*I received an ARC of GIRL OUT OF WATER from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 
 26 days to read a 350-page book. (At least, I think it was about 350 pages.) It never takes me that long to finish a book. But, nonetheless, I really liked it it. 
 GIRL OUT OF WATER is one of those books that warms your heart to the point where you cannot put it down. I read over half of it in the past 3 hours; literally, as soon as I woke up, I went to reading it. This book just has such amazing characters. 
 P L O T: 
 Okay, so the plot was really, really nice. If you've been following me for a while, then you know strong plots are my thing; GIRL OUT OF WATER did not disappoint. 
 Quick overview: 
 -Girl loves to surf! 
 -Girl's aunt gets hurt, so she has to take care of her cousins. 
 -Cousins love skating! 
 -Cute skating boy. 
 -Drama ensues. 
 Every plotline was touched on as often as possible, and I really appreciated that. We didn't just forget that Anise's aunt is in the hospital; we didn't forget that the cousins are a little annoying. We always came back to that, and I really liked it. 
 C H A R A C T E R S: 
 Oh, my gosh. The characters were definitely my favorite part of GIRL OUT OF WATER. I can't even talk about them individually, because I know I'll want to keep going back to other characters. So here goes. 
 LINCOLN. He is WONDERFUL. He's so romantic and funny and kind and sensitive and AAAAA. He's also a person of color AND disabled- yay diversity! He brought so much to the table (literally and figuratively) in this book, and no one else can ever replace him. New book boyfriend? I think so. 
 ANISE. Okay, she annoyed me at times, but I really loved her. She messes up but always realizes that she does so- amazing!- and she has insecurities. A lot of times, in YA literature, our characters never have to deal with the repercussions of their actions or are always 100% confident. Because of this, I really appreciated how real Anise was and the responsibility she took. 
 DAD. So he's not in this book a ton, but he was still wonderful. I loved how open he was and how he always seemed to know what to do. We see how he raises Anise, even though the mother isn't around. This is really nice, considering there's usually a stigma around single fathers. (Well, in this case, not really single, but you know what I mean.) 
 D Y N A M I C S/R E L A T I O N S H I P S: 
 Okay... so maybe the relationships were my favorite part of GIRL OUT OF WATER? I can't even talk about them without smiling. 
 The whole family dynamic was wonderful- Anise and her dad, Anise and her cousins, Anise and her aunt, her aunt and her cousins, her cousins together. I could go on and on. All of these relationships were so positive and I loved them so much for it. 
 I definitely can't not talk about the main romantic relationship in GIRL OUT OF WATER. Oh, SO CUTE. Anise and Lincoln's personalities fit together so well and they're both SO great. I'm grinning so hard right now. Feels, on a level of 1 to 10: AAAAAAAAAA. 
 The friends = mixed feelings. I loved that everyone was really close and that they all have that bond, but even then, ANISE DOES NOT RESPOND. I get it, and I'm technically on Anise's side; but still. Her friends had to understand that she had very hyper cousins and an aunt in the hospital. That being said... Anise probably could've talked to them more. Oh well. 
 Now that I've listed why I loved GIRL OUT OF WATER, I need to go over why I didn't absolutely love it- and there's only one real reason. 
 It dragged SO much in the beginning. I had to force myself to get to the midway point, where things finally started happening and I read for 3 hours straight; but up to that point, I was honestly considering DNF-ing this book. I'm really glad I didn't, but still. 
 So, those are all my thoughts. GIRL OUT OF WATER was great, but not supremely wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good contemporary with great characters and (maybe) even better relationships.