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A review by bookishboujeeandbossbabe
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was genuinely not expecting to love this book as much as I did. Nick Earls' After Summer has always been a book that reminds me of my summers in Cape May - immediately taking me back to my time there...the smells and sounds. Fortune's book did the same for me- immediately I felt transported back to cool sand and the sounds of the water lapping against the shoreline. While Every Summer After takes place on a lake - the feelings were the same.
I enjoyed the back and forth between the present and the past - seeing Sam and Percy's story through the years; and how, even though they both attempted to put the other in the past...their connection was too much to ignore. The infidelity didn't strike me as it has other readers - they were teenagers, both trying to figure out a serious relationship while still being kids on the brink of huge changes. While it broke their relationship at the time - it was a mistake and a learning opportunity for them both. Neither was perfect, neither handled anything the best way...but what more can you expect from 17 year olds? We all sucked at 17.
The way they found their way back to each other, and the ending felt natural and believable. I thought it was the perfect way to wrap up a romance- it didn't erase the messy parts of two people coming together and re-learning each other. It didn't wrap everything up in a neat bow - it felt like you were reading a true story about two people. Which, quite honestly, is my favorite type of story- the believable ones.
I enjoyed the back and forth between the present and the past - seeing Sam and Percy's story through the years; and how, even though they both attempted to put the other in the past...their connection was too much to ignore. The infidelity didn't strike me as it has other readers - they were teenagers, both trying to figure out a serious relationship while still being kids on the brink of huge changes. While it broke their relationship at the time - it was a mistake and a learning opportunity for them both. Neither was perfect, neither handled anything the best way...but what more can you expect from 17 year olds? We all sucked at 17.
The way they found their way back to each other, and the ending felt natural and believable. I thought it was the perfect way to wrap up a romance- it didn't erase the messy parts of two people coming together and re-learning each other. It didn't wrap everything up in a neat bow - it felt like you were reading a true story about two people. Which, quite honestly, is my favorite type of story- the believable ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders