A Season for Fireflies

by Rebecca Maizel

A year ago, Penny Berne was the star of her high school’s theater department, surrounded by a group of misfit friends and falling in love for the first time. Now her old friends won’t talk to her, her new best friend is the most popular girl in school, and her first love, Wes, ignores her. Penny is revered and hated. Then, in a flash, a near-fatal lightning strike leaves Penny with no memory of the past year—or how she went from drama nerd to queen bee.

As a record number of fireflies light up her town and her life, Penny realizes she may be able to make things right again—and that even if she can’t change the past, she can learn to see the magic where she never could before.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Contemporary, High School, Fiction, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 28, 2016

About the author

Rebecca Maizel hails from Rhode Island, where she teaches high school literature at her alma mater the Wheeler School. She tries not to force her students to read her books, though. Rebecca is the author of several published novels for young adults, and recently achieved an MFA in Writing for Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also enjoys Indian food, her dog Georgie, and running moderately long distances.

Reviews

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a lot anymore to truly impress me when it comes to this genre. There are so many young adult contemporary reads and sadly, most of them are so much alike that it is hard to tell one from the other, so it's with pleasure that I tell you, this read was not only heartwarming, but it truly did stick out.

The characters were just fun and memorable and yes, swoon worthy. Wes was someone that any person who keeps a list of book boyfriends, needs to add his name to the list because yes, he is that awesome. Kind, caring, romantic, and one heck of an inventor, he truly was the very best part of this novel. Well, that and the fabulous writing.

This isn’t the same old story wrung out and retold but rather something that will touch you, make you teary eyed, make you smile, and most of all leave you with a warm feeling deep in your heart that will sit there hours after you are done.

Fresh, fun, heartwarming and some pretty amazing characters, this is one novels fans of the genre will not want to miss out on.


*ARC copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the fuck?
This plot is all over the place.
Penny's Mom is an alcoholic and she's crazy and Penny's family situation is shitty and she's in love with this boy and there's so much high school drama and then Penny gets struck by lightning and loses her memory of the last year and a half..... Again I say: What the fuck?
I guess I shouldn't have been expecting much since I didn't like Rebecca Maizel's previous book Between Us and the Moon. It was actually on my worst books of 2016 list, but I wanted to give this book a chance because I'm always willing to give authors a second chance.
Unfortunately, this book is even more ridiculous than her other book.

[Samantha (WLABB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like a black sheep, but I enjoyed this.

Penny seemed to have so much going for her, but her home life was a mess. That was a HUGE problem, but it was exacerbated by Penny NOT trusting her friends enough to help her carry the weight of her mother's alcoholism with her.

She makes a decision, and a clean break from her former life. After a year as "new" Penny, she was struck by lightning and left with a year long memory gap.

The bulk of this story was Penny trying to piece together what happened, why it happened, and getting back to the things and people she loved.

I enjoyed Penny's journey and appreciated how difficult Maizel made it for her, and I felt like the conclusion was on the real side of things, while still making me warm and fuzzy.

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[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2018
Poor Penny gets struck by lightning and loses her memory. For the last 17 months of her life.

Before the lightning strike she was having some major issues with her mom, which caused her to get into a fight with her friends. Having her memory erased caused some major issues for her new friendships, but it was honestly a good thing for her. She managed to bridge the gap between her old and new friendships.

I wish the book would have touched more on her mom's issues before the ending. Her mom was still definitely troubled. With drinking and depression. And it should have been something that was addressed more than a hug between mother and daughter. I'm sorry, but the mom should have been put through rehab again. And definitely needed some therapy to deal with her depression.

Aside from the mom issues barely being addressed, the book itself was pretty good. I liked Penny when she was with her theater friends. They seemed like a good bunch of kids. I didn't like her as much when she was with the popular crowd, but that might just be the theater geek in me talking. She was definitely more standoffish when she was with them, colder.

I am glad that the author had Penny open up more after the lightning strike. She needed to have a healthy outlet for what was going on in her life with her mom, instead of bottling it up inside. Those hurt, humiliated, and painful feelings have to go somewhere. And it's good that her friends were so supportive after they found out about her mom.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021: This was okay, but I found it a bit frustrating how Penny was repeating her earlier mistakes. She wakes up and is so focused on getting her old friends back, that she doesn't realise that she's turning her back on her new friends, exactly the way she turned her back on her old friends. I felt so sorry for Kylie when Penny just basically told her she didn't remember her and then ignored her! She was supposed to be her best friend!
Then her mum was having problems with alcohol, and she backed down with trying to get her mum to go back to rehab, and I felt that while giving her a hug was a nice touch, it wasn't going to solve her alcohol problems.


(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

“You’re in Providence Memorial. You were struck by lightning two days ago.”

This was a YA contemporary story about a girl hit by lightning.

Penny was confused in this book, which was understandable considering she’d been hit by lightning and couldn’t remember nearly 17 months of her life.

“I feel like a stranger in my own life.”

The storyline in this seemed to take a while to get going as we started with Penny with her original friends, then her new friends, and then her accident which left her with her dodgy memory. I did feel sorry for Penny when she realised that her friend weren’t her friends any more, but I also felt sorry for her new friends, who she seemed to just drop!

“I lost my best friend, Penny!”

The ending to this was okay, and things did seem to work out fairly happily. This book was just missing something for me though.



6 out of 10

[Christina (Confessions of a Book Addict) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penny is obsessed with the theater and so are her best friends. They live for it and have been preparing for their next show non-stop. After dealing with her mother's alcoholism and her wicked words, Penny decides to bail on her important role in the play as she can't handle the spotlight anymore. To make matters worse, she pushes her friends away. Obviously, this is completely out of character, especially when Penny starts getting vibes that her best friend, Wes, harbors feelings for her. This should make her ecstatic, but instead, she self-sabotages everything she once loved. Instead of being the star of the play, she takes a back seat as a supporting character and finds friendship elsewhere. It just so happens that the friend she finds is one of the most popular girls at school. Things are definitely different for Penny now. That is until a lightning strike removes her memories of the past year and in turn, Penny finds out where she truly belongs. Rebecca Maizel's A Season for Fireflies is a cute summertime story that has an edge of sadness to it.

Read the rest of my review here:
http://www.confessionsofabookaddict.c...

[Tee loves Kyle Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

First I want to say that I have been in a reading funk lately. It seems to me every book I read is crazier than the next. First I read love stories, then I read action, then dystopian and back to love stories. I needed a change and this is the book that was a spark in my reading.

This is a story about a girl who has it all then loses it only to regain it and so much more. This story is written with such passion and the descriptions of people and places was amazing and the fireflies OMG. After reading this story I looked up what exactly fireflies are and this is what I found from National Geographic "Fireflies are familiar, but few realize that these insects are actually beetles, nocturnal members of the family Lampyridae. Most fireflies are winged, which distinguishes them from other luminescent insects of the same family, commonly known as glowworms."

After reading the story and reading about fireflies I understood the story so much better. I have to say the author nailed this book! This is a must read for all this summer.

[Kait · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover for this one caught my eye and the synopsis intrigued me. I've never read anything else by Rebecca Maizel but she's been on my list of authors to check out since I heard about her first book. I'm glad I chose A Season for Fireflies to read first because I enjoyed it immensely.

Pros:

Story: The story was pretty much perfect, in my eyes. I love anything to do with memory loss so I knew this one would capture my attention pretty easily. I'm pretty sure that the whole memory loss thing is not the only thing that would go along with being struck by lightning but hey, it's fiction. Penny loses her memories from the past year and basically gets a chance to try again. It would certainly be easier if everyone else also forgot everything she did over the past year but it was good to see her try and work past those things, even without knowing what she did. The way the story is told really moves things along quickly and it doesn't hurt that the book is so short anyway. It's a fast-paced story that leaves enough mystery to really grab your attention and not let it go.

Characters: I really enjoyed all the characters. Penny's friends from drama were so quirky and fun. They were totally the type of people that I could see myself being friends with. As for Wes, he was almost too perfect. He was so sweet and sensitive and it was so obvious how much he cared for Penny. While I loved seeing how much he wanted to be with her, I also loved that he wasn't willing to let her walk all over him. They had a lot of stuff to work out to even be friends again and watching their friendship being rebuilt was one of the best parts of A Season for Fireflies. I was also impressed by Penny's new friends. Of course I didn't like how she ditched all her old friends for her new ones, but they weren't bad people. Penny had two very different friend groups but I could see how she would fit in with either one. She had some issues balancing them all for a while but I liked seeing how she made amends with old friends while also trying to stay true to her new friends, even if she didn't remember becoming friends with them.

Family: While the things that go on with Penny's family are not a pro, the way they are handled definitely is. Penny's mom is an alcoholic and her dad is a workaholic. They have very little to do with each other and not much to do with Penny either. It's clear from the start of the book that her mom really needs help and her dad isn't paying much attention to that. Everything changes with Penny's accident though. They are brought together and they are forced to see exactly what they have each done wrong. There are some nasty fights and some harsh words but I think that's true of any family. I greatly appreciated that Rebecca Maizel didn't choose to just show the good side or the bad side of family relationships.

Cons:

Believability: I know that's not a word but I don't know how else to phrase this one. I mentioned this briefly earlier but things were a little unbelievable at times. Penny gets struck by lightning and instead of dying or even being horribly injured, she loses some of her memories. And not just a random bunch of memories but a very specific time period. As you find out more about her memory loss, you realize it's more of a defense mechanism on Penny's part but it's still very odd. I just found myself having to suspend my disbelief more than once with this story and it did take away a little bit of my enjoyment.

Overall, A Season for Fireflies is one book I'm glad I chose to pick up. It's a quick, fun read with a little more to it than meets the eye.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This review also appears on my blog, Reading with Jenna.

A Season of Fireflies is a book about redemption and second chances. It’s a short and summery read if you’re looking for a quick contemporary but if you’re after something emotional with lots of character development, I think you’ll be disappointed.

This story follows Penny, a sophomore in high school who is dealing with some problems at home. Her mother is an alcoholic and it’s tearing her family apart and ruining her friendships as she tries to hide this secret from those around her. She ends up ditching her group of friends and hanging out with the popular girl at school, who doesn’t try to get her to spill her secrets. But when Penny gets struck by lightning and loses over a year’s worth of memories, she doesn’t recognise the person she currently is and realises that she may be able to make things right again.

I thought the redemption arc in this book could have been a lot stronger. The book felt very rushed and unfocused and I didn’t really see that much development in Penny. This was probably due, in part, to the fact that she had no memories of the past year and had no idea who she became after the incident that causes her to ditch all her friends. Therefore, she kind of had more of a blank slate to work with and didn’t have all that great character development that I always look for in these types of books. I also felt that there were some things that were not resolved very well. The novel has a big focus on Penny’s mother’s alcoholism but I didn’t feel that this was explored particularly well. It was definitely just used as a plot device and wasn’t given the attention that the issue deserved. I also didn’t really understand the role of the fireflies in this book. It kind of flew over my head and I didn’t understand the symbolism or why they were in the book.

On top of that, I thought that there were some things that were a bit too unrealistic for my liking. Penny ignores and behaves terribly towards her friends after just one incident. She turns into a completely different person after that single occurrence and I found it a little bit hard to believe. This was exacerbated a little bit by the fact that the transitions in the story were quite poor in my opinion. I never got a good sense of who Penny was before this incident that caused her to lose her friends and I had no idea who Penny was during the time when she had a different group of friends. My overall opinion on the plot is that the book is missing 100-150 pages. It needed more exploration of issues and better plot and character development.

I didn’t really connect with Penny as a main character. I never got a true sense of who she was because there were so many different versions of her in the book. I thought she was quite dislikable at the start of the novel and, while she did kind of redeem herself towards the end, there wasn’t enough growth in her character for me to fully connect with her and root for her. I did like some of the side characters but the book was so short that I didn’t really get a chance to know them. I enjoyed the romance between Wes and Penny but also felt that it was underdeveloped and resolved a bit too quickly.

Overall, while I did enjoy the reading experience and thought it was cute summery read, there were a lot of aspects that were lacking for me. I thought the book just needed to be longer in general so that we could get more development and resolution.

[Kelli Spear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story of second chances and redemption!

I've been in a book funk for a little over a month now. Most books have been in the miss category lately, thanks to an exquisite book that released last month. When I first picked up A Season for Fireflies I wasn't sure if it was the right time. Even upon starting last night, I almost decided to put it down temporarily. Not because of the story, but I just wasn't sure if I'd give it my full attention. I am so glad I stuck with it!

Penny is a theater star. She is best friends with most of those who work with her in theater, including her best friend, Wes. Who she's realizing has changed and she possibly has feelings for. But she has problems at home. Her mother is an alcoholic. She's on a fast downward spiral. And it's affecting Penny. She won't talk to anyone about it --- she keeps it all hidden. Finally, everything blows up. The story jumps from sophomore year to senior year. It's here we see a new Penny. She has ditched/abandoned her old crew for the popular one. On an odd evening, she is struck by lightning. And once again, everything changes. When she wakes up, she's stuck a year in the past. She doesn't remember her most recent life.

Once the accident happens, I was really sucked into the book. As Penny starts to relearn things, she is also made aware of how she's been acting. It truly bothers her and she wants to make things right. She just isn't sure how. After so long, no one from her old life is willing to talk to her. But she never gives up and I loved that about her! It was tough for me to figure out what should happen. I think she needed her old crew, but also needed Kylie (the newest BFF) for reasons. People come into out lives at the right times, when we need them. And this was no different. And even though we probably weren't meant to love Kylie, I think she had good and bad qualities. I felt sorry that Penny had forgotten her and was more focused on winning back the theater group. But I also understood that was closer to the real Penny in a lot of ways. The real Penny was a mix of the two, she just needed to figure out how to get there.

And Wes! As is the case in any good story, he's a gem. The perfect guy we'd have liked in high school. Their interactions were painful at times. I knew Penny had work to do, but it was clear his feelings had never changed. It was just a matter of being on the same page at the same time. And forgiveness.

I really liked this story. It was never slow for me --- I think I finished in a matter of hours! Things aren't resolved in seconds. It takes time, and even at the end, some aspects aren't magically perfect. The real struggles are still present, as they most likely always will be. I loved that realistic aspect, too. Plus, this is more than a romance disguised as something else. It focuses on EVERY relationship in Penny's life --- family, best friends, love, even academic ones.

If you want a fast-paced, fun, and easy read, I recommend A Season for Fireflies.

[Kim at Divergent Gryffindor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure about whether I wanted to read this book or not. I saw a lot of people wanted to read it, so I just requested it as well. But then I saw that the Goodreads ratings weren't so high, and I had a teeny tiny panic attack about not liking this book. However, this is the only instance when I'm glad my opinion varies from everyone else because I actually really liked this one!

I haven't been able to connect to a main character for the books that I recently read so the fact that I was able to connect to Penny was a major, major plus point. I also connected to the story as well, and the romance made me feel all the feels! I'm a sucker for romance filled with tension so this was a major win!

A Season for Fireflies explored a heavy topic - alcoholic parent - but it wasn't a heavy book. Yes, it made me feel a lot of emotions but it wasn't exactly the kind of heavy book that I used to read. And I'm actually glad because I've been avoiding heavy-emotion books so far because they sometimes ruin my mood. A Season for Fireflies, in my opinion, is the perfect in-between between heavy-issue and light and fluffy.

Aside from the fact that I really loved the romance and how the author showed the side of how a school's queen b can also be hurt and feel jealous, I don't know what else to say about this book. I mean, the friendship and development is good, but it's not exceptional. The family aspect is explored, but it's nothing special as well. However, I really, really loved this book for some reason, and I don't know why people rated it so low.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and all the feels it gave me. I would say that I recommend it but based on the not-so-high reviews from other readers, I would also advice you to listen at your own risk.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was cute! I really wish there was a bit more though; it's a short book and could easily have benefitted from at least 50 more pages. I needed some more info from before her accident so I'd have more FEELS when it came to the romance or friendship(s). There were some heavier topics that never felt like they got resolved, which ultimately impacted my rating too. I liked it and it was a SUPER quick read; I'd recommend it to some readers.

//Full thoughts//

I tore through this book pretty quickly – it was a really easy read for me and frankly just what I needed at the time. I have some issues with it overall and really think the book could have benefitted from 50-100 more pages.

We don’t get enough information about her life before the accident to FEEL anything. There’s one small section of the book where we see her quit drama club, ignore her friends, and keep secrets (her mom’s drinking) from everyone. All of this basically happens in one afternoon. In that same day, she meets the popular girl, Kylie, and they kind of hit it off right away. The book jumps ahead to a year later, where her and Kylie have been best-friend-ing it up. She’s ignored her other friends and moved on from them for what feels like no reason at all. Kylie is apparently vague about her life and Penny enjoys being able to ~hide things~ from her without feeling guilty. THIS is why she completely reinvents her life? I just didn’t buy it.

The romance was super meh as a result of everything above. Before she abandons her friends, she has a budding romance with one of her friends, Wes. Something is about to happen between them when she says BYE EVERYONE and moves on to bigger and more popular things. Why!? I literally don’t get it. Because she didn’t want them to know about her mom’s drinking? It just seems kind of stupid to me. I’ve never dealt with a problem like that, so I don’t really know how I would react… but abandoning my favorite hobby and potential career, my almost-boyfriend, and my best friends? I don’t think it would happen that way. The resolution of everything was cute and I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t able to ship anything too much because I just didn’t see the chemistry beforehand as much as I would have liked.

It was a super fast read but could have benefitted from more pages. The ARC is short – only 250 pages or so. The book could have really benefitted from more information before the accident. I would have liked to FEEL the chemistry and friendship before she abandoned them, as well as seen her friendship with Kylie a little more. The book could have been fantastic if there was just MORE. I loved being able to read it so quickly and I was generally pretty invested in the story from the very beginning.

I didn’t understand a lot of her motivations. As I said, I didn’t fully understand how she was able to make the choices she did. I know that her mom had a drinking problem and she was trying to hide it from her friends. Not much of a spoiler but I’ll be overly cautious – Her mom blames her drinking problem on Penny. Because she’s too dramatic? And everything is always about her? I just don’t understand. I didn’t get how that was even the case because Penny’s character wasn’t fleshed out enough for it. I wanted more closure about some things too.

I love the memory loss concept! I’ve been interested in this topic in books a lot lately and was happy to see it included here. It’s always interesting to see the main character start putting their life back together and trying to see how they’ve become the person they are now. I explored this a bit in my review of What Alice Forgot with Cristina. I couldn’t imagine waking up and not remembering the past year. My life truthfully hasn’t changed AS much since then, but five years ago I would be BAFFLED by how my life is like this!

Overall, I would cautiously recommend this book to people looking for a fairly unique contemp. It wasn’t a home run for me by any means, but I’m generally glad I read it. The author will remain on my “of interest” list I think. I knew a lot of my rating would be impacted by the ending of the book and the closure it provided about her family issues.

(Also, side note – I didn’t understand the point of the firefly thing! I don’t know if it signified something deeper or anything. It just felt pointless even though it was generally kind of an interesting aspect? Idk.)

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fast read, read it in one sitting, and I found it very enjoyable. Penny goes through a very dramatic experience, getting struck by lightning and then losing some of her memories. Because we see her before and after the event, I didn't feel as sorry for her when she learns how different her life is now. That she has a completely different set of friends and interests, though it was interesting watching her try and makes sense of why she changed. The ending was a little too perfect, but that wasn't too big of a deal. All in all, it was a good read.

3.5 stars

[Ally]

I think this book was very good it was very well written and it was very enjoyable

[Laryssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Yes, it had a lot going on but it worked well enough.

Between the fireflies and the lightening strike and the alcoholic mom and the two friend groups...only a few things get resolved.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the mother and father situation. Penny made the choice to go hug her mom. The parentification of children is exhausting. Penny has to work out her mothers issues while her mother continues drinking wine and her father remains absent.

I loved that it wasn't just a teenage love story. I feel like the friendships were the highlight of the story.

[Sydney Minick · Rating 1 out of 5]

From someone who has read many contemporary romance books in her life, this book did not stick out. The book itself had a really good concept and had a lot of potential, but sadly, I was left disappointed. I finished this book in less than 2 days but not because it was really good, it was because it was so short. The book could have had 50+ more pages with content/details and character description.

Wes was the character I had the most hope for. I understood how he would be mad but they didn’t give enough background on their relationship, nor did they spend enough time together trying to RE-BUILD their relationship. In every contemporary romance the couple either fights or they start out the rising action not talking or angry with each other. There needs to be some point in the book where they spend a lot of time getting to know each other again and to “repair” the conflict. In this book, it did happen, but not nearly enough for me to really connect with the character relationship between Penny and Wes.

The relationship with May and Penny frustrated me. Penny was not a good friend in the first place, as she didn’t open up to her friends and she kept lies. But May, as Penny’s best friend should have stuck with her and been a supportive friend, instead of screaming at her in the parking lot. This made me not like May as much. In reality, someone who was ditched by her best friend and basically ignored by her friend for a year would not make amends that quickly. But the problem is I didn’t really find out that much about May and her part. In reality, it would be Penny going over to May’s to make amends rather than May taking the action. Now if Rebecca Maizel wants me to see both sides as to what May was feeling... then she should have explained it more than just May “talk[ing], tell[ing] her everything...” (172). In order for the reader to better understand both sides of the story, then she should have explained it better.

May is not the only one to blame. Penny ditched her friends for no reason or explanation. This was very annoying. I wanted so badly to root for the main character, and in most books I do, but I did not for most of this book. It is hard for me to enjoy reading a book where I am against the main character, of who’s thoughts and feelings I am reading. Penny gives no explanation to her amazing friends as to why she is shutting them out. She leaves and becomes really good friends with someone else, who’s she ran away to because she wouldn’t pressure Penny too much in spilling out personal information. The one time that she did confront Penny with this, Penny nearly died. What is the message there?

As for Panda, I never disliked him because he seemed to have Penny’s back even when no one else did. I understand why he was doing it but I wish the author went into further depth as to how was Panda and his home life-what was he like? I felt like I knew more about him though than I did about May or Wes, who seemed to be the most important people in Penny’s life. At the end of the book, I realized that I didn’t really know anything about Wes or May.

With Kylie, I was never a fan of their relationship. She may have seemed nice on the outside, and to Penny, but her relationship with Penny was not even that strong. She left a Penny in pain in her room after she found out that Penny did not remember their friendship. When Penny got back to
school. Almost everyone knew because Kylie has “told them”. This is not a good move on Kylie’s end. What kind of friend would release that kind of personal information without the okay from Penny? I can’t relate because that has never happened to be but from what is seems like. a good friend would try to piece together the friendship they had, instead of ruining the one they had. It was not Penny’s fault that she can’t remember, but still Kylie acts mad. She treats her like terrible and ignores her. Her apology and their make-up at the end was not good to me because what did they have to repair? We never really got to see the nice/true side of Kylie. All I saw was the mean side so maybe I am subjective, but if the author wants me to be unbiased, then I need to see both sides.

In conclusion, I rated this 1 star because of the lack of character development and plot. I think the author did a good job on some things, but from my perspective reading this book, there were a lot of faults.

[Chase Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give A Season for Fireflies more than five stars, trust me, I would. I mean… I can give it more than five stars… this is my fucking blog. So… I give this book ALL OF THE STARS AND ALL OF THE FIREFLIES. I knew I’d be in for a treat because Between Us and the Moon was incredible. I think I read it in six hours in one sitting last summer. Ugh, Rebecca Maizel, what are you doing to me?!

“They think I’m just loud, funny Penny, top ten in the class and the party girl at Kylie’s side who never takes anything too seriously.”

The first 38 pages of the novel consist of one version of Penny Berne, our lovely protagonist. A couple things happen and then the novel fast forwards from the end of Penny’s sophomore year in high school, to the beginning of Penny’s senior year of high school. And there is quite a difference in the two versions of Penny that Maizel presents us with. But of course, they’re still the same Penny, deep down.

A record number of fireflies are showing up in Penny’s town and no one can figure out why there are thousands of fireflies showing up in September. That doesn’t stop Penny and her bestie Kylie from partying, though. But then, a freak lightning accident happens and the next thing Penny remembers is waking up in the hospital. And it’s as if the last year hasn’t happened. She doesn’t remember becoming friends with Kylie or exactly why she’s not friends with her old theatre posse. And thus begins the journey of Penny Berne figuring out exactly who she is.

I honestly think I’m in love with Penny Berne. Even when she was the sidekick to Kylie, she still lit up every room she was in and she was the life of the party. She might’ve been closed off when it came to actually opening up to people, but it’s hard to be open to judgment. There is something so special about Penny and who she is, deep down inside, that will have you following her around with puppy eyes. Rebecca Maizel always writes such well-developed and lovable characters.

“Wes made me a planetarium?”

I have to talk about Wes next. He didn’t say much throughout A Season for Fireflies, but I fell for him just as much as I fell for Andrew in Between Us and the Moon. Again, Maizel writes her characters so incredibly charming it’s hard to not fall for them, you know? The way that he never really stopped caring for Penny even when she went through her “lost year.” (Her words, not mine!!) He was just so cute and I love him. He’s mine!!!!!

Also, he’s a great gift giver. That is honestly just beautiful.

“’You’re back, babe.’ She laughs. ‘My number one bitch.’”

I really loved Kylie and Penny’s friendship. It was born out of a need for something new and maybe not the healthiest place in Penny’s heart, but it was still a genuine and true friendship. And I really enjoyed Penny’s friendships with all of her theater friends as well. I think it just attributes to Penny’s personality and how fun and caring and friendly she is!

“To be brought back together, to be reconciled, I had to lose myself in the shadows and find my way back out to the light.”

A Season for Fireflies is truly a story about second chances. And I absolutely love Penny’s character arc and how much she changed from her sophomore year to her senior year. It’s a beautiful journey and I’m so glad Rebecca Maizel gave me the opportunity to take it with Penny!

The only thing is I wish it were longer! I need more. But, that just makes me think that we don’t get many details of what really happened in Penny’s “lost year” so it’s like we have the same memory loss and it just fits so well. But, of course, with any good book I want so much more.

Please, pick up this book!!! It’s incredible.

Happy Reading!
Love,
The Cosmic Reader

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nobsbookreviews.com/eves-revie...

I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

This book was such a quick read. I flew through it in one sitting which is a great feeling to start and finish a book so rapidly and have that sense of completion.

That said this book hits one of those areas that I’ve seen pop up a bit more as of late, memory loss. Whatever the circumstance the memory is lost to a point and how life has changed. This always intrigues me and makes me wonder if I lost my memory and had to ask people what kind of person I was would I like the answer. Penny didn’t lose all of her memories just those from the last year when her life went completely upside down from what she was used to.

Penny is fun and quirky. She always likes to make an entrance and she loves her friends and has her passion. She is having a hard time with things at home though and it takes a toll. I could relate to some of her decisions and her lack of desire to want to talk about things even with her closest friends. When you’ve always thrived at being in the spotlight and now you need to step back and stay out of the light. Sometimes it’s easier to start fresh, rather than pull down the good in one’s life with the bad. She makes some pretty crappy decisions along the way. She basically decides to change her entire life in one emotion filled night. While it made an interesting concept but it was a bit harder to see her sticking to her guns like that.

Two others who really caught my eye were Wes and new BFF Kylie. I loved the dynamic after Penny loses her memory and pretty much doesn’t remember Kylie but on the other end she always felt a connection to Wes. There is something really great in those parts to read. Maizel did a great job there. I enjoyed post memory loss the best part because it was like relearning things all over again, and the emotions portrayed were so genuine. Confused to find your life not as you remember….horrifying. Thankfully for me my life doesn’t change all that much so I wouldn’t have much issue but it’s still a scary thought. I wish we had a bit more with her original drama friends before to get more of a feel for them and just have a bit more of a connection to them but for such a short read it gave me enough to imagine the depth of their connection.

This book is full of complex dynamics between friends past and present and reconciling the different, but it also touches on some serious family dynamics. Her mom is not mom of the year. Her dad is sweet but distant, lost in his own world. Throughout the book they both come into play and both factor into who she is and who she becomes because in the end it’s a book of self discovery. It only took a little lightening strike in a pool to help her put her priorities in order. Side note here, I apologize to my mother for all the times I rolled my eyes as she made me get out of the pool when it started to storm because yep nope this doesn’t sound fun in the least.

Overall I enjoyed it, and for a couple hours of reading, I had a great time. I even liked the idea of the influx of fireflies because who doesn’t remember being a kid and chasing after them to catch them. In times much more innocent before things got all wonky and adulting took over.

[Suze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penny's first love has always been the theater. She loves being the center of attention and has the most fun when she has a big part in a play. She has a loyal group of friends who are just like her. Her best friend, Wes, is especially important to her and there might be more between them. While her life at school is going well for Penny things at home are rapidly going downhill. Because of this she takes a rash decision which changes the course of her life entirely.

Penny does no longer spend time with her theater friends and now has a new best friend, Kylie. Kylie seems to get her and Penny doesn't have to talk about the difficult things in her life to be understood. She misses the stage, but she has found other ways to spend her free time. When a terrible accident nearly kills Penny she loses part of her memory, the past year. She can't remember her new friends and doesn't know how she lost her old ones. Will Penny be able to find out the truth about herself and will she be able to share her memories with the people who care about her when she does?

A Season for Fireflies is a beautiful, moving story. Penny doesn't want anyone to know what's going on inside her. She's closed off and doesn't want to share the bad things, so she can pretend everything is great. Her friends know that something is going on, because part of Penny's story has been in the papers, but as she doesn't talk they don't know what it is exactly. I could feel her pain, her struggles and her heartbreak. Rebecca Maizel has described these feelings in the exact right way. Her writing is impressive and sensitive and she definitely knows what she's talking about. The tears were streaming down my face when I read about Penny's situation. I was completely overwhelmed by how well the author portrays her emotions, her descriptions are spot-on.

Penny is an incredibly strong girl. She's actually much too tough on herself which leads to a lot of difficulties. Rebecca Maizel describes them in a realistic and heartfelt way. She plays with tension and that meant I kept being curious about what would happen next. A Season for Fireflies is a fast-paced story. It's filled with meaningful scenes. I think this book is absolutely amazing. You often have no idea what happens behind closed doors. This story is an impressive example of the problems difficulties at home can cause in someone's life. Penny needs to find a way to deal with hers and even though her journey is far from easy she will learn how to manage eventually. I loved the wisdom she gathers along the way. A Season for Fireflies is a fantastic mix of compassion, honesty, sadness and hope.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a copy from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

A SEASON FOR FIREFLIES by Rebecca Maizel is a contemporary YA novel about Penny, a high school theatre star who loses an entire year of her memory after being struck by lightning one night at a party. Penny learns she has become someone she doesn’t even know: popular, kind of mean, top of her class… She’s no longer an actress—the life of the party, nor is she a member of her childhood group of friends. As she attempts to recover both physically and emotionally from her accident, she realizes she’s not sure she ever knew who she really was. She’s been given a second chance to reconcile the two very different people she has been.

I found the story captivating and the characters relatable. Maizel is definitely a gifted writer. However, her style and pacing felt slightly off at times (this was a LOT to pack into a very short read). I wish she’d taken a little bit more time in the beginning of the story to let us get to know Penny and her group of friends before jumping ahead.

That being said, this is an incredibly sweet and emotional read. I took it down in one sitting. Absolutely recommend!

[Cambear · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a story about redemption, but it just didn't work very well for me. Characters have no depth and for a story about relationships and redemption, it's critical that we get to understand them and see them change,

The story becomes problematic because the characters are too one-sided to make situations believable. For example, Penny's parents are completely one-dimensional and either absent or evil. Nothing in between. More character development and maybe showing how great life was once upon a time would make it clearly why Penny gets to a crisis point to quit drama. If they've always been awful, what really triggers her big change? After she almost dies, they don't seem to care.

i have more issues about her drama friends which seem to be so lifeless, yet these are the characters she's eager to befriend. The only supporting character with any sort of weight is Kylie who is able to back up reasons for her actions.

Still, there are some nice romantic moments with Wes, but, for me, this wasn't enough to sustain the story.

Thanks to the publisher and Goodreads for providing the book for review.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't have huge expectations for this book and yet I was still pretty disappointed.
Let me list everything I didn't like:

- I could never connect with Penny. You're supposed to feel something for a MC who's going through so much and yet, I didn't care.
- all the theatre scenes bored me. Okay, I am not a theatre person, but I don't necessarily hate it either... there's no reason to copy/paste half a Shakespeare play in a novel though (yes, I'm being dramatic, no it's not that much).
- the fireflies. I get the symbolism/metaphor, I just don't think it was particularly well done, and again, I never cared.
- lots and lots and lots of building up and then... nothing. I'm not saying Penny's relationship with her mom is nothing, but we knew (or could guess) everything from the start.
- the amnesia, so totally overdone, I just can't anymore.

The lightning and Lichtenberg figures were a good idea, I had never heard of those and learnt a lot.
But that's pretty much all that book had going for it IMO.

[Lucie Paris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was in the mood for something cute and since the synopsis was intriguing, I thought: Why not?
It was not my cup of tea even if the story was well written and enjoyable.

Sure, talking about living wth alcoolic parents was a great and interesting addition but I was not touched by the characters or embarked into the author's world. Something was missing.

But since I've read a lot of good critics, maybe it was just for me.

Lucie
http://newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr...

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this. I expected it to be just another contemporary YA, but it was so much more than that. This story shed light on alcoholism, amnesia, being different and that's okay. There are no bad guys. Everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn't make someone a bad person. Rebecca Maizel depicted that beautifully. This new release of hers makes me want to read all of her other ones. I can't wait.

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly I was hoping for this to be a better book. Is one of those cases where the cover is much better that the story. I´m not saying I hate it but I feel the story was lame. I didnt hate the characters, I just couldnt see them as real people, they were superficial characters. Sure, It was an easy read, kind of sweet but as I said maybe too simple.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don’t have to be a certain way just because people tell you that’s who you are. You don’t have to listen to them.

— A lovely book about forgiveness, second chances and the healing power of friendship. I just wish it explored the family issues as much as it did with the friendship and romance aspects.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

Liked this story. It was cute, and I liked how Lenny was able to find a middle ground between who she was and who she became. Hate the mom.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually really liked this book, but it fell just shy of where I feel I could honestly give it 4 stars.

First, as I've said before, I'm a sucker for books about people with amnesia. I know it's super cliche and all, but I find the concept of who you were before vs who you are after losing your memory fascinating. And if it's even remotely well-written, it's always interesting to see those differences unfold, at least to me. But I'll admit that they're usually pretty similar. So I was surprised when this one was actually a bit different. It wasn't as thought-provoking as that last one I read ( The Secret History of Us ), but it did branch out a bit from the standard formula.

The most interesting part is how it deviates from the typical "you were nice, then you turned mean, but now you've lost the memory of the chunk of time when you were mean so you're nice again, but everyone else still sees you as mean" take. It follows that general timeline, but neither version of Penny was purely mean or nice, just hurting and trying her best to live her life.

You could divide Penny's life into 3 chunks: 1. through about the end of 10th grade, 2. through the beginning of 12th grade, 3. after she gets amnesia. The amnesia wipes out the entire second part and the end of the first, so she feels like she's still Version 1 Penny and has no idea why or how that could ever have changed. But the change from V1 to V2 was pretty dramatic, with a lot of serious fallout, meaning Penny can't just return to the life she remembers having. At the same time, there were a lot of good things about V2 Penny, and she made that change for a reason, but V3 Penny didn't remember any of it, so whatever she learns about that version of herself seems foreign and meaningless. It's rough, both on her and everyone around her. I do wish we'd seen a bit more of how it affected others, especially Kylie, but what we did get was pretty good. I also liked the glimmers of memory she has here and there.

Oddly enough, I think my favorite part of the book is the very beginning, where we briefly get to know both versions of Penny before she gets amnesia. Most books where a protagonist has amnesia either begin after or just before, because throwing the reader in without knowing anything is actually helpful for that, but because this was as much about the contrast between those parts of her life as it was before and after the amnesia, it was a good decision to give us some solid (but brief) setup for each.

I'm less sold on the other parts of the book. Aside from the amnesia, the main issue is Penny's mother's alcoholism, which did a lot to make Penny sympathetic and to help explain why she is the way she is, but sometimes it felt a little bit off, though I'm not really sure why. If nothing else, it sets her parents up as complex and flawed, but it doesn't devote a whole lot of time to exploring that (which, to be fair, Penny herself probably wouldn't have, either).

The next big topic is theater. Penny is an actress--not just someone who acts in a play here or there, but someone who lives and breathes theater, who makes dramatic entrances wherever she goes, who is constantly playing some role or other. The way it was just part of who she was felt true, and it was interesting to see how it came through even with V2 Penny, who tried to suppress it. But the actual theater-related bits didn't really work for me. Also, I know she goes to a private school, but how many high schools actually do Shakespeare? It's so common in books (presumably because it's public domain), but it'd probably be my last resort if I had to pick a play for a bunch of teenagers to do.

There's more to the book--friendship, romance, growing up, identity, whatever--but unfortunately, none of it is really worth mentioning. That's why I couldn't quite bring myself to give it 4 stars. Those elements are all there, but they aren't really fleshed out enough or given enough time and attention. I would've loved to see them explored more thoroughly. At minimum, I feel like there should've been one more chapter or some sort of epilogue.

Lastly, the other effects of Penny getting struck by lightning, beyond the memory loss, were a nice touch. I don't know how accurate they are, but it helped make a highly improbable scenario feel a lot more grounded (no pun intended) and real. And I understand why some people take issue with the unlikeliness of being struck by lightning, but I can't say I really expect peak realism from a book about someone with amnesia. The firefly motif was a bit forced, though.

[Kristyn - Reading to Unwind · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second audiobook that I was able to complete that I got on loan from my library. This book was narrated by one person and told through the eyes of Penny who was struck by lighting and can't remember who she was or what happened prior to the lighting strike.

Penny was an interesting character to be the lead. At the beginning of the book we get a small glimpse into her life just as it was starting to fall apart and then skip ahead to a whole new life and then she losses her memory. I felt a little jumbled while listening to the book since the transitions weren't that defined in the audio. There were parts of the book that I liked Penny and saw how challenging her life had to be and then there were other parts where I just couldn't stand her. I personally find it more challenging to get into a book when I am not routing for the main character the entire time. I do feel like I was routing for Penny to get her memory back and also to make everything right in the book.

The author uses a lot of play quotes and it really shows how much the author must enjoy the theater. I did enjoy how the author created the different circle of friends and kept them the same over the course of the book. I loved seeing all of the strong friendships that had developed in between the characters.

I guess my first major qualm with the book was the story itself. As a reader we know exactly what Penny forgot right up front and so it was painstakingly hard to listen to her repeat herself so many times after she forgot her memory. I felt like the major pattern was that she didn't open up to her friends so no one really knew what happened to set off her life change. It felt like after awhile the same idea kept popping up and there wasn't to much else to discover.

So with the story as it is now I felt like it was dragging at certain points since the same idea was popping up a lot. I would have liked to see more details on the friendship between Penny and her original group of friends and new group of friends. I felt like if I got more details of the groups up front that after the lighting strike the story could have moved along faster.

I would suggest this as a nightime read as it was a good book to take your mind off of the everyday world.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely fluffy good feeling story. Great read if your just feeling down. I gave this book four stars only because it started slow for me but once it began to pick up I was hooked or connecting to the characters. I liked that the parents weren’t lacking in intelligence they seem more like possible parents or typical parents. We have Penny she is in theater has been since childhood and has some wonderful friends well Penny’s mom is a alcoholic and one night Penny takes everything her mom says to heart and becomes a different Penny-quits the play, drops her friends and just changes. Then a year later she is at a party with her new circle of friends and decides to jump into the pool and again Penny’s life changes. I won’t share any further so as to not spoil this book but I personally loved this story and at one part when Penny is auditioning it just brought me to tears. Such a lovely well written story. The fire flies I believe are there because of Penny or I would like to think so.