Calmer Girls (Calmer Girls Book 1) (English Edition) Format Kindle

This is a well-written YA novel which covers quite a lot of ground, and adds up to rather more than the sum of its parts. The Calmer Girls - Samantha (please, not 'Sammie'!) and Veronica ('Ronnie') and their mother move from their quiet home to city life in St. Johns, Newfoundland. Troubled but beautiful Ben Swift becomes a bone of contention, and their lives hit turbulent - and deep - waters.
Is it a love story? Absolutely. Is it a family drama? Oh yes, and then some. Is it about growning up? (Typo, but it's so apt I'm leaving it there.) Definitely.
Samantha is a very good character, too young for everything she has to deal with, overshadowed by her showier and apparently extroverted sister, who wrestles with one situation after another. Samantha falls in love; so does Veronica. No spoilers here, that's in the blurb. It's what follows, and how Jennifer Perry resolves matters, that makes the book. For most of the book I thought Veronica rather one-dimensional, but was forced to change my mind in the end. The girls' mother is a superb character, Ben is good, and Kalen has a nice minor role.
The pace is medium, the plot complex, the writing itself very good. The book covers a few YA issues, of which the brokenness of modern family life is probably the foremost, but it is never 'preachy'. Everything is simply part of the story. Ben's habit of driving fast and angry is well done.
Rarely, a couple of character decisions felt a little forced, as though to fit a pre-determined plot. For example, Sam and Ben's decision at about the three-quarter mark was not quite believable for me, but almost all the time the choices and consequences are true to each character.
I felt the ending was very good, and came at the right time. While not everything is neatly wrapped up, I was fully satisfied to read this novel as a stand alone work, and I believe a sequel is planned. Strongly recommended for YA readers who like a little more substance to their books, and relationships which develop at a realistic pace.

‘Calmer Girls’ doesn’t fall into my usual preferred genre, but that didn’t stop me enjoying this book. I was engaged from the start when it opened with a scenario that was instantly familiar to me: teen sisters fighting and competing with one another. As the younger sister in my own family, I could relate to Samantha’s frustrations and sensitivities, even though my sister and I competed and fought over different things than Samantha and Veronica do. The complications and conflicts between Samantha and Veronica are portrayed very realistically, and the reader is drawn into developing a strong sense of empathy for their general situation, as well as for the circumstances of particular characters.

I love that this book is set in Newfoundland and that part of the story relates to the experiences of the families of the fishermen who live there. The author has embedded plenty of details that really do evoke the unique character of St Johns and life in the Canadian Maritimes, so the setting felt very familiar and homey to me because I have visited the Maritimes and have friends there.

I really liked the frequent references to the classic books such as 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Jane Eyre' that Samantha likes to read because they gave me a stronger connection to this story. They weren’t overbearing or super nerdy, yet they communicated clearly that Samantha sees life and thinks at a deeper level than her sister. That positioned me to like her even more than the fact that she is the central character.

I found the characters to be believable and quite well-developed, and the story compelling.
‘Calmer Girls’ will hold immense appeal for anyone who enjoys YA romance and drama.

Calmer Girls
Jennifer Perry
Four Stars

When I purchased Calmer Girls I wondered if it was one of those sweet romance novels that have become so popular among teens. I was soon to find that it was much more than that. This novel reminds me of Charlotte Bronte’s book Jane Eyre, which the author gives reference to at the beginning of the chapters. Calmer Girls involves all of the problems that many teens encounter as they are growing up. The breakup of their parent’s marriage, moving to a new place and having to make the adjustment required, and it that is not enough, the two sisters, Samantha and Veronica fall in love with the same boy. Jennifer Perry weaves an interesting tale with the problems of a failing economy, new friends, and alcohol addiction that threatens to tear the family apart. The story is exciting with believable characters and a plot that moves along at a good pace.

I purchased this book from Amazon.

Having a sister who’s one year younger than me, I can imagine the friction caused by two sisters falling for the same guy. Thankfully, that didn’t happen in my life. But Samantha and Veronica – the “Calmer Girls” from Calmer Cove, Newfoundland – aren’t as lucky. The fireworks between the teenaged sisters is certainly believable.

But this story is about so much more than just two sisters fighting over a cute boy. A rotten economy that makes jobs hard to find impacts their parents’ marriage, forcing a mother bordering on becoming an alcoholic to take her two daughters to a new city while their father moves away entirely. There are traumatic memories for Samantha, the main character, stemming from losing her much-beloved grandmother to Alzheimer’s Disease. And there’s that good-looking guy they both want – Ben Swift, with problems of his own. Stir that all together and you come up with a fast-paced, believable YA novel about trying to grow up while leaping over one hurdle after another – acceptance, desire, jealousy, anger, feelings of abandonment – you name it.