I picked up Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson because after reading You by Caroline Kepnes, I really needed something light and fluffy to read. 
 This incredibly hyped-up book follows Emily, whose best friend Sloane disappears at the beginning of the summer. Sloane leaves Emily a list of thirteen things to do over the course of the season, including things like "go skinny dipping," "kiss a stranger," and "share some secrets in the dark." She ends up getting the help of Frank Porter, an uber-ambitious boy in her grade. 
 Perhaps my cynical twenty-year-old self is just too old for books like this. I feel like I would have really enjoyed this when I was in 8th or 9th grade, but as a junior in college... not so much. I couldn't really connect with the characters (as they were almost five years younger than me and at a different point in their lives) and I found the weird tension between Emily and Frank to be a bit annoying. He has a girlfriend... why (view spoiler)[ would you kiss him, Emily? Why would you think that that is a good idea? Plus, how Matson ended the novel with Frank conveniently breaking up with his girl Lissa just seemed like an almost unbelievable perfect ending(and Lissa being 100% fine with that? Uh huh, sure.) Just saying. (hide spoiler)] But maybe I should just learn to embrace the cheesy endings and stop over-analyzing. 
 I have gotten a lot more comfortable talking to people over the years, as I have to interact with others extensively through my job and I'm also majoring in Public Relations. However, I'm still really introverted, and Emily's awkwardness for the first half of the book in just minor public situations really reminded me of myself in high school, which was funny. I liked having a novel with a shy main character; it was refreshing. 
 All in all, I had to give Since You've Been Gone three out of five stars. It was a cute, summery read, and I'm ultimately glad I read it.