My Thoughts On: All I Need by Susane Colasanti

Posted March 20, 2013 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 12 Comments

All I Need by Susane Colasanti 
Published by Viking Juvenile
Publish Date: May 21, 2013
240 Pages
Source: ARC Tour



The last night of summer is only the beginning.

Skye wants to meet the boy who will change her life forever. Seth feels their instant connection the second he sees her. When Seth starts talking to Skye at the last beach party of the summer, it’s obvious to both of them that this is something real. But when Seth leaves for college before they exchange contact info, Skye wonders if he felt the same way she did—and if she will ever see him again. Even if they find their way back to each other, can they make a long-distance relationship work despite trust issues, ex drama, and some serious background differences? -(from Goodreads)



All I Need by Susane Colasanti



My Thoughts: This book is my first venture into the world of Susane Colasanti and it was such a cute story. It seems like it would be the perfect beach/summer read for all of you seasonal summer readers. 

The first thing you need to know is this:
Skye + Seth = LOVE.  
Skye spends every summer at the beach with her family. Every year, she attends the big end-of-the-summer beach party, and every year Skye hopes she’ll meet a special someone. She wants to meet THE ONE – the boy she can connect with, the boy that will change her life, her soul mate. So she goes to the party and sees this boy AND SHE JUST KNOWS. He’s got to be the one! He approaches her, he comments on her t-shirt, they make small talk. Sparks fly. He’s so handsome and intense-looking with his pale green eyes, his straight brown hair, and his cool clothes. His name is Seth, and Skye thinks he’s “the real thing.” 

Seth didn’t really want to go to the beach party, but his dad made him go. Lucky for Seth, he sees this girl and feels a connection – he just has to go talk to her. She has shiny blond hair, cute cutoff shorts, and a nice tan from being at the beach all summer. And be still Seth’s heart – she’s wearing a Police t-shirt! (Seth loves 80’s music).

The two are instantly attracted to one another. They walk down the beach together and bond over things like their shared love of art. At the end of the walk, Seth grabs Skye and HE KISSES HER. *fireworks fireworks fireworks* 

The second thing you need to know is this:
Seth leaves for college soon. Why is this a problem? 
Skye and Seth have a great time roller skating and just hanging out, but all too soon their time comes to an end – Seth leaves for college the next morning. He promises to meet her the next morning before he leaves so they can exchange their contact information…except Seth never shows up! And OH! Skye is devastated. WHY did he leave? Isn’t he her soul mate? Skye is sure that Seth felt the same way about her, so what happened?

The two return home and to their regular lives, which consist mainly of school and work. Skye maintains throughout the year that she never stops thinking of Seth. All of her friends at school have to hear her talk about him constantly. And the same is true with Seth – his college roommates hear him talk almost constantly of Skye. They both hold out hope that next summer they’ll see one another again.  

I am good at suspending belief and reading a story as it is written on the page, but I had to chuckle at these two for not exchanging contact information! It’s so easy to just put names and numbers into cellphones these days, ya know? 

The third thing you need to know is this:

SUMMER’S HERE AGAIN! 
Skye wonders if she’ll see her guy. 
Yes, Skye finally sees Seth at the end of the summer! They have a few days to spend together. THEY EXCHANGE CONTACT INFORMATION, thank goodness!! They return home feeling positive about their relationship, actually, because they’ve discovered that they don’t live that far from one another. The distance is manageable with train rides and car trips on weekends and holidays. They decide to give the long-distance relationship a try and for a long time, it totally works. 

How long will the two be able to keep it up? Long distance relationships are hard – but Skye and Seth have a connection, right? 

It’s actually a lot harder than they think it is. Skye and Seth work hard at it, but soon both have to sit back and evaluate if this type of relationship is really worth all of the effort, the sacrifice, the everything that they are having to go through. 

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I don’t really do a lot of summer reading, but if I could imagine a perfect summer book, I think it might look something like this. All I Need is fluffy and light with plenty of romance and there are practically no ‘issues’ in sight. 

Like I’ve mentioned, the romance is very cute and fun and quick and fluffy. It took no effort to immerse myself into the world of Skye and Seth because they are almost the entire world to each other. What Skye and Seth has boils down to an instant attraction that very quickly turns into first love. I think they are probably relatable to those who have experienced or know someone who has experienced an all-encompassing first love. I enjoyed reading about these two, and while I feel like the relationship between Skye and Seth is probably closer to the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of instant attraction/first love/soul mate-status, I do think that these types of relationships occur. When these two fall, they fall hard. As their relationship intensifies and becomes more series, things do become harder for them.

Seth finds that he has to juggle harder classes while maintaining his job and also find the time to travel out of town to see Skye. He feels stressed that he has less money than she does and that when they are able to go out on dates, he can’t take her to the really nice places. Skye makes adjustments by traveling to see Seth in college by car and staying overnight, which helps Seth with his work schedule and allows him to devote more time to studying. However, as Skye makes the drive more often, it eventually becomes long and boring, particularly when she is sleepy. And then there are other little issues like little jealousies and high school friendship drama…

All I Need is told in alternating points-of-view, which I think is a great way to tell this story. It works well to be able to see the perspectives of both Seth and Skye, particularly since they both have such different backgrounds and are in different places in their lives (high school vs. college). I like these two characters, mostly Seth – I feel like he is written with a pretty good voice for a young guy who is trying to make it on his own in college. He’s trying to pay his own way, work, and be a good boyfriend. He puts a lot of thought into everything he does; he is thoughtful and respectful. Skye is written with a pretty good voice as well – she reminds me of a typical high school girl, one that believes in love and great relationships. She has always been more financially comfortable in her life, but she still has an understanding of what is expected of her, of what respect means, and she does a pretty good job maintaining her friendships. 

There are some challenges for these two in terms of their relationship – they each have to make some adjustments and determine if it will work or not. There is good family support in this book, and I can always stand behind that in YA fiction. The romance feels stress-free and is fun to read. Seth and Skye are relatable and could be any person that you knew back in your high school days, or perhaps you were just like one of these two. There are scenes at the beach, which is a plus for those of us that loves the waves. All I Need is a perfect book to take by the pool, by the lake, by the ocean or just to enjoy reading outside. 

I recommend All I Need by Susane Colasanti for fans of YA contemporary romance that love romance stories without issues and don’t mind a little case of instant attraction. It’s always nice to have an easy-breezy, fun title like this in your to-read list to pull out and enjoy at the perfect time. This was a positive experience for my first book by this author and I’m looking forward to reading more of her work soon. 

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All I Need will appeal to fans of:
YA Contemporary Romance
First Love
 Romance: Instant attraction. No triangle.

All I Need by Susane Colasanti

will be available for purchase May 21, 2013.
**I received/borrowed a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion and review. 
I received no compensation for my thoughts. 

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Have you read any books by Susane Colasanti? 
Tell me about them!

Can you recommend some great summer reads?

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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12 responses to “My Thoughts On: All I Need by Susane Colasanti

  1. I've only read one other Susana Colasanti book – When It Happens – which I wasn't a huge fan of. I mean, I didn't hate it, but somethings were a little silly. So I haven't read any of her other books. I am kind of curious about this (When you said they walked across the beach to each other I had this flash to West Side Story at the dance!) but it isn't at the top of my TBR list. Thanks for the indepth review.

    • I tend to think that sometimes the fluffy reads like this *are* a little bit silly because they're not really true to life, even though they may have some true-to-life elements to them. This one was a fun few hours, but it was indeed fluffy. There wasn't any real depth to it, but I do like to occasionally have something like this in my back pocket after a particularly long or stressful book. I have When It Happens, but I haven't read it yet. I'll read more of her books, but I think I may know more about what to expect based on this one. It was cute.

  2. This book was okay for me. i do like that deals with feeling an instant connection with someone. that I can definitely relate to. And I appreciate that it's meant to be light and feels very beach read-y in tone, but I must admit that I'm disappointed I didn't really connect with Skye or Seth. And I think part of it is that the book spans 2 years. You would think I would know or understand these characters more, but I didn't. And I just wanted to punch Kara most of the time. And the end of so sugary. I feel like a grump writing that but it's how I felt:)

    I've read When It Happens and it was ok. I own Waiting for You and I've heard better things about it. I feel like Colasanti is in the same realm as Lauren Barnholdt and Sarah Dessen, though I prefer Dessen's work to hers. Not my favorite kind of YA contemporary but still entertaining.

    • I have a few more of Colasanti's books to read for contemporary month. I feel like I had a pretty good idea of what this book might be like going into it, and I think my expectations were pretty right – so I don't think it bothered me too much that I didn't feel any big depth in the story. I thought it just kind of breezed along and that was that. I mean, it was cute, and I think there is a time for those stories, if that makes any sense. The fact that the story is Serendipity-like (like Estelle mentions below) is probably why I didn't really connect on a deep level, but I don't think it really was because of the length of time span of the book, but I think that's interesting that you felt that way.

      I don't know, I just think I was able to take the story lightly because I felt like it was written lightly? I don't know if that makes any sense at all. I haven't read any Lauren Barnholdt yet and what I know of Sarah Dessen is more issue-oriented.

      I agree that this isn't my favorite kind of contemporary, but I was indeed entertained for the afternoon. 🙂

  3. I still haven't read a Colasanti book for the reasons the two girls above me have mentioned. I do like a fluffy romance now and then but there's something about being my age and reading it? I need another reason sometimes. Although, I guess you can classify Han's Summer series like that and for some reason, I devoured those. I never know what it's going to be.

    I saw Susane at a reading and she mentioned this was very Serendipity like and I love that kind of concept and was curious to read it. Personally, she seems more like a library read than something I would invest in for my bookshelf.

    Thanks for the review as always! (God that cover is so inviting!)

    • You make a really good point about being our age and reading books like this. I think that I tend to forget that some of the YA contemps are issue-free and I like the issue-driven ones more than the fluffy ones for the most part (which I think justifies the age thing, or at least to me).

      I agree that this is probably a library read. And I do love that cover too (and that it is cohesive to the plot). I have the Summer Series planned for my contemp month. I've heard mixed things about that series, so I hope I like it!

  4. Amy

    Susane Colasanti is an author that I struggle with. I've tried to read a few of her books and something about them usually makes me put them down. I love summer beach reads, though, so this one has that going for it! Maybe I'll give it a shot this summer when I'm in the mood for light and fluffy!!

    • Yeah, I mentioned that I thought this would be a great summer beach read because 1) it's set partly at the beach 2) there are no heavy issues and 3) it's a light and breezy romance. It just seems like a quick, cute read that would be easy to lose yourself in for an afternoon by the water. I've tried to read heavier books by the beach and I find it harder than reading books that are on the lighter side.

      I have, I think, three more of her books on my shelves that I hope to try out soon. We'll see about those!

  5. I love the cover of this book! It instantly makes me want to read it and swoon over all the romance.

    ANYWAY. I love the sound of this story. Having been in a similar situation to Skye (being in an LDR AND being with someone a wee bit older), I think I might be able to find her easy to relate to. Plus, I do love that we get Skye AND Seth's POVs!

    I don't think I've read a Colasanti book, though I could be wrong. It sounds like I might like this a lot though, so it's worth a shot!

    • The cover is great! I love it too.

      You indeed might be able to relate to Skye. And the multiple POV's were wonderful (and almost essential) to this story to get the full picture of what they were going thru. I loved having both perspectives.

      This was my first Colasanti book, but I do have a few more here on my shelves that I may break out for my contemporary month. I've heard they tend to be the lighter, fluffier reads.

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