstroke swimmer and then realized that she had other talents as well. This is similar to her journey because she began to change into a different person that wasn't exactly bad but was different than who she had always been.
I liked Levi well enough but I didn't like the way he treated Maggie. He cared about her feelings but managed to break her heart all the same. He didn't want to start something with her because he felt like she deserved someone she genuinely loved but then ended up doing it anyway. Although it all ended well enough, I don't like how he basically manipulated her despite it being her idea. She was inexperienced and didn't know what she wanted and ended up getting hurt.
I liked the premise of this book because it focused on real teenage problems with a girl who just wanted to experience more of life before she headed off to college. I didn't like how she went about doing it but I understood her desire to try to go through what others had been through before going off on her own.
There were a lot of hilariously written scenes that genuinely made me laugh, such as her awkward hook-up from hell, Superman, and her dad in the pharmacy. It was a very interesting book overall. It looks pretty fluffy from the outside but be forewarned it's slightly graphic and not what I would have expected from this young adult looking novel.
The writing was simplistic as usual and easy to read. I finished this book in the same day and it didn't take too long so I would recommend it to readers looking for a short, cute, fun romance featuring the best-friends-to-lovers trope.
Main Character: Maggie
Sidekick(s): Levi, etc
Villain(s): Roxy, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all real to life.
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