Every Summer After

I had a feeling when I first saw the cover for this, I was going to love it. I wasn’t prepared for just how much! I think I left a piece of my heart on every page!

Breathtaking, emotional, vulnerable, tender, intense, beautiful, funny and oh so REAL - those are just some of the words I’d use to describe this stunning debut novel from Carley Fortune, and even then I can’t do it justice. I felt every moment of this book. I smiled, I laughed, my heart raced, sometimes it truly hurt, but at every single moment I was experiencing this book as if I was there, and it’s such a rare book that takes me to that place.

Percy (Persephone) Fraser and Sam Florek meet when they’re 13-years old and her family buys a summer lake cottage in Barry’s Bay next to the one he lives in year-round with his mom, Sue, and older brother, Charlie. They become best friends, spending summers and holidays together each year until Percy returns to Toronto for school. Her independence and wit complement Sam’s intelligence and sensitivity, and together they bond over her writing and love of horror movies, swimming, working together at Sue’s restaurant, and their ritual “three updates” they offer one another every time they talk after an absence. For six summers their friendship evolves and deepens until their future looks clear … until something happens and it isn’t. Now, Percy, who’s returned to Barry’s Bay 12-years after last seeing Sam, wonders if she’s destroyed that future forever.

This is a story about love, friendship and all the messiness that comes with it. Because it switches back and forth between the past and present, and a large chunk of the book is retelling the events of those six summers as teenagers, you might wonder if it reads YA. It doesn’t, even though there’s a coming of age element. It’s refreshingly mature, and I ADORED Percy and Sam, both as teens and as adults. Their friendship was so utterly charming, and I wanted all the good things for them both! The past timeline captures the curiosity, confusion and hunger of being young and seeing friendship become something more, and the present one explores what happens when love has to find its way back. I’ll give fair warning that the story doesn’t hold back on the ‘relational’ details, so you might be blushing your way through parts!

If you love a character-rich, emotionally evocative, BEAUTIFULLY written story that explores what love feels like, both good and bad, this is one you won’t want to miss! It will definitely be in my all-time favorites, and there would have to be something truly stellar to surpass it as my favorite book for this year!

★★★★★ (5 glowing, heart-quivering stars) ❤

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group, NetGalley, and author Carley Fortune for this ARC. My opinions have been given freely and honestly. This will be published May 10, 2022.