Review: Castles on the Sand by E.M. Tippetts

Goodreads description:

Madison Lukas knows her place in the world. She’s not pretty, not interesting, and therefore easy to forget.

 

John Britton is serving his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and has been praying for fifteen years to find the sister he lost in his parents’ divorce. She is beautiful, talented, and makes kindness a fine art.

 

When John and Madison cross paths, he recognizes her at once, but Madison is certain that he’s got it all wrong. Even if she is his long-lost sister, she can’t possibly be the exceptional, amazing girl he thinks she is, can she?

 

First line:  “I am on my way to work, after school, when I see them.”

 

My thoughts:

I don’t even know how to do this book justice. It was *that* good. There’s just something about contemporary books that I’m drawn to. That, plus EM’s incredible writing = one of the best books I’ve read this year.

 

This book was extremely realistic and easily relatable. I frequently found myself thinking, “Omg. That has happened to me.” Ya know, except for the whole “hey I’m your brother. You’ve never met me.” thing. Thankfully, that is not something I can relate to.

 

Some books have impressive plot development; others, character development. I think this book has a bit of both, but overall the character development was the best. I felt like I *knew* the characters. They were people I grew up with, metaphorically speaking. The author’s dedicatee was the basis for most of these characters. I really loved that EM was able to fictionalize an important person in her life, showcasing his greatest traits with characters that readers are able to love.

 

Like I said, this has been one of the best books I’ve read this year. Unfortunately, I’ve read a lot of duds this year. *sadface* But this story definitely made me remember why reading is good and fun. Last year, I read EM’s “Someone Else’s Fairytale”. Now *that* book was spectacular. I’m glad “Castles on the Sand” was able to hold up to my expectations. And I hope EM will write a sequel J

 

I haven’t read anymore of EM’s books. Surely, I eventually will since I love her writing so much. For now, I wish you all would check out at least one of her stories. If you’re someone who enjoys realistic fiction, these books are right up your alley.

 

Favorite quotes:

Pg. 12

“See, that's how things are in Pelican Bluffs. Underage drinking gets you in trouble, but littering on the beach, that gets you in serious trouble.”

 

Pg. 20

“(…) to this day I can't do a math problem without hearing her scream, ‘You don't like story problems? You think the universe spits out equations at you? All real math is story problems!!’”

 

Pg. 39

“You're a librarian. People ask you to find books for them all the time.’

‘Even that, it's only three books. The dictionary, the thesaurus, and Fifty Shades of

Grey.’”