A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Poppy
Goodreads Summary: 
Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: 
I started reading A Midsummer's Nightmare when I realised I needed to return it to the library before I got charged. This is the case with a lot of books I borrow, especially the ones I don't have an extreme desire to read. As for this one? I definitely wasn't expecting a tough rollercoaster ride.

Like most books, it started wild. Our main character Whitley parties hard, getting drunk and depressed. But then it really started to get interesting. Whitley is such a strong character with a definite voice, I related to her so much that by the last eighty or so pages, my eyes were filled with tears as I read on.

A Midsummer's Nightmare discusses many topics, including bad parenting, drunk teenagers, partying and cyber bullying. However, it wasn't normal; Kody Keplinger linked all of the above to eighteen year old Whitley Johnson.

The first book by Kody Keplinger I read was The Duff, a book I enjoyed but didn't really love. This one has a lot of negative reviews, but I actually enjoyed it more than The Duff and found it more memorable. I agree, Whitley and Bianca and quite similar, but I still see them as different.

Honestly, I cannot describe how much this book affected me. I really felt for Whitley, and am extremely happy that in slightly more than 300 pages she dug her way out of hell with the help of some special friends. It's not often that I read stand alones, but this one started and finished perfectly.
Purchase Location: Borrowed From Library
Edition:
Paperback
Buy the book:
Book Depository
Theme song for Whitley: 
Recommended for:
 Fans of YA Contemporary, Stand Alones, and The DUFF.