Summer’s End

Kristy Brown

Synopsis: Summer wakes up in the hospital, alone, with severe burns and no memory of how she got them, or of her life before the apparent fire. After leaving the hospital, she tries to continue on with some kind of normal life with her friends Persia and Coral by her side. Though soon, Summer starts questioning whether or not her friends can truly be trusted.

Alex has been trained his whole life to fulfill a prophesy. He must kill the girl known only to him as “The Light”. But once he finds her, he is instantly drawn to her in a way he can’t understand. If he is supposed to kill her, why does he have an overwhelming urge to protect her?

Rating: PG-15 Some scenes may be too intense for younger teens.

Sensitivity Warning: Attempted rape/date rape

This one is going on my list of best surprises for the year! I absolutely love when I start reading a book feeling like I don’t really know what to expect, and end up really enjoying the book.

Summer’s End is the first book in a trilogy, so there is A LOT of story set up in it. The great thing though, it isn’t a slow build. The pacing is on point, and the way it is laid out is done (extremely well) in such a way that we get the background information we need without slowing down the story. I really didn’t realize it was part of a trilogy until I finished the book on a cliff hanger and was left dying to know what happens next.

The story is told from the perspective of both Summer and Alex, which mostly, I enjoyed. There were a couple of times it seemed mildly redundant, but the majority of the time, it was a nice change to see the scene from different perspectives. Especially given that Alex has been trained to see her as evil, it was particularly intriguing to see him wrestle with what he has been taught and what his intuition tells him.

The hardest part about reviewing a book that is one part of a trilogy, is that it feels like writing about a book after only reading the first several chapters. There’s so much more still to read! I look forward to being able to read the other two books, and writing about the whole series as one!

Summer’s End is a fast paced, exciting, fantasy novel that keeps you anxious to see what happens next! If you enjoy light fantasy, be sure to add this one to your list! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!