You guys, I adore Emma Mills.  Her stories are so amazingly done and I can’t wait  to share my thoughts on This Adventure Ends but first… the book details:
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)Also by this author: Foolish Hearts
Published by Macmillan on October 4th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Family, Friendship, General, Romance, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Sloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens.
Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins' late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins' lives.
Filled with intense and important friendships, a wonderful warts-and-all family, shiveringly good romantic developments, and sharp, witty dialogue, this story is about finding the people you never knew you needed.
10 Things We Didn’t Know About Emma
10 things we didn’t know about you
1) I wrote one of my earliest works of fiction in kindergarten—a re-telling of Goldilocks that ended with an explosion!
2) I met Sebastian Stan at a convention; he went to shake my hand and I just panicked and hugged him.
3) I’m a proud Hufflepuff.
4) I learned to quilt in college and have been working on the same quilt for the last four years. In another four, I might finish it!
5) I cannot play any sport. At all.
6) I really love reading fan-fiction, but I find it quite difficult to write. There’s definitely an art to it!
7) Teen Wolf was my first online fandom, which inspired Sloane’s father’s love of Were School in This Adventure Ends.
8) Although my first book, First & Then, is in part about high school football, my own high school did not have a football team.
9) I am obsessed with calling in to radio stations to win contests. I have won tickets to two concerts so far!
10) I like the 2005 Pride and Prejudice better than the 1995 Pride and Prejudice. But I will definitely admit that the 1995 version is more accurate!
Jaime’s Thoughts
I adored Emma Mills first book, First and Then, so when I found out her second book was coming I knew I had to read this one as soon as I could.
Once I started this one, I honestly couldn’t put it down.
Sloane has recently moved with her family from New York to Florida… in her Senior year of high school. She wasn’t planning on making friends, especially with a group as full of drama and as intense as Vera, Gabe, Remy, Frank and Audrey, but she can’t resist the pull and her life will never be the same.
I just absolutely love the relationships that Mills has crafted here. I’m not talking just romance either! Let’s start with the one between Sloane and her father. Her dad is a popular romance author… think along the lines of Nicholas Sparks, and he’s in a bit of a writing slump and while digging around the internet one day he finds fan fiction about a popular teen werewolf television show and honestly, a lot of Sloane’s interactions with her father revolve around these fics that he shares with her. They talk plot and characters and development and I loved every second of it. Not because it was fan fiction and how odd it was that her father was so engrossed in this crazy show and the relationships, but it really opened up the dialogue for Sloane and her dad… it was just a way for them to bond a bit over something but then dig deeper into the real issues happening in their lives.
Next you have Vera and Sloane and their budding best friendship. These two are friendship goals for sure. Sloane has never really had friends that she could depend on to be there to support her for anything and everything … friends she would hide a body for. All her past friends were very surface and she never really let them in. But from their very first meeting at the house party, to every single one after, you see the way their friendship develops and turns into this incredibly special thing and no matter their disagreements they will be there for each other and this is the kind of relationship/friendship I love to read about in YA fiction.
Then there’s Gabe… who is somewhat of a mystery throughout this story. He’s Vera’s twin, but where she’s incredibly social and outgoing, he’s the complete opposite and he’s hard to read. Sloane can’t deny she’s attracted to him and when she finds that a beloved painting that Vera and Gabe’s dead mother painted is gone, she is determined to find it. Please note that the romance here is super slow burn and they’re both a bit unsure of each other, but eventually you’ll get there and you’re going to love it so much.
Which leads to quite a few road trips that she takes with Remy. I seriously wanted to hug Remy just about every single time he was on the page. Remy is the son of a pastor and so God is a big part of his life but something happens that shakes his beliefs and I really loved that Mills added this to the story. Now, don’t be scared, it’s not all preachy, but his part of this story really has Sloane digging deep into her beliefs and analyzing how they impact her.
Oh – I also have to mention Frank because OMG FRANK. He’s so fabulous and you’re going to love him.
So I mentioned the overarching story… Sloane is on a quest to find this missing picture that Gabe needs to have, and I really enjoyed it. The road trips, the bonding, the mystery of where it was… it really pushed the plot forward and made for some fun experiences but also added a bit of necessary drama to the story.
On the surface this is something of a light read, but when you turn the last page, you’ll realize it wasn’t just fluffy and fun even though it felt that way. There is so much substance to this story and so much depth and emotion that you’ll be stunned at how fast you got through it. Mills excels and developing her characters, and witty dialogue, and emotional moments will have you laughing at loud in places and wiping away tears in others.
This one definitely has a place on my favorites shelf next to First & Then and I can’t wait for more from Emma Mills.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
About Emma Mills
Emma Mills is a debut author better known to her subscribers as vlogger Elmify. She is also cocreator and cohost of the "life skills" channel How to Adult.
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