Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Every Summer After

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

74 reviews

nailartklaudia's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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bethfern04's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

From the first page, I thought this was going to be my first five star of the year. I even finished this in a day! I'm so disappointed that I was wrong. I really enjoyed the angst, the tension, and the visceral longing that radiated from the pages. Had it not been for the ending this would have probably been a five star.

I found Percy very relatable in the first half, and her struggle with anxiety and panic attacks was really well depicted. But any sympathy I felt or relatability she had was completely soured in the last 50 pages.

I hate the cheating trope and I just felt like there was absolutely no excusable reason for either Charlie or Percy to do what they did. As much as Percy was responsible for the cheating, what got me most is that Charlie would do that to his own brother! Charlie was at least twenty when he slept with his younger brother's eighteen-year-old girlfriend!!! Like hello???!!! I'm a little upset that his responsibility for that betrayal was very glossed over at the end, due to Sam already knowing about the cheating. I would have loved to see a few chapters in Sam's perspective, especially eighteen-year-old Sam! I think it would have been really satisfying to see his and their mom's reaction to Charlie's confession.(Cuz I know Mama Sue was probably hopping mad when she found out!)

I mostly really liked Sam! He was a really sweet and thoughtful boyfriend, if a bit immature at times. I do think the immaturity of both him and Percy were pretty on par for two eighteen year old kids, but in the end only one of them cheated on the other! I'm glad they ended up together in the end, but wish we had had more time to see them work through their issues. Because it was such a quick wrap up, it was a little hard to accept that they were both just able to forgive each other and move on.

To be clear it was very obvious that the author was exploring themes of forgiveness and betrayal. And while it definitely wasn't badly written, I just really dislike cheating. I was mad at the characters not the writing, which to me is usually a sign of good writing. I'm definitely willing to give her other books a try, but I'll be checking the trigger warnings a little closer in future.

3.5 ⭐ is my final rating.
As always, reviews are subjective and please love what you love! 😘 XOXO

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linakats20's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

This is 100% my kind of book - a page turning romance between beautiful, funny, smart characters… it’s so perfect, you can ignore how unrealistic it would be. I quickly fell in love with the dynamic between the characters and truly couldn’t put this book down. Being from Toronto, I didn’t find the descriptions of the city to be very well written. It seemed focused on more “iconic” locations which I didn’t enjoy, almost like the author was name dropping a few places they’ve seen while driving around. Descriptions of

Percy’s panic attacks

were written well (very relatable!), however, I sometimes found Percy’s anxious, negative self-worth thoughts to be overbearing

plus, it seems like she never really developed past this, even when 30 year old Sam continued to say he loved her, she kept thinking/saying “I’m not good enough for you”

, making me feel like her anxiety really defined her… I wish she had more character development. The ending wasn’t great, but overall, I enjoyed getting to follow these characters along their whirlwind love story.

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annabananadel's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“I loved you so much that the word 'love' didn't seem big enough for how I felt.”

Gonna write this review while it’s still fresh because it’s still hurting my heart. I haven’t even moved on from one scenario and another big scenario instantly hitting me in the right spot to make my knees weak.

I thought I’d hate it a big given the fact that it’s quite similar to Love and Other Words by Christina Laurens. Of course I knew that it would be a little different but the premise was there so I had my doubts. But that didn’t make me stop from having those swooning feelings because you can’t help but cheer Sam and Percy on! I think it’s mostly Carley’s amazing writing skill that made me want to finish the book as soon as possible - she made me feel like I was there with Percy the whole time. When she was frustrated with how confusing Sam was, I was frustrated as hell. He was being so unfair. When she was starting to crush on Sam, I was there, already in love with him (lol called dibs). When she was sad and let me tell you, this book is a whoooooole lot of sad, I was there with her. So a lot of credits should be given to Carley. But the similarities in the two books is there.

It was only two-thirds in when I realized Charlie was heavily involved in the break up-break up. There were hints here and there but I was in denial and wanted to turn a blind eye. To be honest, I can’t fault anyone because everyone had a fault in what had happened there. I can’t even be mad because I understood and felt where Percy was coming from. It was wrong but it was bound to happen given how Percy and Charlie bonded when Sam was in the process of breaking her heart.

I love how Sam said is not taking anything for granted anymore because Charlie was right - he was too confident that Percy was his and his alone. He was a coward for not sharing his feelings and whatever important was happening to his life to Percy. His girlfriend. Communication is a damn big key in LDR and if you don’t talk everyday, it might break your relationship.

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clareasday's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

stepnic's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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kendra_taylors_version's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

jessicadr's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

This was was one of the cuter friends-to-lovers that I have read with a surprising ending.

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ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Carley, you did a great job writing this. That's for sure. You brought me to the place and feelings of the characters.

But, every time Persephone says stupid shit, I want to pull my hair out. Like wtf? I get that she was young and immature, but I thought she had sense. As the story progresses, I loathe her more than ever.

The boys aren't any better. They seem sweet and friendly, but GDI, they're horrible.

People make mistakes and most of us are flawed, but come on. I was so irritated.

It started strong; I was excited because I stay away from second-chance romances, but it went downhill quickly.

Content Warnings

redefiningrachel's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

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