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chronicallybookish 's review for:
Meet Me at the Lake
by Carley Fortune
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
<i>Quick Stats</i>
<b>Age Rating: 18+</b>
<i>Spice Level: 2/5</i>
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
<i>Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>
This book is basically Every Summer After in a different font. Big city girl returns to her lakefront haunt and is face to face with a guy she’s hasn’t seen in 10 years, and has been heartbroken over that entire time, and the book also deals with grief and loss of a mother, and like Every Summer After, this book takes place in alternating chapters between the past and now. Plus, it has all the angsty longing and vibes of a second chance romance, even if I’m not sure it technically counts as one.
That said, I liked Every Summer After, and I liked this book, too. I think that if you liked Fortune’s debut, you’ll like this one. If you didn’t like Fortune’s debut, you probably won’t like this one.
The writing in this book is engaging, absorbing. I was drawn into Fern’s emotions, her grief over her mother, her angst and confusion and heartbreak surrounding Will. Thinking back on it, I’m not sure Fern had much of a personality. I find myself unable to imagine her as a fully fleshed out person, which is an issue I had with Percy as well, however I never struggled to connect with her on an emotional level. Fern was going through it, but I don’t think there was much to her as a character outside of those specific emotions, and while that didn’t take away from my reading experience, I think it will effect how much the book sticks with me as time goes on. Fortune’s books are perpetually compared to Emily Henry’s books, and I agree with that statement, but Henry’s characters feel real to me in a way that Fortune’s don’t, and I think that’s why, despite having read them around the same time, Emily Henry’s books have stuck with me more than Every Summer After, and why I feel like Happy Place will have more of a lasting impact on me than Meet Me at the Lake.
Despite falling a little short of the comparison to Emily Henry (and let’s be honest, when has anyone actually lived up to that comparison?) Meet Me at the Lake was a fun, yet emotional, read. It’s one that I highly recommend. I know many people are looking forward to its release, and I don’t think they’ll be disappointed by it. I look forward to Carley Fortune’s next book, though I hope she branches out a little. I think she’s immensely talented, and I want to see what else she can tackle.
<b>Age Rating: 18+</b>
<i>Spice Level: 2/5</i>
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
<i>Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>
This book is basically Every Summer After in a different font. Big city girl returns to her lakefront haunt and is face to face with a guy she’s hasn’t seen in 10 years, and has been heartbroken over that entire time, and the book also deals with grief and loss of a mother, and like Every Summer After, this book takes place in alternating chapters between the past and now. Plus, it has all the angsty longing and vibes of a second chance romance, even if I’m not sure it technically counts as one.
That said, I liked Every Summer After, and I liked this book, too. I think that if you liked Fortune’s debut, you’ll like this one. If you didn’t like Fortune’s debut, you probably won’t like this one.
The writing in this book is engaging, absorbing. I was drawn into Fern’s emotions, her grief over her mother, her angst and confusion and heartbreak surrounding Will. Thinking back on it, I’m not sure Fern had much of a personality. I find myself unable to imagine her as a fully fleshed out person, which is an issue I had with Percy as well, however I never struggled to connect with her on an emotional level. Fern was going through it, but I don’t think there was much to her as a character outside of those specific emotions, and while that didn’t take away from my reading experience, I think it will effect how much the book sticks with me as time goes on. Fortune’s books are perpetually compared to Emily Henry’s books, and I agree with that statement, but Henry’s characters feel real to me in a way that Fortune’s don’t, and I think that’s why, despite having read them around the same time, Emily Henry’s books have stuck with me more than Every Summer After, and why I feel like Happy Place will have more of a lasting impact on me than Meet Me at the Lake.
Despite falling a little short of the comparison to Emily Henry (and let’s be honest, when has anyone actually lived up to that comparison?) Meet Me at the Lake was a fun, yet emotional, read. It’s one that I highly recommend. I know many people are looking forward to its release, and I don’t think they’ll be disappointed by it. I look forward to Carley Fortune’s next book, though I hope she branches out a little. I think she’s immensely talented, and I want to see what else she can tackle.