This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills (review)

When Sloane’s dad moves the family from New York to Florida as a cure for his writer’s block, Sloane is perfectly okay with that; she’s a happy and outspoken loner, so one place is as good as another for her. When she intervenes in a bullying situation at a party, though, her social life undergoes a complete makeover. For the first time, she is drawn into a group of friends whose happiness matters to her. Twins Vera and Gabe are grieving the loss of their mother, while Remy is bewildered as to why Aubrey broke up with him. Sloane becomes as important to each of them as they are to her, but her inexperience at negotiating relationships threatens the closeness that they share. The plot arc here is an exact mirror to Sloane’s character arc; the story drifts along in a pleasant pace over a seemingly placid surface until the revelation of a secret breaks like a wave. At that point, the subplot of Sloane’s dad’s turning to fanfic to rediscover his passion for writing comes together with the main action of the book, offering an unexpected depth of insight into how life and fiction interact. Fans of romances, friend-ensemble novels, and literary fiction can thus all find their own level of enjoyment here.