“Jolene Perry’s THE SUMMER I FOUND YOU, about a teenage girl trying to cope with her new diagnosis of type one diabetes and a teenage male veteran who is learning how to embrace his new life after losing an arm, who come together by using each other as an escape, only to discover through love and struggle that your life is what you make of it.”
WILL BE AVAILABLE: March 1, 2014
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The publisher gave me a copy of this book to read and review (from NetGalley). This has, in no way, altered my opinion of the book and what is written below is a 100% honest review.
I really, really, really wanted to like this book. It hurts how much I wanted to fall in love with this story and plot line. I expected so much more than what I received. I’ll be honest, I did not finish this book. I made it to page 140 (out of 257).
This story follows a young female diabetic’s relationship with a handicapped young man. It had so much potential to be sweet and profound and that is what really gets me frustrated because it fell short… by a long-shot.
I understand that this is an ARC and, therefore, this novel is not perfect and is bound to have grammatical errors and what-not, but this novel contained so many grammatical errors that I wondered if anyone had proof-read the novel at all! The main male character’s name is spelled two different ways throughout the novel (Aiden or Aidan?) and although the title says “The Summer I Found You”, it is actually set in the Spring. Those errors may seem like trivial details, but I think they’re really important! As a reader, I was expecting a summer beach read because of the title. Very misleading.
There were many weirdly-phrased sentences, such as:
“The excitement of my idea just inverted itself into my chest. And not in a good way.”
I don’t know what that means? How does something invert itself into your chest? Hmm… Puzzling.
Also, the two main love interests (Kate and Aiden/Aidan) seem to find each other as distractions, rather than actual human beings. Granted: Kate and Aiden/Aidan are both going through dark times in their lives, but rather than confronting their problems, they use each other to distract themselves from the real problems in their lives and have the gall to call it “love”. For example:
“This is exactly what I need right now. She’s the perfect distraction. Perfect. Kate- the feel of her, the smell of her, it pretty much blocks out everything else.”
I find that troubling. This could have been such a sweet love story! It wasn’t all bad, honestly. I did like the character development and enjoyed Kate’s tendency to talk without thinking. I could see how Aiden/Aidan could view that as refreshing. Both characters were likable and I enjoyed how the narrators switched each chapter. I was able to get a full image of their characters and brokenness in that manner!
There was so much potential here! SO MUCH POTENTIAL! Ugh, I’m dying over here!
I’d give it a 2/5… 😦
"I Think I'm Obsessed" 