During the summer Colby's parents will be getting a divorce, and think sending Colby to Greece to visit her aunt would be the best. Colby is determined not have her summer ruined by getting shipped off to Greece, but even with begging, she's off.

I thought Cruel Summer was a cute, fun quick read. At first I was quite annoyed with Colby. She was in Greece, and all she could do was complain. Huh? As soon as she meets Yannis though, the good looking greek guy, she quickly changes her tune. The story is written through emails, letters, blogging, and journal entries. Just looking at the cover makes me want to book a flight to Greece. Beautiful! ( )

This is a fun, fast, easy read that I would recomment to all lovers of young adult fiction. It deals with real-life issues in a humorous and hopeful way. From divorce to the death of a friend, Noel covers it all and lets readers know that no matter what happens, there is still hope and life is still worth living. ( )

Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

Colby Cavendish has finally made it into the in crowd! She worked hard to gain Amanda's favor and now she's her new best friend. She's practically guaranteed the best Senior year ever! As an added bonus, Levi Bonham, the hottest guy in school, has suddenly become very interested in Colby! So interested that she's actually sitting right next to him on the couch at Amanda's house.

Okay, so Colby's just a little nervous that it's their first date...well, not even really a date. She's alone downstairs kissing Levi like she's always dreamed, like they'd been dating for forever, while Amanda is upstairs in her room with her guy. And Colby can't stop thinking about her curfew, which, by the way, passed, like, two hours ago. But at least she's stopped feeling guilty about dumping her former best friend, Natalie. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to progress up the social ladder. It's just part of life. Right?

Colby's parents are in the middle of a messy, angry divorce. Turns out they were so engrossed in their fight of the night, that they didn't even know Colby missed her curfew. It seems they barely remember they have a daughter, whose life they are royally screwing up. Then Colby finds out they have plans for her summer that don't include hitting the malls and becoming fully entrenched in her new social order.

They are sending her to Greece. No, not Athens. A tiny little island called Tinos. No amount of ranting, reasoning, pleading, or even crying will change their mind. Colby boards the plane bound for three months with Crazy Aunt Tally and no TV, no computer, no Wi-Fi. Nothing. How is she supposed to maintain her new social status? What if Colby gets replaced by a new Amanda Wanna-Be?

But soon things are looking up. First, there's Yannis, this really cute Greek guy who's living on Tinos! And second? She found an Internet café! Score! She is alive again! Maybe she can ignore the parent wars. But why was Yannis with Marie? And should she tell him that she's going to island hop to Mykonos to meet Levi, who's on a cruise to Greece? And her parents are going to sell the house as part of the divorce settlement? She might be spending her Senior year in Arizona?

Teen girls will totally love CRUEL SUMMER by Alyson Noël. The story is told using letters home, the journal her mother gave her, "Colby's Journal For Desperate Times...," and her new blog. The range of emotions, devastating lows to breathtaking highs, and the intense feeling that everything affects her is so authentic. The reader will relate to her habit of over-thinking every comment, gesture, or word of an email, and the insecurity she feels around Yannis. I loved this book and totally devoured it. For this reason, I give it five stars! ( )

"Cruel Summer" is a solid teen-finding-herself-over-the summer tale.

Colby's a pretty avarage teen. She's got one real friend, is desperate to get into the popular crowd, is seriously crushing on an unattainable jock boy, and has self-involved parents who are in the process of divorcing. So, they send her to Greece for the summer so that she's not smack in the middle of the chaos. This is, of course, THE END OF THE WORLD in Colby's mind but she eventually adjusts, learns to appreciate her surroundings (both people and place), and becomes more grounded and mature.

A quick and breezy summer read and a solid non-depressing YA read. ( )

Colby's parents are getting divorced and think Colby would be better off visiting her Aunt Tally on the small Greek island of Tinos. Colby arrives at Tinos to find Aunt Tally does not have internet, television or cell phone coverage. Things improve when Colby meets a local boy who shows her life on the island is not all that bad.

Fairly predicable young adult summer tale. Easy to read with likeable characters. ( )