Book Review: Every Summer After

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune has been on my radar since last summer. I saw so many people reading and loving it last summer and I finally read it this summer!

The novel takes place over 17 years with chapters in present day and chapters in the past leading up to present day starting 17 years ago. Persephone, or Percy, is an only child to two academics in Toronto. When Percy is 13, her parents buy a cottage at a lake a few hours away from the city. There she meets Sam Florek, also 13, and his older brother Charles, who live next door year round. Percy and Sam hit it off immediately and become best friends and inseparable. They hang out every day, swimming in the lake, and talking about anything and everything. For the next years they spend every summer together and school breaks for holidays and when they become teenagers they work at Sam’s mom’s restaurant. We know from Percy’s present day chapters that her and Sam did eventually get together, but something happened twelve years ago that broke them up and they haven’t seen each other since. Percy gets a call late one night from Charlie to let her know that his mom passed away and she would’ve really wanted her to come to the funeral and Sam will probably need her. What happened all those years ago and what will happen when Percy and Sam see each other for the first time in 12 years?

I loved this book. It was emotional and heartbreaking, but so good. It reminded me a little of Love & Other Words (friends to lovers over years and years at a lake) and a little of A Love Letter to Whiskey (taking someone’s love for you for granted), but I still loved it. Both Percy and Sam made mistakes, but I could see the thought process/thinking/feelings of both of them and understand why they did what they did. I loved Percy and Sam so much and loved their friendship and love for each other. Also, kinda (and by kinda I mean definitely) want a book about Charlie!

Read this if you want a friends to lovers, second chance romance with some steam!

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