A review by proudtobeabookaholic
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

When Persephone "Percy" Fraser is 13 her parents buy a cottage by the lake in Barry's Bay, a four-hour drive from their home in Toronto. Almost immidiately she meets the Florek brothers who live next door with their mom. Sam and Percy instantly become best friends and during five summers they're inseparable. Their friendship slowly turns into something more - until Percy makes the biggest mistake of her life. Twelve years later she's back in Barry's Bay for the first time since that last summer, and she's both anxious and terrified of meeting Sam again. 

This is both a best friends-to-lovers and a second chance romance; two of my favorite tropes! It reminds me of "Love and Other Words" by Christina Lauren - which I loved - but although there are similarities I think that "Every Summer After" holds its own merit. Sam is truly a dream guy, caring and thoughtful, and knows from early on that he wants to become a doctor. Percy is also a wonderful character, but her low self esteem makes her misinterpret things and she makes some bad decisions. Pretty common teenager behaviour, but I still wish I could give her some self-confidence.

" 'I loved you', he whispers. 
'I know', I say.
Hurt eyes move across my face. 'You broke my heart.'
'I know that, too.' "

The timeline changes between now and the past summers, which makes you want to read "just one more chapter". At the same time I enjoyed being in Percy's and Sam's company so much that I didn't want to book to end! However, we only get Percy's POV, and I would have liked to get at least some chapters from Sam's point of view. 

It was fun to read the author's note in the end, and see how much of her own life she put into the story. There's a lot of nostalgia, and I'm impressed that this is Fortune's debut. Perfect summer reading! 
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