Book review: One Perfect Summer

July 07, 2015

Book review: One Perfect Summer - Paige Toon

'Do you still love him?'
Every second of every minute of every hour of every day…

Alice is 18 and about to start university while Joe's life is seemingly going nowhere. A Dorset summer, a chance meeting, and the two of them fall into step as if they have known each other forever.

But their idyll is shattered, suddenly, unexpectedly. Alice heads off to Cambridge and slowly picks up the pieces of her broken heart. Joe is gone; she cannot find him. When she catches the attention of Lukas - gorgeous, gifted, rich boy Lukas - she is carried along by his charm, swept up in his ambitious plans for a future together.

Then Joe is there, once more, but out of reach in a way that Alice could never have imagined. Life has moved on, the divide between them is now so great. Surely it is far too late to relive those perfect summer days of long ago?

My opinion.

If I had only one word to describe One Perfect Summer, I would use the word intense. Everything from the chemistry and connection Joe and Alice share to the violence, grief and dramatic plot twists afterwards is incredibly intense.

This story and it's characters really get under your skin. You can't stop thinking about them and even though it might sound cliché, it is true: you won't be able to stop reading. You desperately want some sort of happy ending for these characters and Paige Toon makes sure that it's everything but predictable with lots of twists and complications thrown in.

One Perfect Summer is a wonderful, emotional and captivating read. Clear your calendar and start reading! 'Warning': you may want to book yourself a trip to Cambridge (again?) after Paige Toon's wonderful tales of the city. I know I want to!