Every Summer After

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars

I. DEVOURED. THIS. BOOK.

The friends-to-lovers, second chance romance hit just right. I appreciated how REAL it was; relationships and life in general are messy. I guessed the catastrophic conflict pretty early on, it was predictable, but it didn't take away from the feelings evoked while reading this book.

For an author's debut, Carley did a fantastic job.

Now, after finishing a book and jotting down a rough review I like to go and look at reviews left by others to see how my perceptions and feelings compare to those of the masses. I try not to let reviews sway my opinion but I am curious about what others think; especially when I really enjoy a book like I did with Every Summer After.

So... Every Summer After has an excellent overall rating but when you get in to the reviews (particularly on Goodreads) I was not prepared for the onslaught of "rip-off" comments. I haven't read the books that some say have been infringed upon so I cannot validate these claims one way or another. I will at some point read the books in question and make my own conclusions.

A cute teenage story and the summer love we all want to live

At first I thought this would be a 4 star read because it seemed to be taking longer than necessary to find out what happened. What changed my opinion is I didn’t see it coming when it finally came out.

I just finished Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, and overall, I liked it—but didn’t totally love it. The setting was definitely my favorite part. The little lake town of Barry’s Bay felt so real and nostalgic—it really pulled me into the story and made me wish I had spent my own summers in a place like that. I also really enjoyed the flashbacks and the slow build of Percy and Sam’s relationship as teenagers. Their chemistry felt natural, and those early love scenes were sweet and believable. That said, some parts of the book didn’t quite land for me. The storyline was a bit predictable, and I found myself getting frustrated with the characters—especially when the big reveal finally came. I get what the author was going for with the emotional payoff, but it didn’t quite hit as hard as I wanted it to. There were moments where the back-and-forth between timelines started to feel repetitive too. Still, I enjoyed the overall vibe of the book. It was an easy, atmospheric read—great for summer. If you like second-chance romances or books with a bit of The Summer I Turned Pretty energy, it’s worth picking up. I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.

2.75⭐️ rounded to 3
-might change or add more later