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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Our Darkest Summer was a solid 4⭐️ read! We follow Thomas Roads as he makes his way back to his childhood town to solve his mother’s disappearance 12 years ago. Under the guise of a summer vacation, Thomas’ brother enthusiastically comes along with Kinsley Green his best friend in tow after much pursuation. With Kinsley’s murder mystery enthusiasm and passion, her unknown misunderstanding with Thomas, their growing tension and rekindling childhood friendships - we decipher what really happened in their small town as a group of eight friends; additionally pondering who is behind this and is it one of them?
I found this read to be super fun, quick and engaging for multiple reasons! Firstly, the premise of the story hooked me even before page one. Knowing the awesome tropes I was in for in combination with a cold case mystery and smidge of romance was exactly what I needed! But I would say what sold it was that the story felt like I was watching a scooby doo episode and watching people around my age rather than the mystery crew, it was a brand new take. The mystery aspects with little to no clue is what made it suspenseful, you don’t know who to trust but we slowly pick up on who was there or what might have happened. In other words it really is a great summer vacation read - much needed considering the winter weather over here where I live.
In the end, although I would’ve wanted to the “who dunnit?” to be revealed a little differently, it was an overall great read. I would say keep in mind that this isn’t your typical thriller murder mystery, rather if you don’t like SUPER spooky reads, want a lighter spooky read or if you’re just tip-toeing into the murder mystery genre - then this one’s your cup of tea! Like I mentioned earlier, this read will be a quick cartoon episode filled with nostalgia and a side of your romance cravings satiated in between the pages!
˗ˏˋ 5 stars ⟡ ݁₊ .
imagine AGGGTM but with spice and a freaking hot mmc, this book is it. i genuinely could not stop reading once i started this and ended up finishing at 2am...
the murder mystery aspect was done so well. it was twist after twist after twist, and kept me flipping through the pages rather quickly. i loved how the author included pics of the notes, newspaper articles, clues and text messages. it felt like you were alongside the characters solving the mystery together. also the dicktionary in the beginning made me laugh lol. haha
and the romance part!? *chefs kiss* i loved how thomas and kinsley knew each other so well, like they could read each other's mind and body language. also the crossword banter *screams* (also, not me solving every single of them lol) i also loved the tension and chemistry between the two. especially thomas' pov, it has me giggling and kicking my feet.
as for the mystery crew (credits to braxton), i loved the found family between the 8 friends. connor was such a sweet little thing, pls protect him at all cost. he and kevin had the cutest relationship together. i loved how cora and aaliyah instantly became friends with kinsley, cuz who doesn't want to be bffs with her!? and samantha, she was such a sweet little angel and she made me kinda liked her. last but not least, shoutout to braxton lee, you were a funny chaotic one. i loved his energy.
also the different extra POVs by the end, it felt really cool and i loved reading about the different perspectives on the situation. overall, a phenomenal debut novel.
⤷ thank you to the author — hanga e pavel — for providing me an ARC of the second edition of her debut novel in exchange for an honest review.
︶︶︶⊹︶︶︶˗ˋ୨♡୧ˊ˗︶︶︶⊹︶︶︶
₊˚⊹♡ pre-read ♡⊹˚₊ ↴
26/06/2025 — it's 2am and i just finished the book. cant form coherent sentences rn but main point is that i loved it. rtc.
25/06/2025 — so i have this arc to finish, then two more by the end of june. hoping this mysterious forest cabin filled with secrets in the summer with a dash of romance is good because the edits on insta and pinterest are absolutely gorgeous. fingers crossed it delivers
tropes:
imagine AGGGTM but with spice and a freaking hot mmc, this book is it. i genuinely could not stop reading once i started this and ended up finishing at 2am...
the murder mystery aspect was done so well. it was twist after twist after twist, and kept me flipping through the pages rather quickly. i loved how the author included pics of the notes, newspaper articles, clues and text messages. it felt like you were alongside the characters solving the mystery together. also the dicktionary in the beginning made me laugh lol. haha
and the romance part!? *chefs kiss* i loved how thomas and kinsley knew each other so well, like they could read each other's mind and body language. also the crossword banter *screams* (also, not me solving every single of them lol) i also loved the tension and chemistry between the two. especially thomas' pov, it has me giggling and kicking my feet.
as for the mystery crew (credits to braxton), i loved the found family between the 8 friends. connor was such a sweet little thing, pls protect him at all cost. he and kevin had the cutest relationship together. i loved how cora and aaliyah instantly became friends with kinsley, cuz who doesn't want to be bffs with her!? and samantha, she was such a sweet little angel and she made me kinda liked her. last but not least, shoutout to braxton lee, you were a funny chaotic one. i loved his energy.
also the different extra POVs by the end, it felt really cool and i loved reading about the different perspectives on the situation. overall, a phenomenal debut novel.
⤷ thank you to the author — hanga e pavel — for providing me an ARC of the second edition of her debut novel in exchange for an honest review.
︶︶︶⊹︶︶︶˗ˋ୨♡୧ˊ˗︶︶︶⊹︶︶︶
₊˚⊹♡ pre-read ♡⊹˚₊ ↴
26/06/2025 — it's 2am and i just finished the book. cant form coherent sentences rn but main point is that i loved it. rtc.
25/06/2025 — so i have this arc to finish, then two more by the end of june. hoping this mysterious forest cabin filled with secrets in the summer with a dash of romance is good because the edits on insta and pinterest are absolutely gorgeous. fingers crossed it delivers
tropes:
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I quite liked this book, me and my friends started a buddy read on it and I honestly thought although the main suspect was pretty predictable there was a good plot twist. I love Connor's character!
However, I'm not too sure how to feel about the demonisation of mental health disorders like delusion disorder, although I did find the aspect of it interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Stalking
Minor: Gun violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Huge thank you to the author for the ARC of the republished & special edition of this book.
I had so much fun reading Our Darkest Summer. It was so easy to read and I never felt bored at any point. I loved both Kinsley and Thomas’ point of views, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their romance unfold.
There was a perfect blend of mystery and romance, and I never felt that one outshined the other. I think they were really well balanced which can definitely be a tricky thing to do!
This was a great summer read. Can’t wait to see what the author writes next!🩷
I had so much fun reading Our Darkest Summer. It was so easy to read and I never felt bored at any point. I loved both Kinsley and Thomas’ point of views, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their romance unfold.
There was a perfect blend of mystery and romance, and I never felt that one outshined the other. I think they were really well balanced which can definitely be a tricky thing to do!
This was a great summer read. Can’t wait to see what the author writes next!🩷
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m a sucker for some good character art, and when I came across Pavel’s post about the re-release of this novel, I knew this was a book I had to read. And wow just wow. Despite being in a reading slump, I picked up this book, knowing it was promising, and it blew that reading slump away! This novel was everything I needed and more. I love me a good mystery book, and with a side of romance! Ah amazing. Pavel, props to the great job of ensuring that the romance elements didn’t over power the mystery storyline.
This novel carried the typical small town summer tropes but showcased the darker side of what it’s like when you’re too busy having fun, leaving yourself open to the person stalking you. Thomas POV was amazing, and I loved that we came back to him from time to time to get his perspective on the case, and of course Kingsley. The mystery kept me on the edge of my seat and I had no idea where it was going throughout my entire read. I loved how the reveal played out, and that we the reader found out when the main characters did rather than being clued in earlier in the novel.
Only minor compliant, which I can’t even call it that, is that the bonus chapters at the end of the book felt like they could have been included earlier on throughout the book. We could have had Lizzie’s POV sooner, even right after the reveal to through us back in time, and some of the other chapters also didn’t spark interest with me. As much as it was interesting to see the beginning parts to where our characters met, since I had already finished the novel, I didn’t care for the jump back in time to see their meeting.
The reveal also didn’t make full sense to me. I didn’t really understand how it all came together and why it went down the way it did. After I finished the novel, I talked it out and was only left with more questions. I definitely think the big reveal and the police aspect could have been explained more to give us more motivation behind what happened. And with the anonymous POV, I feel like more could have been revealed / explained instead of it feeling like there’re is another person in on the entire crime (which could be possible).
Thank you to Hanga E. Pavel and BookFunnel for this E-ARC.