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Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
Kate is the bravest character I may have ever read. Her perseverance in the face of such tragedy is unbelievable. I spent so much of the last two days reading this book sobbing, with grief but also with frustration that she was met, at times, with such misunderstanding and, frankly, disrespect. It was, of course, obvious that she and Beck were meant to be together and that he understood her better than anyone, but even he was so blind to her sometimes. Case in point:
I can’t pretend to fully empathise with Kate. Our similarities are minimal. My experiences do not touch what Kate’s character went through. However, to have a character who is able to name the feelings that I struggle with was therapeutic. It made me feel seen. I’m grateful, even if my heart aches.
As with the other Summer books, I wish that we’d had a bit more of a look into the male main character’s life before the story begins. In some ways, I feel like I knew everything I needed to know about Beck from The Summer I Saved You. His epilogue gave me a look into his heart that his chapters struggled to, and I wish he’d been more open and dug down a bit more deeply to reveal some more of himself throughout the book.
I’ve mentioned it a bunch, but my heart really does hurt after reading this book. I think I’ll take a break before diving into the next book in the series but, regardless, I truly loved this story. Seeing Kate finally receive the love she deserves was so satisfying, and I hope we get glimpses of her happy and free as the series develops.
A downside of note is that, in The Summer I Saved You, Caleb took us to Hannah’s grave, where we found out her middle name is “Jane” and she was born on October 24th. That detail is different in this book (no middle name, and a different date). There were a few continuity errors that I noticed in this book, mostly with timelines, but this was the most noticeable for me. Perhaps this is only obvious to me because I finished Caleb’s book yesterday, but facts about someone as vital to the story as Hannah deserve to flow accurately from one book to the other.
If child loss is triggering for you, please approach this book with caution. I surprised myself with how much my heart hurts right now.
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Grief, Medical trauma
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Minor: Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy
Urrgh, I hoped the next of this series wouldn't disappoint but it did. Yet again, like other books in The Summer series, there were so many components of the storyline that fell flat but could have really made the book compelling.
MMC was all in but a bit of a simple dude, while MFC was a spiteful trainwreck. The MFC frustrated me and definitely made it hard to like, so I just felt annoyed at her and didn't like how she could be so manipulative. She has a past history of trauma and family drama which could have been written in a way that built up her character rather than making her hated, those story components just led to nowhere which was disappointing... it should have been written from a different angle.
Not worth the read IMO.
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Drug abuse, Abandonment
Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Spice 3🌶
Tropes:
-Ex-Best Friend of Husband
-Forbidden
-Forced Proximity
-Emotional
-Angsty
-Dual POV
This book is between Becks and Kate. It says it can be read as a standalone, but I wouldn't recommend it. I've not read the other books, and I wish I would have. The other characters are part of this book as well as these characters are part of theirs. I got a bit lost, as well as wanting more that was probably part of the other books.
Kate had been missing for the past year. After losing her baby girl, she has been through a lot. Her trauma and grief are a lot, and you feel that through these pages. Very emotional between these two characters. Kate is back, though, after leaving her second time in rehab. She is back to get her husband. FYI, her husband Caleb was book 2. He's already found his HEA, and that was something I'd wish I'd read. She doesn't handle her grief well at all. She makes bad choices to deal with it. Kate needs to work on herself a lot, and she knows this, but still makes bad choices. Her vengeance to win her her husband back is part of herself she needs to work on. Kate has a lot of flaws, and she is a character you can't help but hate at times.
Kate doesn't have a lot of friends or people in her corner. I know how that feels, and it hurts. Enter Becks, her husband's ex-best friend. He let's Kate stay stay with him. He has secretly wanted Kate for years. There is a past between these two characters that I would have loved to read more about. Becks also is dealing with some crap. I wish there would have been more POV with Becks. This book is mainly told through Kate's POV. The push and pull between these two, along with the angst, had Kate questioning what she really wants in life. Becks makes Kate feel like she belongs. When she's with him, she doesn't feel all these bad things. They have always loved each other, but life got in the way. I wanted to see their past and felt like I was missing something.
The author did a great job writing this. She made this story so realistic. She wrote the flaws and grief beautifully. This book made me feel so many emotions. You could feel the vulnerability between these two characters. I have never felt so many emitting in 1 book before. Going from crying to hating, then loving , back to hating again. This book was a rollercoaster of feelings, and I was holding on for it. You could feel what Kate was going through. The need for her to work on herself, I could relate to that. The addiction she deals with, I've also been through. Maybe that's why I hated Kate so much at times. I could see myself in her a lot. Great job, Elizabeth O'Roark. You got me all in my life feelings. The spice in this book was great. This was a romantic book at its core. The spice to go along with that was written beautifully.
I would definitely recommend reading this book. Maybe just read the first few books before jumping into this one. Especially book 2, read that one before. I received this as an Advance Readers Copy, and this is my honest opinion.
Trigger Warnings ⚠️
- Addiction
- Death of a baby
-Abandoned by parents
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Abandonment
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
I've been contemplating how to review this book for a few days now, and ultimately, I believe the issue lies with me. I know that sounds cliché, very much like the classic "It's not you, it's me," but for once I am not being flippant and I genuinely mean it.
Let me elaborate... This book follows Kate and Beck. While technically it could be considered a standalone, I wouldn't advise doing so without reading book 2, as that one is HIGHLY connected to this in terms of plot, characters, and the foundation for what happens in "The Summer You Found Me." Basically, Kate has just come back to town after a year MIA, where she spent some of that time in rehab twice after she fell off the rails when she lost her baby girl. Her only mission is to get her husband back (CALEB - WHO GOT HIS HEA IN BOOK 2 with a NEW FMC). Finding herself with very few friends, she moves in with Beck - her ex-husband's best friend, who has also been secretly pining after Kate for years. It's only a secret for them and Caleb, as everyone else in the small town thinks they are a couple or should be.
Now, my main issue is that I don't like Kate. Her motivations are wrong, and she has a weak character (not in that she was weakly written - the opposite in fact) but in the way that she has no problem doing something she knows is problematic or bad, making an excuse that her actions are justified or validated by the end goal. While she recognizes this trait in herself, she doesn't do much to change it, and even though she goes through a redemption arc, it almost feels like it was done reluctantly or against her will as she realizes her goal for her actions is not something she actually wants.
This is where I find it difficult to judge the book because I ACTUALLY APPLAUD Elizabeth O'Roark, who made such a well-characterized character that made me hate her and her actions so much. It takes someone really talented to be able to do this, and I am still thinking about Kate, her actions, and how she made me feel. The thing is she was dealt an awful hand in life, and like many people who experience such trauma, she is not able to handle her grief with an appropriate coping mechanism so makes bad choices. She is extremely real and human and has so many faults. I wanted to help her; I wanted to climb in the book and slap some sense into her as she needed it, but I also don't think I would have been able to see myself as her friend - especially since she spends such a long time trying not to help herself on her quest for vengeance to win her husband back.
Beck - He was ok, I guess - most of the book is in Kate's POV, so we don't have too many scenes of him, and I almost wish there were more, as his love for her only felt impactful because we were told of their history and his actions for what he did before Kate lost the baby. I almost wished this had the dual timeline as "The Summer We Fell" so we would be able to actually see how these two had always loved each other but it was the wrong time and not just been told about it.
Overall, the writing is excellent and engaging, and the problem is entirely mine for not enjoying it, as I just had a problem with who Kate was - but I can't fault the book for that - I judge books based on my enjoyment, and because I didn't like Kate - in fact, might still hate her - I didn't enjoy this book as much as I think I would have if I just felt more connected to her.
Trope Summary:
▶ Dual POV
▶ It's always been you
▶ Ex's Best Friend
▶ Forbidden Love
▶ Roommates to Lovers
▶ Angsty and Emotional
▶ Forced Proximity
All in all, I definitely still recommend this book and series - it is an emotional ride with angst and pining and beautifully captures the flaws we have as humans.
Thank you Valentine PR and Elizabeth O'Roark for my ARC gifted copy.
All thoughts and opinions are my own
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
At its core this one is about healing after loss and though it’s difficult at times I loved seeing that journey for Kate and Beck.
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual harassment