Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

3.66 AVERAGE

lovereadingxo's profile picture

lovereadingxo's review

4.0
emotional lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
Sam and her family return to Long Island every summer, and so does her next door neighbour Wyatt and his. As these things go, the two kids form a friendship that eventually turns to more before heartbreakingly falling apart when Sam is 17.

When we meet her, she’s 30, engaged to someone else and looking into getting married on Long Island. But coming back to the beach brings up a lot of old memories, and maybe, just maybe… It reminds Sam of who she really is.

Annabel Monaghan’s ‘Same Time Next Summer’ is a friends-to-lovers-to-nothing-at-all novel that aches like these kinds of stories are wont to do, and while it’s not reinventing the wheel (there’s so many of these books making the rounds lately), I really enjoyed the layers the author incorporated into it to make it feel brand new.

The narrative flashes back and forth between Now and Then and between Sam and Wyatt, and takes the reader right back to when the two were teens and how it all felt, but the pacing is a bit weird. We spend about 80% of the novel building this world and then the last 20% feels so rushed, like the author ran out of time…? I wanted more of a fleshed out ending, and I think the reader deserved to see more of the reality of Sam basically blowing up her whole life.

It also feels utterly improbable that Sam would have refrained from Google’ing Wyatt over the years, or that she wouldn’t have some inkling that the song could possibly be about her.

Dr Judy’s addition also felt… lazy. The situation wasn’t handled with enough tact to make it feel real. Instead, the therapist’s advice felt like a means to an end to propel the story in the direction Monaghan wanted it to go.

But with that being said, I was completely swept away to Long Island and really loved the characters. A good, easy read that I devoured over a weekend. Would definitely recommend.

xoxocj's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
vanessav15's profile picture

vanessav15's review

3.5
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
sassiecassie's profile picture

sassiecassie's review

4.0
lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes

amystencpost's review

5.0
hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

christielfoley's review

3.0
Good but Nora Goes Off Script is much funnier. Still loved reading it.
valhdavis_08's profile picture

valhdavis_08's review

3.5
adventurous challenging emotional funny fast-paced

jackiesreadingjourney's review

4.0
“If you’ve loved someone your whole life, it kind of makes sense that you’d love them forever.”

This was such a good second chance romance
heyjessicataylor's profile picture

heyjessicataylor's review

3.75
hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

maddim's review

2.75
fast-paced