Review: The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

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

Publishes in US: March 1st 2014 by Albert Whitman Teen
Genre: YA Contemp
Source: Netgalley
Series? No.

Buy it: Amazon IndieBound  Book Depository

Author stalk away: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002038196677
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JoleneBPerry
Website: http://www.jolenebperry.com/
Blog: http://www.jolenesbeenwriting.blogspot.com/
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4944599.Jolene_B_Perry

 

    I wanted to read The Summer I Found you for several reasons. First, I am drawn to anything about teenage illness and the diabetes caught my attention. Second, I respect vets and those who serve or have served in the military and I love to read about them, so this romance with broken but amazing sounding Aidan sounded like something that I would enjoy his journey to healing and moving on from a life that he never thought would be over so soon. Third, I have read a few of Jolene Perry's other books and enjoyed so given the perfect storm above, it was a no brainer. 

    I really connected with Kate. I think she was described as just this side of weird and that sounds just like me. She ends up blurting out blunt things, sarcastic, awkward things and I do the same. She handles it with more grace than I do, and she found an admirer in Aidan because most people act like the missing arm is a non-issue, and Kate, first time meeting brought it up, asked him questions and even made harmless jokes. And that made him feel more like a person than he has in a long time. But he has other battles--he has nightmares that plague him and he has no idea what he wants for his future moving on. 

    Kate and Aidan had some pretty obvious and immediate chemistry, but there were some concerns with him being so over high school and she is hiding her diabetes because ironically she enjoys that someone doesn't know and doesn't make a big deal out of it. Her parents smother her as she's trying to learn to deal with the disease and she is not the most responsible with it, but I think its because she isn't accepting that this is something that will forever shape her life and interfere even if in minor things. 

    But as Kate and Aidan become friends, they both realize things about themselves and their illness/disability. And they also find a safe outlet, an ease of opening up and the freedom found in comfortable silences, just being with someone. 

    The issues of PTSD are so important to me, because my mom suffers so I really appreciated seeing it dealt with in ya lit. Aidan's struggles are real and hard and she writes that very well. 

    So--as far as title and cover, while lovely, I think that they are somewhat misleading. Because this isn't really the light romance that you would think on first impression. Don't get me wrong, the synopsis does let you know, and I loved what I found inside, just a disclaimer/worth mentioning thing. 

    In the end, Kate's hiding def caught up with her, and I am glad everything she learned through it and that her and Aidan figured it out. 

Bottom Line: Sweet romance with characters I felt for.

My question to you, my lovely readers:
Do you know anyone missing a limb?