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A review by sl_val15
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
2.0
2.75 out of 5 stars.
I couldn't bring myself to round up this book to 3 stars, even if I tried.
Nothing is more heartbreaking for a bookworm when their most anticipated book for the year ends up being a huge and an utter disappointment!
Attention! This review is going to be rant-y and will contain spoilers:
This was actually my second attempt reading this book, I couldn't get into it the first time and now I'm probably thinking that my brain knew I wasn't going to end up liking it and it was her way of warning me. Then a while later (as it is obvious) I finished the book, but it probably finished me and I don't mean this in a good way.
When I first find out about this book and it was pitched to be a combination between November 9 meets Love and Other Words, meets The Summer I Turned Pretty including childhood friends trope that made me drop everything at that moment and add this book immediately into my tbr-list. I mean, it couldn't get any better than that, right... Right?
Speaking about the books that feels similar to ESA; For 'November 9': I kind of get why some people find minor similarities with these two books, but for me it didn't feel that way, except the jumping of the timelines (between the past and the present) and maybe the ''big secret getting revealed'' at the end.
For 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' and 'Love and Other Words' it felt very similar, maybe a little too similar, it almost felt like plagiarism. Literally, they all felt the same, plot-wise, character-wise and you name it. The ones who have read TSITP and LaOW know what I'm talking about!
Look I have nothing against the author and I guess good for her that her debut novel is getting all the hype.
One of the main problems I had with this book was the main character Percy; she was so unlikable from the beginning till the very end, she had zero character development and I did not like her, at all!
What I'm going to sayis going to may be extremely controversial, but that stupid cheating trope; one can literally smell if from miles afar. I knew from the first chapters that the so-called twist was going to be one of them cheating and the worst part is that this time to not actually make it exactly like 'Love and Other Words' and I guess not to make it ''stereotypical'' it was Percy who cheated on Sam. It was very frustrating for me, especially since this book is written by a female author. I get that why she did that, to reverse the roles *rolls eyes* and that it very much happens in real life as well. But the way it was handled was terrible, she was forgiven way too quickly and she didn't even feel that bad about it and her ''regretting'' about it or trying to apologize felt very surface level for me.
The second most awful character in this book for me was Charlie aka the older brother of Sam. Him trying to hit on Percy at her most vulnerable moment, taking advantage from her emotional state and trash talking about his younger brother (who btw deserves a much better Soulmate and a big brother) was a major red flag for me. I still didn't like him even when the book ended, even when he became an adult.
That entire cheating trope sucked so bad and ruined the entire book for me. I didn't care that this book felt very similar to other famous romance novels, it was actually that awful and unnecessary cheating that destroyed it for me.
It's one thing when the cheater is the male character, however it's a whole other thing when the woman does it especially if the book is written by a woman. I'm not saying that women are angels and men aren't, but it just felt wrong in so many ways.
If I were being petty and let my petty thoughts overrule my emotions I would have find this book much better if Percy and Charlie actually ended up together instead of her ending up with Sam.
And another unpopular opinion of mine is that both Sam and Delilah (Percy's former best friend) deserved so much better!
I also would've been very mad if the author didn't make Percy and Delilah reconcile in the epilogue, even though we get to read about that for a very brief moment, that actually made me not give this book less than 2 stars.
Now that I'm onto the epilogue, it was my favorite chapter in the book and no it wasn't because the book was ending therefore I didn't get to feel rage for longer. It was actually because it gave the same vibes as Cath Crowley's 'Words in Deep Blue', which happens to be one of my favorite books of all time!
Overall, I may be ranting a little too much about this book and it's because I was ready to give this book 5 stars and not 2, but I genuinely looked forward for the next chapters and it was hard to put down, even though I predicted what the big twist was going to play out and again.
That being said I don't dislike the author in any way for the stupid trope that she included in this book and to tell the truth, I'm looking forward to her next book and I really really really hope it won't include the cheating trope in any form.
Thank you for reading my rant. *smiles politely*
I couldn't bring myself to round up this book to 3 stars, even if I tried.
Nothing is more heartbreaking for a bookworm when their most anticipated book for the year ends up being a huge and an utter disappointment!
Attention! This review is going to be rant-y and will contain spoilers:
This was actually my second attempt reading this book, I couldn't get into it the first time and now I'm probably thinking that my brain knew I wasn't going to end up liking it and it was her way of warning me. Then a while later (as it is obvious) I finished the book, but it probably finished me and I don't mean this in a good way.
When I first find out about this book and it was pitched to be a combination between November 9 meets Love and Other Words, meets The Summer I Turned Pretty including childhood friends trope that made me drop everything at that moment and add this book immediately into my tbr-list. I mean, it couldn't get any better than that, right... Right?
Speaking about the books that feels similar to ESA; For 'November 9': I kind of get why some people find minor similarities with these two books, but for me it didn't feel that way, except the jumping of the timelines (between the past and the present) and maybe the ''big secret getting revealed'' at the end.
For 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' and 'Love and Other Words' it felt very similar, maybe a little too similar, it almost felt like plagiarism. Literally, they all felt the same, plot-wise, character-wise and you name it. The ones who have read TSITP and LaOW know what I'm talking about!
Look I have nothing against the author and I guess good for her that her debut novel is getting all the hype.
One of the main problems I had with this book was the main character Percy; she was so unlikable from the beginning till the very end, she had zero character development and I did not like her, at all!
What I'm going to say
The second most awful character in this book for me was Charlie aka the older brother of Sam. Him trying to hit on Percy at her most vulnerable moment, taking advantage from her emotional state and trash talking about his younger brother (who btw deserves a much better Soulmate and a big brother) was a major red flag for me. I still didn't like him even when the book ended, even when he became an adult.
That entire cheating trope sucked so bad and ruined the entire book for me. I didn't care that this book felt very similar to other famous romance novels, it was actually that awful and unnecessary cheating that destroyed it for me.
It's one thing when the cheater is the male character, however it's a whole other thing when the woman does it especially if the book is written by a woman. I'm not saying that women are angels and men aren't, but it just felt wrong in so many ways.
If I were being petty and let my petty thoughts overrule my emotions I would have find this book much better if Percy and Charlie actually ended up together instead of her ending up with Sam.
And another unpopular opinion of mine is that both Sam and Delilah (Percy's former best friend) deserved so much better!
I also would've been very mad if the author didn't make Percy and Delilah reconcile in the epilogue, even though we get to read about that for a very brief moment, that actually made me not give this book less than 2 stars.
Now that I'm onto the epilogue, it was my favorite chapter in the book and no it wasn't because the book was ending therefore I didn't get to feel rage for longer. It was actually because it gave the same vibes as Cath Crowley's 'Words in Deep Blue', which happens to be one of my favorite books of all time!
Overall, I may be ranting a little too much about this book and it's because I was ready to give this book 5 stars and not 2, but I genuinely looked forward for the next chapters and it was hard to put down, even though I predicted what the big twist was going to play out and again.
That being said I don't dislike the author in any way for the stupid trope that she included in this book and to tell the truth, I'm looking forward to her next book and I really really really hope it won't include the cheating trope in any form.
Thank you for reading my rant. *smiles politely*