The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry: Book Review

I never heard anything about this book prior to reading it. What caught me the most was simply the title and cover of it. This book is The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry.

This review will not be a summary of the story line. It will touch base on certain points of the story that I found intriguing or had more questions too.

*Please do NOT click below if you do not want to read any spoilers*

First off, I have to say the title is misleading because technically, the main characters, Kate and Aiden, met while Kate was still in school, so not exactly 'summer' time.

Aside from that I will now talk about my thoughts on the book.

I do appreciate when authors give both points of views in a story especially when there are two protagonists. It is always nice to hear the guy side of a budding relationship when you usually only get the female version of it especially when it comes to young adult/ teen romances. I found that I was more intrigued to get a glimpse into Aiden's mind more so than Kate.

I won't go much into details of the plot line but below are a couple key elements that really draw my attention.

Kate and her diabetes

Kate's character was really annoying, in my opinion, when she wouldn't take her diabetes seriously and it became even more frustrating when she wouldn't and didn't tell Aiden. It seems unfair to Aiden, especially when they become so close and intimate with each other, yet her ex, Shelton, is still there with her at school and helps her shoot insulin even when they're not together. She gets hints from her older sister and her best friend (who happens to be Aiden's cousin) that she should tell him about her diabetes, but she still cowards from it. It becomes even more unfair when she reaches her low and crashes and Aiden is almost helpless as he tries to help her and just about loses her mind. It is really selfish of her and the many chances in the story for her to tell him, she doesn't! Maybe its what the author uses to prolong the suspense but I really wished it wasn't that dragged out. It usually does take a dramatic event for someone to finally come out and spit the truth out, but in her case, I wish it wasn't as prolonged and the story was used to maybe tell more of Aiden's backstory.

Aiden

I really liked Aiden's character and I really wanted to know more about his backstory from being in the army and having his arm blown off. I wanted to see more into that life with his old soldier friends along with more depth into his ordeal and his feelings towards Pilot's wife. From his dreams and reactions, you can somewhat guess that he suffers from PTSD, and though it may be difficult to get into that mindset for a character, I wanted to delve deeper into his world. Such an experience is very traumatic and I wanted the severity of it be more present than the severity of diabetes (which don't get me wrong, is also very serious and especially at such a young age), but I feel like people don't get to read so much about war veterans especially at such a young age.

Kate and Aiden together

I like Kate and Aiden together and I like how their relationship started out. Kate having on filter on her mouth made it more real for Aiden and I know he appreciated her not trying to pretend that something isn't there. He's the typical good looking older guy that is over the high school drama but not the high school girl and I love that in a romace story.

I kind of wished the first time Kate and Aiden had sex would be a little more intimate or at least show more emotion, though it is a typical mindset of a young girl to think the guy she is to lose her virginiy to expects experience whether he knows it or not. I do like how Aiden was upset that she didn't tell him because I could that his character was confused and frustrated by her not telling him. It is almost like when she doesn't tell him about her diabetes until it is almost too late. I know Kate is a teenage girl who doesn't want to be different or stand out or have people feel sorry for her but I feel like she was more selfish in her actions than what she thinks she is doing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the progression of the relationship between Aiden and Kate. It isn't exactly a light hearted love story but it isn't so deep where it is overwhelming to read. I ended up reading this book over the span of a couple of days because I wanted to know more about the characters.