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abidavisf's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
If I thought that The Summer I Saved You was emotional, I had no idea what was coming. The Summer You Found Me ripped my heart out. Part of me regrets reading it, purely because of the intense surge of emotions I am feeling right now, but I know that, in the long term, this book wasn’t just heartbreaking and raw, it was healing.
Kate is the bravest character I may have ever read. Her perseverance in the face of such tragedy is unbelievable. I spent so much of the last two days reading this book sobbing, with grief but also with frustration that she was met, at times, with such misunderstanding and, frankly, disrespect. It was, of course, obvious that she and Beck were meant to be together and that he understood her better than anyone, but even he was so blind to her sometimes. Case in point:when Kate didn’t want to visit baby Jane. Of course she didn’t. To tell her she was being ridiculous and rude was disgraceful, and I won’t forgive it.
I can’t pretend to fully empathise with Kate. Our similarities are minimal. My experiences do not touch what Kate’s character went through. However, to have a character who is able to name the feelings that I struggle with was therapeutic. It made me feel seen. I’m grateful, even if my heart aches.
As with the other Summer books, I wish that we’d had a bit more of a look into the male main character’s life before the story begins. In some ways, I feel like I knew everything I needed to know about Beck from The Summer I Saved You. His epilogue gave me a look into his heart that his chapters struggled to, and I wish he’d been more open and dug down a bit more deeply to reveal some more of himself throughout the book.
I’ve mentioned it a bunch, but my heart really does hurt after reading this book. I think I’ll take a break before diving into the next book in the series but, regardless, I truly loved this story. Seeing Kate finally receive the love she deserves was so satisfying, and I hope we get glimpses of her happy and free as the series develops.
A downside of note is that, in The Summer I Saved You, Caleb took us to Hannah’s grave, where we found out her middle name is “Jane” and she was born on October 24th. That detail is different in this book (no middle name, and a different date). There were a few continuity errors that I noticed in this book, mostly with timelines, but this was the most noticeable for me. Perhaps this is only obvious to me because I finished Caleb’s book yesterday, but facts about someone as vital to the story as Hannah deserve to flow accurately from one book to the other.
If child loss is triggering for you, please approach this book with caution. I surprised myself with how much my heart hurts right now.
Kate is the bravest character I may have ever read. Her perseverance in the face of such tragedy is unbelievable. I spent so much of the last two days reading this book sobbing, with grief but also with frustration that she was met, at times, with such misunderstanding and, frankly, disrespect. It was, of course, obvious that she and Beck were meant to be together and that he understood her better than anyone, but even he was so blind to her sometimes. Case in point:
I can’t pretend to fully empathise with Kate. Our similarities are minimal. My experiences do not touch what Kate’s character went through. However, to have a character who is able to name the feelings that I struggle with was therapeutic. It made me feel seen. I’m grateful, even if my heart aches.
As with the other Summer books, I wish that we’d had a bit more of a look into the male main character’s life before the story begins. In some ways, I feel like I knew everything I needed to know about Beck from The Summer I Saved You. His epilogue gave me a look into his heart that his chapters struggled to, and I wish he’d been more open and dug down a bit more deeply to reveal some more of himself throughout the book.
I’ve mentioned it a bunch, but my heart really does hurt after reading this book. I think I’ll take a break before diving into the next book in the series but, regardless, I truly loved this story. Seeing Kate finally receive the love she deserves was so satisfying, and I hope we get glimpses of her happy and free as the series develops.
A downside of note is that, in The Summer I Saved You, Caleb took us to Hannah’s grave, where we found out her middle name is “Jane” and she was born on October 24th. That detail is different in this book (no middle name, and a different date). There were a few continuity errors that I noticed in this book, mostly with timelines, but this was the most noticeable for me. Perhaps this is only obvious to me because I finished Caleb’s book yesterday, but facts about someone as vital to the story as Hannah deserve to flow accurately from one book to the other.
If child loss is triggering for you, please approach this book with caution. I surprised myself with how much my heart hurts right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Classism
libraryofsarah's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THIS is what you call a character redemption!!!! Book 2 in this series walked so this book could run!
I’m simply wrecked by this book. My first good book cry in a while. I REALLY disliked Kate going into this and for most of this book. I was not going to be persuaded to change my mind and almost DNFd this because she was so so so so unlikeable. I’m so glad I stuck it out. What a comeback. I loved this book. And Beck and Kate together are 🔥🔥🔥
I’m simply wrecked by this book. My first good book cry in a while. I REALLY disliked Kate going into this and for most of this book. I was not going to be persuaded to change my mind and almost DNFd this because she was so so so so unlikeable. I’m so glad I stuck it out. What a comeback. I loved this book. And Beck and Kate together are 🔥🔥🔥
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
amberrose1995's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
hjb_128's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
under_covers_smut_lover's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Rating 4.25⭐️
Spice 3🌶
Tropes:
-Ex-Best Friend of Husband
-Forbidden
-Forced Proximity
-Emotional
-Angsty
-Dual POV
This book is between Becks and Kate. It says it can be read as a standalone, but I wouldn't recommend it. I've not read the other books, and I wish I would have. The other characters are part of this book as well as these characters are part of theirs. I got a bit lost, as well as wanting more that was probably part of the other books.
Kate had been missing for the past year. After losing her baby girl, she has been through a lot. Her trauma and grief are a lot, and you feel that through these pages. Very emotional between these two characters. Kate is back, though, after leaving her second time in rehab. She is back to get her husband. FYI, her husband Caleb was book 2. He's already found his HEA, and that was something I'd wish I'd read. She doesn't handle her grief well at all. She makes bad choices to deal with it. Kate needs to work on herself a lot, and she knows this, but still makes bad choices. Her vengeance to win her her husband back is part of herself she needs to work on. Kate has a lot of flaws, and she is a character you can't help but hate at times.
Kate doesn't have a lot of friends or people in her corner. I know how that feels, and it hurts. Enter Becks, her husband's ex-best friend. He let's Kate stay stay with him. He has secretly wanted Kate for years. There is a past between these two characters that I would have loved to read more about. Becks also is dealing with some crap. I wish there would have been more POV with Becks. This book is mainly told through Kate's POV. The push and pull between these two, along with the angst, had Kate questioning what she really wants in life. Becks makes Kate feel like she belongs. When she's with him, she doesn't feel all these bad things. They have always loved each other, but life got in the way. I wanted to see their past and felt like I was missing something.
The author did a great job writing this. She made this story so realistic. She wrote the flaws and grief beautifully. This book made me feel so many emotions. You could feel the vulnerability between these two characters. I have never felt so many emitting in 1 book before. Going from crying to hating, then loving , back to hating again. This book was a rollercoaster of feelings, and I was holding on for it. You could feel what Kate was going through. The need for her to work on herself, I could relate to that. The addiction she deals with, I've also been through. Maybe that's why I hated Kate so much at times. I could see myself in her a lot. Great job, Elizabeth O'Roark. You got me all in my life feelings. The spice in this book was great. This was a romantic book at its core. The spice to go along with that was written beautifully.
I would definitely recommend reading this book. Maybe just read the first few books before jumping into this one. Especially book 2, read that one before. I received this as an Advance Readers Copy, and this is my honest opinion.
Trigger Warnings ⚠️
- Addiction
- Death of a baby
-Abandoned by parents
Spice 3🌶
Tropes:
-Ex-Best Friend of Husband
-Forbidden
-Forced Proximity
-Emotional
-Angsty
-Dual POV
This book is between Becks and Kate. It says it can be read as a standalone, but I wouldn't recommend it. I've not read the other books, and I wish I would have. The other characters are part of this book as well as these characters are part of theirs. I got a bit lost, as well as wanting more that was probably part of the other books.
Kate had been missing for the past year. After losing her baby girl, she has been through a lot. Her trauma and grief are a lot, and you feel that through these pages. Very emotional between these two characters. Kate is back, though, after leaving her second time in rehab. She is back to get her husband. FYI, her husband Caleb was book 2. He's already found his HEA, and that was something I'd wish I'd read. She doesn't handle her grief well at all. She makes bad choices to deal with it. Kate needs to work on herself a lot, and she knows this, but still makes bad choices. Her vengeance to win her her husband back is part of herself she needs to work on. Kate has a lot of flaws, and she is a character you can't help but hate at times.
Kate doesn't have a lot of friends or people in her corner. I know how that feels, and it hurts. Enter Becks, her husband's ex-best friend. He let's Kate stay stay with him. He has secretly wanted Kate for years. There is a past between these two characters that I would have loved to read more about. Becks also is dealing with some crap. I wish there would have been more POV with Becks. This book is mainly told through Kate's POV. The push and pull between these two, along with the angst, had Kate questioning what she really wants in life. Becks makes Kate feel like she belongs. When she's with him, she doesn't feel all these bad things. They have always loved each other, but life got in the way. I wanted to see their past and felt like I was missing something.
The author did a great job writing this. She made this story so realistic. She wrote the flaws and grief beautifully. This book made me feel so many emotions. You could feel the vulnerability between these two characters. I have never felt so many emitting in 1 book before. Going from crying to hating, then loving , back to hating again. This book was a rollercoaster of feelings, and I was holding on for it. You could feel what Kate was going through. The need for her to work on herself, I could relate to that. The addiction she deals with, I've also been through. Maybe that's why I hated Kate so much at times. I could see myself in her a lot. Great job, Elizabeth O'Roark. You got me all in my life feelings. The spice in this book was great. This was a romantic book at its core. The spice to go along with that was written beautifully.
I would definitely recommend reading this book. Maybe just read the first few books before jumping into this one. Especially book 2, read that one before. I received this as an Advance Readers Copy, and this is my honest opinion.
Trigger Warnings ⚠️
- Addiction
- Death of a baby
-Abandoned by parents
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment
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