The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

5 stars

April, May, and June are sisters. Yes, they know that their names are totally cliché and ridiculous so you don’t need to point it out to them. After dealing with their parents divorce, they find themselves living in a new house in a place where they don’t know anyone. One day they wake up and strange things start happening to them. It soon becomes clear that they have ‘superpowers’ or some kind of weird ability. April the oldest of the sisters is protective, responsible, bookish, and a mother hen. She discovers she can see the future which only proves to be disastrous when it comes to boys and her sisters. May is the middle-child and she’s a natural born loner. She discovers that she has the ability to disappear which is handy, but also a problem. June is the youngest of the sisters and she’s tired of being considered the baby. June can read people’s minds and she uses it to her advantage to become popular. Yes this book sounds super cheesy but I love cheese and sometimes a cheese fest is what I need.

I honestly have no clue why I put that picture, but I like it and think it's kind of funny in a messed up way.I was expecting a total cheese fest and I got one, but I also got a story that I enjoyed and even loved. The minute I read the first sentence I was sucked in and didn’t want to put this book down. Which was a good thing because I had to take LEAP that week, a standardized test in Louisiana taken in 4th and 8th grade to see if you are ready to pass. I’m a fast test taker so once I was finished all I did was read and if I’m going to be sitting in a desk for three hours straight when I’m done taking a test, I want to be reading a good book. The book is told from alternating points of view and each voice was enjoyable and realistic. They sounded like real teens to me and I should know what a teenager sounds like since I am one.


The main female characters are April, May, and June. Each girl has a very distinct voice, problem, and fear. April was very protective of her sisters and I could relate to that since I have a sister. She was my favorite of the three. May feels invisible and like she doesn’t belong. I liked her and I think we’ve all felt that way. June was my least favorite of the sisters but I still liked her. She wanted to belong and fit in. I think we’ve all felt that way at some point in our life. These girls were extremely relatable and their problems were fun to read about.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: April- 8.5 May- 8 June-7.5

The main male characters are Julian and Henry. They were both love interest. Julian was April’s love interest and I loved him. Julian was sweet and their relationship wasn’t rushed and slowly blossomed from a friendship to relationship. Henry wasn’t nearly as entertaining, but I still liked his relationship with May. But he was a huge jerk at one point in the novel and he made me so angry I wanted to slap him.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Julian- 8.5 Henry- 7

There was no villain in this novel because they had to deal with their own minds and how they accepted this new power.

Character Scale: 8

One of the things I had wanted more from this book was to how and where their superpowers came from. It was slightly touched on when June talked to her mother but we never really got an exact explanation as to why they had these powers. I’m not sure how to categorize this novel. Yes they have superpowers, but the novel focused more on sisterhood and other teenage problems. So maybe, a realistic paranormal story is the best way to describe this book. I still love the book though and it was more than I was expecting. I am definitely checking out more of Benway’s works because she is an excellent writer.


Cover Thoughts: I like the cover. I usually read dark covers, but it’s nice to read a light fun cover that looks fun and makes me want to go to a sleepover. I like the other cover more, but I still really like this one.