★★★★★ 4
Letdown after ESA & OGS but Still a Great Summer Read
Format: Hardcover
Highly anticipated after 2025's One Golden Summer sequel to Every Summer After because The Florek boys are everything. Loved the setting (Tofino sounds gorgeous), but the book was off balance. Long-suffering George was so thoughtful & obviously in love with his BFF Frankie. Other than shared history, I wondered why. She's supposed to be independent (as was Jo in her fave book Little Women), but she spends a lot of time sobbing, moping, resenting, & pushing everyone away. She's oblivious to George's obvious devotion even when he's traveling the world for work & firmly consigns him to the friend zone (but doesn't date anyone else beyond a device driven brief engagement to wildly unsuitable guy). At 30, she still thinks romance will kill their 22 yr friendship? Even their magical week in Tofino when they're together is unsettled by her reticence & constant disbelief they can be a couple. There are a lot of flashbacks to the besties at 8, 12, 16, 20, & last year that disrupt the flow & don't serve the story. Still, she writes beautiful sentences and has the ability to transport. It's a good book, just a 4 not a 5.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2026
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