Book Review: The Summer of Second Chances

K.L. Walther writes some of my favorite YA romcoms and The Summer of Second Chances has joined the ranks.

The novel follows Olivia Lupo and Connor McCallister. Olivia lives in New Jersey with her dad – Chris, stepmother – Erica, and younger twin brother and sister – Maisie and Bryce. She is very close with her grandmother, Annie, who is unfortunately suffering from dementia and living in an assisted living facility in Pennsylvania. She visits her multiple times a week and sometimes her grandmother remembers her and sometimes she has no idea who she is. This is very difficult for Olivia and is the reason she decided to take a gap year before starting college so she could spend more time with her grandmother before it’s too late. As happy as she is that she decided to spend more time with Annie, it’s also made her feel stuck and behind. Her dad and stepmom are supportive of her decision but also feel like she needs to live her life and needs a break from always being with Annie, which is why she is being “forced” to go to Erica’s family reunion at her parents’ place in Martha’s Vineyard for 3 weeks. At first she doesn’t want to go and be away from Annie that long, but when she comes across photos of Annie as a young woman in Martha’s Vineyard she decides to go and retrace Annie’s steps. Annie is unable to tell her about her time in Martha’s Vineyard and now Olivia is determined to figure out why she was there and what she did there. She will take photos in all the same spots for a photo album for Annie. While in Martha’s Vineyard she befriends Connor, who is staying at her step-grandparents’ place too as he’s been hired to watch her younger twin step-cousins for the summer while their parents are away dealing with a family issue. Olivia and Connor immediately hit it off and actually have a history although it takes a little bit for Olivia to remember it.

As Olivia and Connor retrace Annie’s footsteps and unravel the mystery of her trip to Martha’s Vineyard they grow closer and Olivia grows and learns more about herself and Annie.

I loved this book. It made me wish I was spending the summer in Martha’s Vineyard! I loved the storyline and all the characters. Olivia was a little much sometimes with her attitude and snark especially aimed at Erica, but I think it also made it realistic because it’s how many teenage girls act at one point or another especially with everything Olivia is going through.

Olivia and Connor were perfect together and I loved the invisible string between them. And bonus – beloved characters from other K.L. Walther books are in this one! Wit and Meredith (and the Fox family and The Farm) make appearances because the Foxes and the Carmichaels are old friends in Martha’s Vineyard. And obviously then Nick and Charlie Carmichael (and by extention Sage and Lucas) are in the book because they are two of Erica’s nephews! The book takes place a while after The Summer of Broken Rules and Maybe Meant to Be because Wit, Meredith, Nick, Charlie, Sage, and Lucas are all in their mid 20s now. I loved Olivia and Connor and since these other characters I love were revisited in this book, I’m hopefuly that we’ll see them again in the future!

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