A Review for The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

Posted by Donna
Release Date: March 1st, 2014 
Finished Date: November 8th, 2013

Publishers: Albert Whitman & Company
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Source: For Review

Format: eARC
Pages: 256

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

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?

The Review: 3.5 flowers! 

The Summer I Found You follows Kate, a seventeen-year-old girl who has recently discovered she has type-1 diabetes and who has just been dumped by her boyfriend and Aidan, Kate’s best friend’s cousin, who just came back from Afghanistan after losing his arm on a patrol one night. Both Kate and Aidan feel disconnected from everyone, their lives are spiralling in directions they never wanted and it’s quiet hard for both of them to move on. That is, until they meet each other and for some reason they find peace with one another, that they’ve not been able to find with anyone else. But how do they plan a future when both their futures are tainted with pain – or is their hope for them after all? 

This is the first book I’ve read by Jolene Perry where she hasn't co-authored a book. I liked her work then, and I like her work even more now, so I’ll be definitely be keeping an eye out for more of her work. The Summer I Found You is an enjoyable contemporary romance story,  which deals with serious life issues. I got a slight hint from the synopsis that it was a story that was going to play with your emotions and it did. Not only was it a tad emotional, but I liked that Joelle Perry wrote a story about issues that are playing such a big part of people's lives nowadays. I'm a firm believer that there should be more books that bring people awareness things like diabetes, and I believe that Jolene did a good job with her story.

The characters have quite a journey because they have so much to overcome in their young lives – and for being 17 and 19, I believe they handled everything as well as could be expected. It wasn’t easy, there was hard times and good times, but in the end, they started making the right steps to make their lives easier. I admired them by the end for being so brave. I liked both Kate and Aidan - there was nothing not to like about them, I enjoyed their story, I enjoyed watching them grow as characters and I enjoyed their relationship, however I didn't love them...but this didn't make me enjoy the story any less.

In all, I did enjoy The Summer I Found You, I don't think it's a book that will rock your world, but I do think it's a good story that is worth a read.