Book Review - When We Had Summer by Jennifer Castle

 

When We Had Summer by Jennifer Castle is about a group of friends dealing with the death of their friend.  Every summer, four friends, Danielle, her cousin Carly, and their friends Penny and Lainie, spend their summer together at the Jersey Shore in Ocean Park Heights. They call themselves “The Summer Sisters,” and together, they complete a bucket list each summer. Carly creates the list, and they all complete the fun and sometimes silly items together, and it’s the highlight of their summer.

However, this summer, everything is going to be different because last winter, unexpectedly, Carly passed away. The remaining Summer Sisters try to come to terms with her sudden passing and the Carly-shaped hole that she left in their lives. As they try to cope, life keeps throwing more unexpected obstacles their way that might threaten to split them up for good.

Danielle has been accepted into a prestigious summer music academy in New York City. She is excited to go but feels torn when she realizes that she will be living with Carly’s parents and sister for the summer. Penny feels that her family is coming undone at home, so she decides to get a new job to distract herself. She also meets a new guy, Dex, who seems to understand her and makes her feel less alone.  Lainie’s family is selling their family bakery and moving out of Ocean Park Heights. Ocean Park Heights was the only place she knew as home, and the plan was for her to inherit the bakery when she grew older.

As the Summer Sisters are each spending the summer apart, Danielle discovers a bucket list Carly had started to create for the summer. She decides to reach out to Penny and Lainie so they can work on it together. Danielle feels that this would be the lifeline that holds them together, even if it’s just for one final summer together.

The novel was an okay read. It felt longer than it needed to be at times, and reminded me of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” but this book wasn’t as fun. It took a bit of time for me to like the characters. While the book is geared towards young adults, I felt like the characters were a lot younger as they were acting very childish at times. Towards the end of the book, I did enjoy the characters a bit more, but not enough to read another sequel if there is one.