What a great read! I really enjoyed Hale's storytelling and I look forward to more from this author.

I did not want to put this book down. I needed to find out who was killing animals in this small resort town near New York and who was after Olivia years after she had moved away and then come back to try to work through what had happened to her 5 years before. No one seems the same. Everyone seems to have changed over the years. There are many twists and turns throughout. I received a copy of this book from Wattpad books for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

This was a fun book! There are rarely really gripping YA thrillers. Olivia was actually a pretty likeable MC, which is rare for YA books, especially since I don't read the genre often. Knocked down a star because her mental health issues were unrealistically portrayed.

If you liked A Good Girl's Guide to Murder or I killed Zoe Spanos, check this out.

Five years after Oliva nearly drowns, she revisits her to her old town and friends with the hopes of facing her fears and healing. She grapples with her PTSD and navigates her relationships with her childhood friends. There’s also someone in the town who’s been killing and mutilating animals.

If you enjoy teen angst and overly dramatic plot lines, maybe you’ll like this book. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t what I was expecting.

The mental health portrayal is mediocre. I feel that some aspects of Olivia’s trauma and PTSD were handled well, but that other aspects were inaccurate and harmful. For example, Olivia relying on a boy to help her face her trauma is not a good idea. Also, Olivia’s hallucinations are much more similar to hallucinations as depicted in movies than the type of hallucinations people actually experience.

I didn’t find any of the characters to be particularly likable. Olivia is okay, but she doesn’t seem to have much of a personality beyond her PTSD and liking West. Keely isn’t a good friend at all and is very self-absorbed. Miles also isn’t a very good friend and puts Olivia in uncomfortable situations. West is decent but doesn’t have a lot of depth.

The first half of the book was promising, but there were just way too many unrealistic events and the mystery wasn’t very exciting. I can’t say I recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I loved this book. The atmosphere was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

I had never read a book by Taylor Hale before, but just from the description I knew I was going to like this book. I’m so glad The Summer I Drowned did not disappoint.

This story had a really unique storyline. While the main story followed Olivia and her coming back to her hometown to face a fear instilled in her years before from a tragic accident, there were so many layers to it. I love how Hale was able to incorporate in stories of friendship and how friends can stay the same even when people grow apart. This book talks a lot about PTSD, which is not something you read too often, especially when it comes to teenagers. I think Hale did a great job really getting that feeling of panic and paranoia and anxiety that Olivia was feeling to hit the reader. I felt for Olivia.

The story had me feeling creeped out, which is not easy to do as mystery and thrillers are my favorite genre. Olivia’s paranoia was my paranoia and I was suspect of every last person. What I will say is the side characters really added a good support to this story. Learning all of Olivia’s old childhood friends helped shape her as a character and fill in the back story of her as al little girl and her now. That dynamic really added something.

Overall I loved The Summer I Drowned. The story line was unique and not one I’d read before or even come close to. The story flowed smooth with little flashbacks to fill in gaps in the storyline and helped me understand the main character more. West was hands down my favorite. Hale really took advantage of that “creep factor” and gave us a gut punch of an ending. I didn’t see it coming. Such a great book. Highly recommended for all!

Whoa. This book was freaky. The mystery element was not my style but it ended okay. I don't think I'd read anything else in this storyline.

This story was well written and a good crossover genre which I enjoyed. I like the story line and it was easy to follow and quick to read. Enjoyed it a lot and will read more from this author.

The Summer I Drowned was a book about childhood friends and coming back to face your fears. Olivia leaves her hometown after she almost drowns and is traumatized and has PTSD. Five hears later she comes back to face her fear of the water and connect with friends. While staying with her friend Keely and her police chief dad, things start to happen and she isn't sure if they are real or imagined.

Her best friend from childhood, Miles, the boy everyone thought she would marry, is so excited to have her back. He still has feelings for her, but Olivia is all about his brother West. West is the black sheep of the family, but has always had a secret crush on Olivia, even as kids. It was a bit of a love triangle and things get a little heated, but it is clear who Olivia wants to be with.

I expected more of a thriller and the writing was pretty choppy, but I suspect it might have something to do with being on Wattpad. The story had a lot of potential, and I didn't see the twist coming at the end, but it still fell a little flat for me. I would be interested in reading more from this author later because I think there is definitely something there.

2.5 STARS

TRIGGER WARNING
ptsd, death, drowning; emotional and physical abuse; violence to animals; paranoia, hallucinations

This was a psychological thriller about a teen returning to her coastal hometown that she left when she was young after suffering a traumatic fall. 

I wasn't surprised when I saw that this was a Wattpad book, because that's how it read. The drama was way over the top—very entertaining but so unbelievable. Just from the Author's Note, the amount of trigger warnings would make more sense for an entire series, not just a single book. There were so many false endings it was making my head spin. The author just wanted to through everything she could at the reader. 

I did like the PTSD side of the story, through the main character's nightmares and hallucinations. She was coming back home to try and work past her fears and return to one of her favorite hobbies: swimming. She thought she would have the love and support of her two childhood best friends, except they were total assholes. All the characters were just awful. For once I actually liked the protagonist over the side characters. 

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Summer I Drowned by Taylor Hale is a YA thriller that tells the story of Olivia Cathart. Five years ago she was goaded into performing a stunt that almost resulted in her death by drowning , and ever since she has been forced to live with the consequences, crippling anxiety and devastating flashbacks due to PTSD. Determined not to let this get the best of her, Olivia decides to return to the small town she grew up in and face her fears, while also reuniting with the friends she left behind , but nothing is quite the same as she remembers and while she has been trapped by her fears, her former friends have moved on. As a series of strange events causes Olive to wonder who she can trust she begins to fear for her life , or at least her sanity.
This is a pretty well paced and plotted thriller with plenty of twists to engage the reader., though it is pretty easy to predict the final outcome. There is also a romance element but it is well incorporated into the story and adds a nice balance to the menace and tension. I thought the author did a very good job of portraying anxiety and PTSD and the effects they have on a person., and for me this was the aspect of the book I liked most. In terms of negatives, the dialogue was a little rough in places and the ending felt a little weak but overall it was a solid debut.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The Summer I Drowned follows Olivia as she returns back to her hometown for a summer. She has not been back since 5 years prior when she almost lost her life in a drowning accident. She is excited to return to her friends but they are not the same as she remembers them. In fact, nothing in the town seems the same. This book is a fast paced, psychological thriller that can be read in 1-2 sittings. I enjoyed the plot and did not know what would happen next. Is something sinister happening in Caldwell Beach or is Olivia's mind playing tricks on her? I would give this book 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4). Thank you to Netgalley, Wattpad Books, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and Wattpads or the ARC in exchange or my honest review.

This book was jut O.K for me, I almost felt like the author wasn't sure what type of book she wanted it to be. Was it a thriller? Was it a mystery? Was it a romance? However, I will say the writing was good and I liked the characters a lot. I just wish the author picked a genre and stuck to it.

Review for 'The Summer I Drowned ' by Taylor Hale

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for WattPad books and Penguin publishers.

Preorder this book ready for release on the 23rd July.

This is the first book that I have read by this author. I would happily read more books by this author.

I always read the reviews of books just before I'm about to read them just to gage other people's interests. I have now decided this is a bad idea. After I read a few negative reviews on this book I was actually not looking forward to reading it, although the cover looked good and the blurb interesting. Well, lesson learned, don't read too much into other people's reviews as I actually really enjoyed reading this.

I enjoyed this book from the start which sucked me in right until the ending that I was very happy with, even though a few others mentioned it going downhill at 50%...nope, if anything it picked up a bit more.

This book was very well written and the characters were strong and realistic. The descriptions were good and it made me feel like I was 'in' the storyline, along with the first person narrative.

THE book was filled with suspense, secrets, romance and action and I would recommend to any fans of these. The book is advertised for young adults but I feel adults would also enjoy it, as a 33 year old I did anyway.

The only faults I could find were the fact that I wasn't surprised to find out what/who was causing the goings on in town and I also found one of the incidents a bit over the top. I have written it like thayt as not to give too much away but hopefully readers will know what I mean after the fact. For these reasons I am rating the book 4/5 stars rather than 5/5.

Trigger subjects including, but not limited to: death, drowning, PTSD, suicidal ideation, paranoia, mental illness, emotionally and physically abusive relationships, and violence toward animals.

I would recommend this book to fans of young adult fiction, thrillers, suspense, mystery, romance thrillers and crime.

336 pages

£1.99 to purchase on kindle. I think this is a bargain for this book.

Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon.Com and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

Feel free to add me on Goodreads for more reviews

#TheSummerIDrowned #TaylorHale #WattPadBooks #NetGalley #BookReview
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Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free e-arc!

I am really very glad I picked this book up! At first I thought it might be a little too "high school drama" for me to enjoy (although I enjoy YA novels I am definitely no longer in high school) and I didn't think I would end up invested in the plot line. The more I read, however, the more I got sucked in. There were some twists that I really wasn't expecting, but still felt realistic. Although the ending was, in hindsight, hinted at through out the story it was still strong. I found myself really connecting with Olivia, which I didn't think was going to happen when I started reading.

Overall, this is a good YA thriller that is definitely worth picking up!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary eARC of The Summer I Drowned by Taylor Hale in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this opportunity.

The Summer I Drowned by Taylor Hale is a young adult mystery thriller.  It is about a teenage girl named Olivia who is attempting to deal with her post-traumatic stress disorder from when she nearly drowned as a young teen.  Five years later she has returned to the place where it all happens.  I gave The Summer I Drowned three stars on GoodReads.  The Summer I Drowned releases on July 7th.

Here's the summary from GoodReads:

The past always resurfaces...
Five years after almost drowning, Olivia Cathart returns home to Caldwell Beach determined to face her fears and take some risks―not just by swimming, but by opening her heart. Hoping to rekindle her friendships, she’s excited about a carefree summer with her best friends Keely and Miles. But life in the sleepy town has changed, and no one and nothing is as it seems.
When a series of startling crimes threaten Olivia’s fragile state, she is plunged into a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Her only solace from the chaos is West, Miles’s disowned and ruggedly handsome brother, but even he can’t answer the question on everyone’s minds―is Olivia really in danger or is it simply all in her head?

I definitely felt that the plot of this story as described in the blurb.  It seemed like an interesting premise and I liked the idea of the small town vibes with eerie and mysterious happenings.  However, I ended up being disappointed with how things played out in the long run.  However, because overall I had fun and wanted to keep reading, I ended up giving it three stars.

The one really good thing about this book was that it kept me guessing.  I didn't know what was happening when it came to the mystery of the story.  I don't mean this in a way that it was vague, but in that the mystery was intriguing enough that I was absorbing the details and trying to figure out the 'whodunnit' but left me enough mystery that I didn't figure it out immediately.  This was probably my favourite part of the story, along with the fact that Olivia was occasionally portrayed as an unreliable narrator because of her PTSD.  I always like when there is a little bit of a reason to doubt a main character.

However, I wasn't really a big fan of how the mystery concluded.  It was a logical ending, but it felt like a bit of a disappointment.  I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance.  I liked the idea of the match between Olivia and West, but I didn't like how violent he was with others, including his siblings, when Olivia expressed discomfort with it.  I also felt like some of the things that Olivia fixated on, such as why didn't West accept her follow request on instagram, felt overly juvenile.  I do recognize that they are teenage characters so it's possibly a realistic reaction but just not from my adult perspective.

The story was interesting, but on the whole there was just something about it that wasn't really for me.  I'm sure some people will love this, so I'm not saying don't read it, but it just wasn't my particular cup of tea.  So if anything about this book intrigues you, it might be worth checking out when the book publishes on July 7th.

Thank you again to the publishers and NetGalley for this opportunity.

Wow, wow, wow, what an amazing, unputdownable thrill ride! This book gripped me from beginning to end! I thought it was well written, intense, and shocking! Will definitely be looking for more by this author! A quick, intense ride, I won’t soon forget! Highly, highly recommend!
Will make sure ti buzz it up on the different platforms! Use low amazon reviewer number as well!

Title: The Summer I Drowned (A Wattpad Novel)
Author: Taylor Hale
Publisher: Wattpad Books
ISBN: 9781989365182 Titel anhand dieser ISBN in Citavi-Projekt übernehmen
Edition: E-Book
Publication date: 07/07/2020

Content:
Olivia Cathart returns home to Caldwell Beach determined to face her fears and take some risks—not just by swimming, but by opening her heart. Five years before she almost drowned there, what is the reason she is afraid of water. Hoping to rekindle her friendships of her childhood friends, she’s excited about a carefree summer with her best friends Keely and Miles. But what Olivia does not know is that life has changed there and nothing is really like it seems.
Suddenly a series of startling crimes threaten Olivia’s fragile state and then she is plunged into a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Her only solace from the whole chaos is West, Miles’s disowned and handsome brother, but even he cannot answer the question on everyone’s minds—is Olivia in danger or is it simply all in her head?

Opinion:
In my opinion the book was from the beginning till the end thrilling. The writing style is just perfect, I read the whole book in only two days. Till the very end I was struggling to identify the real monster in the book, because almost everyone could have been it. They all had their secrets and a motive in some kind of way. Also, how the author handled the episodes and the mental fragility of Olivia was quite stunning. I really loved that because I felt so real.

Conclusion:
All in all, this is a really, really good book. I would even say it is actually perfect. People who are into thrilling adventures will love it, so I definitely recomment it!

you can see how much this book has grown if you’ve read the first version on wattpad. i’m a full supporter of that app, and if you search well, you can find real gems, and this is one of them!

Olivia jumps off a cliff, into the waters and almost drowns. Now, suffering from PTSD, decides to return to her hometown to face her fears head on and make amends with the past. However, upon returning home, things with her friends have not been smooth and there's a mysterious bandit in town skinning animals and leaving them in public places.

Oh, I had a hard time rating this. I appreciate Olivia's determination to face her fears and I hate that she experiences such peer pressure from her "friends". The experiences Olivia has and her encounters with her friends are written very real. There is drama in the book but I would expect that reading a Young Adult book so although I didn't enjoy it, it just made the characters flawed and real. I think what kept this from being a four star read for me was the mystery aspect. It seemed more like something in the background that's also occurring but not really the main focus. For me, I had guessed who the culprit was and I didn't really get anything extra out of the reveal. The notion of Olivia struggling to discern what's real and what's not was a little trippy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.