The Weekend Bucket List: YA Review

The Weekend Bucket List by Mia Kerick
Genre: Contemporary YA (LGBTQ)
Publication: April 19th 2018
Publisher: Duet Books
Source: Review copy as part of Blog Tour
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

High school seniors Cady LaBrie and Cooper Murphy have yet to set one toe out of line—they’ve never stayed out all night or snuck into a movie, never gotten drunk or gone skinny-dipping. But they have each other, forty-eight hours before graduation, and a Weekend Bucket List.

There’s a lot riding on this one weekend, especially since Cady and Cooper have yet to admit, much less resolve, their confounding feelings for one another—feelings that prove even more difficult to discern when genial high school dropout Eli Stanley joins their epic adventure. But as the trio ticks through their bucket list, the questions they face shift toward something new: Must friendship play second fiddle to romance? Or can it be the ultimate prize?

Right out the gate this story entertained me. The POV alternates between the three main characters – Cady, Cooper and Eli. I found all three characters relatable and easily likeable.

The bucket list is Cady’s way of making sure she and Cooper experience all the things that “normal” kids do in high school. The things that they missed out on while they were being model students. Things like getting drunk, going skinny dipping, sneaking into a movie and having a first kiss. She’s also hoping they might be able to figure out their feelings towards each other.

The entry of ‘Hot Jesus’ (aka Eli) cracked me up. Eli’s been drifting, traveling as carny since he ran away from home before finishing high school. His entrance is spectacular. And the combo of a straight female and two bisexual males as leads worked brilliantly. Nobody knew what they were feeling or for who. Oh teenagers. Growing up really is hard to do. But friendship, the truest, strongest and purest form of love wins out in the end. Happily, so. The Weekend Bucket List leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling in the end.

I’m really impressed by Mia Kerick and her writing. It seems that she’s trying to be inclusive and very LGBTQ positive. Bravo Mia, I commend you. I will defiantly be reading more of Mia’s books in the future.

The story touched on: friendship, love, sexually, self-discovery, alcohol and drug abuse, parental pressures and expectations. But it was still a funny, warm and entertaining read.