I meant to read this one over the summer for a light summery book but never got to it during all my summer madness! However, it was a little fitting that I read it as summer was ending, right?

My Thoughts:

This was a really cute summery book! Olivia had her summer plans turned upside down when she breaks up with her boyfriend and her summer job doesn’t pan out. She gets a new job at the River Depot where she meets Aiden — baseball superstar who just unexpectedly quit the team at the end of the school year. Unknown to everyone at school, Aiden is having vision issues preventing him from playing. Thrown together, both Olivia and Aiden realize they enjoy each other’s company and Olivia decides to take a chance and use the summer to see just where fate takes her.

I loved Aiden. He is such a good guy and full of excitement for art and life. And he shares the things he loves with Olivia and I loved how he takes her out of her normal comfort zone. He’s a genuine person who is pretty much an open book and in contrast, Olivia keeps a lot of her thoughts and feelings to herself. It was a little frustrating especially as I found myself firmly on Aiden’s side, ha.

I thought that the storyline about Olivia’s mom could’ve been explored further. It was a big issue and a huge part in how Olivia views life and yet, it seemed to get resolved rather quickly and easily. I think I just expected a bit more conversation between her and her mom about their past and what their future would look like but it really didn’t play a huge part in the overall plot.

In Short…

A quick, cute story that is great to pick up over the summer or even outside the season like I did! Aiden will definitely make you smile and their dates are so adorable.

Based on the premise this book sounded great. I liked the idea of it but the story didn't work for me. The beginning had a great set up. It was interesting but the pacing felt slow so it felt like things weren't happening for a while but at the same time, the problems that happened never really felt like problems because they got resolved so quickly. I liked the main characters and I liked how they started to rely on each other. I liked the representation. I think this book a nice summer read for teens.

I thought the beginning was a little slow and probably enjoyed Love Songs & Other Lies more, but thought the chemistry of WHEN SUMMER ENDS between Olivia and Aidan is really cute and worth waiting around for.

Loved this sweet, summer romance! Aiden and Olivia's story is the perfect beach read! They have the teen romance you'll wish you had. Such a fun book :)

When Summer Ends is a sweet young adult romance.

Olivia's life plans are upended when she's told she has to move before her senior year. To make things worse, her boyfriend, who's family she is a large part of, breaks up with her. Oh, and she didn't get the job she wanted.

Soon she finds herself working alongside her ex's mysterious teammate.

Their story is a touching coming of age story.

The author wonderfully illustrates that love can be idealized, and one might not be aware of this until meeting someone else.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

So, I am super behind with my reading and reviewing so almost 6 months after publication I am just now getting to this title -- whoops. I read Jessica Pennington's first novel when it came out and I really liked it. There is something about summer YA romances that just make me so happy, and this book is no exception.

Olivia is expecting the best summer ever until she learns that her aunt who she lives with is moving across the country for her new job, meaning Olivia is going to have to move as well -- right before senior year. Add on to this her long-term boyfriend dumping her and losing her dream summer job and her summer has quickly turned awful.

Aiden, the love interest, meanwhile is also having a rough go of things -- after getting hit in the face by a line drive he decided to quit the baseball team with no explanation to his teammates or coaches all because he is losing his vision.

The two end up working together and sparks fly, both learn about themselves and of course there are romantic roadblocks to their burgeoning relationship.

This was another enjoyable fast read by Jessica Pennington. She has such a way with writing fun, realistic characters.

The duel perspectives added an extra element to the story that I really enjoyed and hadn’t fully expected. By having this duel perspective, we learned a little more about Aiden and Olivia that I felt we wouldn’t have learned if it was from just one or the other.

Jessica brought in some nice representation for the visually impaired. I know little about those with visual impairments and it was interesting to get a glimpse into one type.

Overall, I really loved this story. It was a fun summer read that had you wondering what you would do if you were at that age and your plans just fell through or your life was upended. There are many things in this book that I loved that I didn’t talk about here – mainly because of spoilers! I was invested in Olivia and Aiden – I wanted a happy ending for them, both together and apart.

Oh, I really enjoyed this? Definitely on the quieter end of the YA spectrum, and I really wish we had seen so much more of the heroine and mother's relationship, but overall, I enjoyed its lazy wade through summer and beginning of school (though not necessarily realistic) jolt of optimism.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed and ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. *
3.5 stars

This book is sweet, cute, and perfect for summer. Since heat tends to kill my brain cells, anything easy to read and understand are good summer books for me, and this one fit the bill. Unfortunately, I also never felt really invested into the book.

I did like the main characters for the most part. They are thrown into a whirlwind of change and are trying to figure out what that will mean, while also trying to figure out who they are. Add to that their building attraction to each other and there is definitely some drama. Yet, none of the drama really seemed huge or drastic because it was overcome well. There is one that I thought would be a huge issue and it annoyed me that it wasn't brought up because hiding things from someone you are in a relationship with annoys the heck out of me.

With Olivia's mom coming back into the picture too, I thought there would be some drama or more scenes about their reconciliation or... something, but it was just... there were a few interactions, but nothing I was expecting, I suppose.

I would recommend this to someone needing a beach read or something easy and not too emotional-- a cute romance and some good coming of age scenes.

Told from dual first-person perspectives, When Summer Ends follows the lives of high school star pitcher Aiden, who is secretly dealing with a vision impairment, and aspiring journalist Olivia, who did not get the summer newspaper internship she was hoping for and is nursing her first heartbreak. Securing a job at his family vacation boat rental store on Lake Michigan, Olivia begins to heal as she and Aiden work side by side and begin an innocent flirtation. Then her absentee mother arrives in town, just as her custodial aunt tells her they are moving to Arizona for her senior year. Aiden, who quit the baseball team at the end of their junior year without any explanation, confides in Olivia that he is losing his vision, which puts an end to his pitching aspirations. He now is focusing on his passion for art, but his high school teammates, including Olivia's ex, who are unaware of his diagnosis, won't stop pestering him about rejoining the team. Olivia and Aiden decide to live summer by chance, using coin flips and rock, paper, scissors to make important decisions. They begin to fall in love as they each explore new possibilities, including a life together. These two sympathetic characters will keep readers engaged and rooting for them until the very last page.

(4.5 stars)

"why did we have to meet the summer before I moved away?"

Through the story we follow Olivia and Aedin - two teenagers struggling with a lot of things, just wanting to let loose and enjoy their summer.

The characters felt really relatable and as the book progressed I ended up falling completely in love with them! I really shipped them together and anticipated what would happen next.
I loved how I was waiting for them to make a move and to finally get to together.

The characters are the most essential component of the book for me and they can make it or break it and I am glad to say that in this book, they made it a 1000x better!
The relationships amongst the characters were also complex but they could have been developed more- especially between Olivia and her mom - but they came together nicely and felt very realistic.

The writing was overall amazing as well! It sucked you in and I was unable to get up and do anything while I was reading this novel! It felt as if the words were flowing and I was enraptured by it all.

The plot was interesting as well. It felt a little cliché at first but then it dived into a new direction which made it much better.

The suspense of how it was all going to end was always hanging above our heads and the fact that there was a definite deadline for everything made the book so much more interesting! 

Overall, it turned into something I did not expect and I am really glad I read this book. The 'art adventures' that I went on with this book are something I will always remember. This book was exactly what I needed to get out of a slump.
It was a cute, fluffy, fast read.

Other plus points for this book are:
Slight visual disability representation
Minor LGBTQIA+ community representation

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Pennington’s Love Songs & Other Lies last year, but I enjoyed her sophomore novel, When Summer Ends so much more!
Even though conceptually it’s a book I’m less attracted to when compared with LS&OL, I actually swooned a lot more during Olivia and Aiden’s story.
It’s a low-stakes, fun & romantic read good for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson—the romantic nature of Dessen’s work and the summer atmosphere of Matson’s.
When Summer Ends has ALL the summer romance swoons!
The atmosphere and summer setting were definitely one of my favorite parts of this.
While I was meh in Love Songs & Other Lies about the setting, I absolutely adored this small, tourist town and summery story! Not only does this open up possibilities for so many fun scenes, like canoeing and interesting outdoors activities (as you can tell, I’m not very outdoorsy), but it also adds to that atmosphere!
Teens can act a lot differently in the summer, and I think the atmosphere really helped Pennington establish this in the story—especially with Olivia’s move looming ahead at the end of summer.
From canoeing to camping out to working in a tourist-y area, I definitely thought the worldbuilding was really top notch for this contemporary, and it made it a sweet and lighthearted read!
It’s a fun sort of read that’s great for relaxing.
I felt so peaceful when reading this book.
It wasn’t just that I knew there would be a happily ever after (because, romance!), but also because the summer mood made it a little less stressful (I am less stressed in the summer) and the romance isn’t super high stakes.
No one’s going to die or anything, and I just really needed this sort of gentle read that was more of a cozy summer read than a high-stakes romance.
So, if you’re in the mood for something with lower stakes and not as much stress, I’d definitely recommend you pick When Summer Ends up!
I wanted a little more angst.
This may sound contradictory, given the fact that I just said that I liked the low stakes, but I guess what I mean by “I want more angst” is that I wanted more of the characters ruminating on these things. Not necessarily that the storyline is changed, but I wanted to get further into Aiden and Olivia’s heads.
I feel like we didn’t really get to know them, and I wanted more from their sort of internal narrative. I wanted more of that relationship/dating induced anxiety, the “will he/won’t he?”, that sort of stuff. And although this definitely happened in places where it needed it, I wanted more from this.
I wanted to hear more from Aiden and Olivia’s heads, and I think this is something I wish could have been expanded more on in When Summer Ends.
Overall, When Summer Ends was a light read, good for romance fans!
In the end, I had a positive reading experience and found When Summer Ends to be a relaxing read, spurring on my senioritis with its tales of summer love.
I’d recommend if you’re looking for something light, fluffy, and with low stakes to let you just sit back, relax, and enjoy.

This is such a good summer read! I was awwing and ohing so many times through the story. I usually don't like POV changes, but these were done really well! I also really love that loss of vision was included. Just a while back I read a book where a character was deaf and I realised, when you have romance books, especially summer reads like this one, characters are usually perfect. Otherwise the story gets too 'heavy' , but this wasn't the case at all. I just really love this book.

I got an advanced e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review. Thanks, NetGalley!

This is your typical young-adult-summer-romance story, with a few differences in it that makes it stand out from other typical stories of this genre. The male lead, Aiden, quits the baseball team at the beginning of summer due to him slowly losing his vision (which only his family knows about), and slowly starts a relationship with his ex-catcher's ex-girlfriend, Olivia, who starts working at the River Depot store after failing to score an internship at a lake magazine, "Lake Lights".

Being that this is the first book by the author that I've read, I didn't know what to expect. Although there is a splatter of cuss words, I still found this book realistic and enjoyable. Olivia's realization of her true feelings of her relationship with Zander (her ex) didn't feel rushed or slow, but as if it happened in real time.

I do like that there was an epilogue at the end that revealed what happened after the summer. It felt like a nice little wrap up to the story.

This is one worth reading for fans of young adult summer reads.

I got an advanced e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review. Thanks, NetGalley!

This is your typical young-adult-summer-romance story, with a few differences in it that makes it stand out from other typical stories of this genre. The male lead, Aiden, quits the baseball team at the beginning of summer due to him slowly losing his vision (which only his family knows about), and slowly starts a relationship with his ex-catcher's ex-girlfriend, Olivia, who starts working at the River Depot store after failing to score an internship at a lake magazine, "Lake Lights".

Being that this is the first book by the author that I've read, I didn't know what to expect. Although there is a splatter of cuss words, I still found this book realistic and enjoyable. Olivia's realization of her true feelings of her relationship with Zander (her ex) didn't feel rushed or slow, but as if it happened in real time.

I do like that there was an epilogue at the end that revealed what happened after the summer. It felt like a nice little wrap up to the story.

This is one worth reading for fans of young adult summer reads.

I would definately like to thank netgally for this wonderful book. This was a very good young adult book that I have read in a long time. It has it all. A sweet hero , a heartfelt heroine, a absorbing plot, great friendship. In short I enjoyed it very much. The love story between the two main leads is so absorbing and slow burn that I was rooting for these two the whole time. Loved the book. Loved every line, every character, every moment that I spent on reading it. Basically I devoured it in one go. I am very thankful that I got to read this.

Sports? Check.
Romance? Check.

I love a good contemporary, and Jessica has worked for me twice now. I love these characters and their relationship. It's always fun to read a book about a summer romance that has to end for some reason or other. These make the best (IMO) because that limited amount of time makes the thrill, passion, and overall intensity all the more exciting.

I'm so glad this didn't go into the territory I was expecting (blindness). That would've really ruined a lot for me.

While I enjoyed this, I still think I liked Love Songs & Other Lies a bit more. I do look forward to her next story though!

When Summer Ends was a feel good story with a lot of ups and down similar to the likes of Sarah Dessen and Colleen Hoover.

The story followed Aiden and Olivia as their two life journeys crossed and brought about a summer of finding themselves, recovering from losses of different kinds, and having a good time. While it did have that summer feel good vibe to it that I so love in many of the Teen Fiction books I read, When Summer Ends also brought a lot of emotions and real life situations that teenagers find themselves in.

I felt like we got to witness the characters growing as individuals as we read about their journey and I found myself smiling or groaning at different points when I just knew something was going to throw things off kilter. This always makes for good reading and author Jessica Pennington did not disappoint. Olivia was relatable and likable. Aiden was that untouchable boy in high school that suddenly surprises you because he’s just like any other boy, but maybe with some outstanding looks. I loved the emotion level that was just under the surface of every scene. You could feel what they were feeling and it brought a lot to the story.

I’m a huge fan of Sarah Dessen as an author and Jessica Pennington writes similar to her, but has her own style that I love. This book is perfect for laying on the beach and soaking up her words.

I really enjoyed this book! If you are a Sarah Dessen or Kasie West you will too! Olivia and Aiden are a super cute couple. I loved the dynamic between Olivia and her Aunt Sarah too. This is a great read for a tween who really likes romance this is the perfect book for you!

Aiden, his school’s star baseball pitcher until life throws him a curveball in the form of vision loss, abruptly quits the team without explanation. Over the summer, he works at River Depot, his family’s outdoor adventure business and devotes his time and energy to finding an art form that inspires him. Olivia, who lives with the aunt who has raised her after her mother left to “find herself”, is dumped by her lifelong friend-turned-boyfriend Zander, loses a great job writing for a local newspaper when they are forced to sell the business, and finds out that she’ll be moving to Arizona at the end of the summer for her aunt’s new job. Desperate to salvage what she can of the summer, she begins work at River Depot and vows to focus on her writing.

Although Zander and Aiden’s were teammates, he and Olivia have to dispel misconceptions and acknowledge the break-up before they can begin to build a romantic attachment. As trust builds, Aiden reveals his vision loss and Olivia her family issues. However, she doesn’t tell him about her impending move. When the truth comes out, will Aiden’s sense of betrayal destroy their relationship?

There’s much to love in this character-driven coming-of-age romance. Aiden is the perfect boyfriend and their relationship is adorable. Pennington’s choice of Lake Michigan as the beautiful backdrop for their love story is brilliant and their visit to the Grand Rapids ArtPrize festival serves as the perfect inspirational vehicle for Aiden’s large-scale projects. The dual points of view give the reader a more complete picture of their relationship. She also introduces Aiden’s gay cousin Ellis while avoiding the stereotypical “gay best friend” trope.

However, there are some minor flaws that bear addressing. Problems that seem monumental are too easily resolved, such as Olivia’s renewed relationship with her mother and Aiden’s vision loss that is never fully-explained. When Olivia’s boyfriend Zander breaks up with her, she doesn’t seem very heartbroken. It also seems problematic to leave fate to a coin toss, which is cute only the first time.

Overall, it’s a perfect quick summer read with an charming romance and a refreshing lack of teen angst. Give this to fans of Sarah Dessen, Kasie West and Huntley Fitzpatrick


I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Tor Teen through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.