Review: The Summer I Found You

Title: The Summer I Found You
Author: Jolene Perry
Publishing House: Albert Whitman Teen
Publication Date: March 1, 2014

Add to Goodreads

All they have in common is that they're less than perfect. And all they're looking for is the perfect distraction.

Kate's dream boyfriend has just broken up with her and she's still reeling from her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Aidan planned on being a lifer in the army and went to Afghanistan straight out of high school. Now he's a disabled young veteran struggling to embrace his new life. When Kate and Aidan find each other neither one wants to get attached. But could they be right for each other after all?

My Thoughts

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an eARC copy of this novel! This review was actually written last December end already, but I kept on forgetting to post it due to my very busy schedule :( But here it is! (Finally, yay!)

When I first saw The Summer I Found You on Netgalley, I didn’t really pay much heed to it. Sure, the cover is pretty, but the synopsis wasn’t that interesting. I mean, a diabetic girl and a one-armed guy? And yet somehow I found myself giving the book a shot. It’s something unique, after all, and now that I’ve read it, I have no regrets. It sucked me in right at the beginning, and I had a hard time putting my phone down. The only reason I didn’t pull an all-nighter this time was because I was kind of sick and I didn’t want to make it worse. It served as an awesome year-ender for 2013!

I started off thinking this was just another novel about teen drama. For a main character we have Kate, a seventeen year-old dealing (or not really dealing at all) with type 1 diabetes. Her boyfriend broke up with her, her parents and friends are constantly worried about her, and she feels like her life is completely over. And then there’s Aiden, a veteran who’s lost an arm. There was a whole lot of melodramatic stuff, but even though I’ve never faced either situation (obviously), in some way, it all felt real to me. Kate’s denial, Aiden’s anger and frustration - it seemed like their emotions became my emotions as well. 

The characters’ strengths and weaknesses were well portrayed by author Jolene Perry. There was this understanding that not even the strongest people can escape moments of vulnerability. The character development was nicely done, and I just felt so connected to the characters, like I was living in their world. You know the writing’s good when a book can make you feel like that. Something else that added to how much I love this novel was the dual POV, because it was helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of the two main characters.

Some things were still a bit off in the book. First of all, I fail to understand why it’s titled The Summer I Found You when it happened during the school year, and although the cover is admittedly gorgeous, I don’t see how it has any connection to the book. Then there’s the issue with Aiden’s name. Is it Aiden or Aidan? It seemed to vary every few times, and it was kind of confusing. There were also quite some grammatical errors. 

Overall, despite the few negative areas I noticed, the story was still a moving one. It’s perfect for anyone who’s looking to read YA romances. It’s easy to read, and before you know it, it’ll pull you in like it did me!

My Rating