Zoey82
The Summer I Turned Sixteen
In the quiet town of Ashwood, Nora Howard is supposed to be living the golden years of her youth. Instead, she's barely surviving them. After the sudden death of her father-beloved Sheriff Howard-Nora's world splintered into pieces she can't seem to put back together. Her grief festers in silence, feeding addictions, an eating disorder, and scars she hides even from her best friend.
To everyone else, Nora has it all: the perfect best friend, Blake Ford-the wild, beautiful girl every guy wants-and a boyfriend, Mason Cooper, who looks like the dream. But behind closed doors, Mason's love is cruel, bruising, and impossible to escape. Nora convinces herself this is all she deserves... until Caleb Ford, Blake's older brother, begins to see her differently.
Caleb has known Nora since childhood. To him, she's always been Blake's quiet shadow, the girl with a laugh that came too rarely but lit up the room when it did. Now, he notices the pain she hides, the marks she can't explain, and the way she's slipping away. For Nora, it's everything she once dreamed of-and everything she believes is too late.
As summer blurs by in a haze of parties, secrets, and self-destruction, Nora is forced to confront the truth: the boy who claims to love her is destroying her, and the boy she never thought she could have may be the only one who truly sees her.
Raw, haunting, and tender, The Summer I Turned Sixteen is a coming-of-age story about grief, survival, and the fragile hope that even in the darkest seasons, love can still bloom.