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clairebartholomew549 's review for:

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
5.0
emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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
This is so, so swoon-worthy. A perfect summer romance that I tore through on the grayest rainiest New York Monday lol. I haven't read the earlier book in this world, Every Summer After, but that is definitely not necessary for enjoying this book.

This book made me so nostalgic for teenage summers, and I absolutely loved it. Carley's writing is so visceral - I really felt like I was on the lake every day. I loved how Alice got to experience a free and extremely fun summer after a horrible breakup and just feeling like she'd lost her spark, and it was really heartwarming and touching to see her rediscover herself. The chemistry between Charlie and Alice is immediate and intense, and their banter is top-notch. I feel like it's really hard to capture what it feels like to fall in love, and Carley does it so well. This book made me laugh, cry, and overall feel so touched and moved, which is everything I want in a romance. And it was so much fun! Run don't walk to this one.

The only thing that felt off to me and sort of needlessly cliche was Charlie on their first hookup pulling so far back from having sex with Alice. The logic made sense, and it wasn't as if it was inconsistent with his clear goal to hold himself back with her and stop them from getting deeply involved, but there was something about the way it happened that felt almost silly? Hard to explain, and not a huge deal (obviously since I gave this book five stars lol). But it felt like a rare misstep in a book that was just firing on all cylinders.
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