ARC Review: The Summer I Found You

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

Published by Albert Whitman Teen

Format Reviewed: ebook

Publication Date: March 1st 2014

Genre: YA contemporary romance
Pages: 257

Reviewed by: Eugenia
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

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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.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was something easy to read, and a solid attempt at a YA romantic/contemporary novel that stands out from the rest. Although the characters and plot wasn't as developed as I had hoped it would be, this was still a satisfactory read.

Kate has Type 1 diabetes - something she doesn't really want to think about, as the thought of having to jab needles into herself and watch what she eats for the rest of her life isn't exactly ideal. Aidan only has one arm after an accident in his time with the army. Both characters are flawed but drawn to each other by their imperfections, leading to a connection that neither expected.

I liked how the author has done something somewhat unique here with the story and characters, and it was interesting to see how each one lived their lives with their health issues. However, in terms of how the characters went and how I found them, Kate seemed really whiny all the time and Aidan's could have been developed a lot more. Although yes, the characters did grow and mature by the end of the novel, for the rest I just couldn't really sympathise with them as much as I would have liked to (or was probably meant to). More background would have been better, and significant events in the plot apart from the secrets and melodrama would have made this novel a lot more successful for me personally as a reader.

Also, I generally don't really focus on the resolution/conclusion aspects of novels, but in this case I found it really rushed. The characters didn't really seem to have a deep-and-meaningful honest conversation about how to resolve each others issues, and the fact that Kate kept a secret for so long, only to have it forgiven and understood so quickly was strange.

*CONCLUSION* 

In conclusion, I was a little disappointed with this book. Although it had a promising start and remise, there wasn't enough significant development in the plot or characters for my liking.