sad book but was giving the summer I turned pretty vibes 💜

what I loved:
1. past and present story lines with a rich plot throughout
2. the vast differences between the families of Ellis and Easton were really compelling
3. Speaking of Ellis and Easton—I just loved their characters so much and their story of first loves just makes me feel so deeply for them.

honesty I have barely any words—I just think this is a truly spectacular debut and a perfect YA book. Really looking forward to reading more by the author.


thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I loved how honest this story felt in terms of character exploration and friendships in adolescence. This book definitely made me feel things in the best way.

The YA Every Summer After (this book came first, for the record) and that could either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your vibes

For me.... it's a very, very mid thing

This is the kind of YA that brings 2014 to mind. Like there's no substance, nothing to learn, just romantic drama. There's totally an audience for that and I'm not dissing anyone who likes to read it. I just prefer to have some kind of issue tackled in the YA I read. And yeah, like not every YA can tackle issues lol. I wouldn't expect them to. And I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to a kid who was looking for a romance!

I mean, the characters are Ellis and Easton lmao. You know there's going to be some kind of love drama just from that imo. We start the book in California, where Ellis had been sent to finish her senior year. For what, we don't know yet. But she's asked to come home for Easton's mom's birthday. Easton's mom, it becomes clear pretty fast, was like a mother figure to Ellis, and it also is clear that something major went down between Easton and Ellis and the two of them don't speak anymore.

Well Ellis goes home for the party, naturally, where Easton and his two brothers and their parents are. We get a mixture of flashbacks through Easton and Ellis's childhood together and present day drama as the two try to navigate each other while not really interacting.

The tension wasn't poorly done. I rather enjoyed the parts when they were hashing it out. The reveal of what the big mistake was was just so STUPID, though. Like they harp on it for the WHOLE book and it ended up being so... bland.

But, whatever, I feel like this is a good rec for folks looking for stuff similar to The Summer I Turned Pretty or like I said, Carley Fortune.

I'm not normally a fan of romance books, but I've seen Kristin Dwyer around bookstagram a bit and was excited to read her debut novel. The author's fun and unique personality displayed online drew me to this book and it did not disappoint. Our library will be purchasing this book for sure.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Teen for the eARC and the opportunity to review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I felt like this book was good. I enjoyed the writing, and liked that the book provided more of a background as to what happened to the two main characters in the past and how that impacts their current relationship.

I had the sneaking suspicion that I was going to wind up really enjoying this novel - and luckily, my instincts were correct! This well-written YA contemporary novel invites the readers to step into Ellis' life, to bear witness to her conflicted emotions in the present that are tied to complicated situations in her past, to fall in love with her and the Albreys (those brothers got me deep in my feels okay - we all know I'm a sucker for those types of families) and to really get to understand how everything fell together and apart. Dwyer elegantly uses her dual timeline narrative to heighten emotions, flesh out relationships and keep the reader hooked till the very end. And the end itself is so satisfying in terms of catharsis and wrapping up Ellis' tale. I definitely recommend picking up a copy to check out, and I'm so looking forward to Kristin Dwyer's next release!

Amazing. Absolutely loved it from beginning to end. A 5 Star read all the way through

*Thank you to the publisher for this eARC.

I loved this book! I can't wait to read another book from her. The romance and the feels were amazing.

Hello Again,

I am almost sure now that I will not be making my Goodreads goal for the year, but that is very okay! I set my goal really high and I have had a lot of changes in my personal life throughout this year, some of those allowing for a lot more reading time while others taking some away. Despite this analysis, I think I am still going to shoot for the stars next year, and maybe set my goal as the same thing or maybe slightly higher. But I am also still reading books this year, and today we are talking about Some Mistakes Were Made!

SPOIELRS AHEAD

Ellis has had a rough childhood but now she is graduating! For graduation she is invited to go home for a weekend to celebrate the birthday of the woman who is like her mother but isn’t. See Ellis, did not really live with her family much before she was forced to move with her aunt. Ellis very very reluctantly decides to go but this opens up a pandora’s box of feelings. Going means seeing Easton. Her lifelong love but things kind of went astray very badly and that’s why she was sent away. But in the time she has been gone Easton has moved on, he has changed and gotten himself together. Can Ellis really go back home? Can she face the people she loves the most after everything?

I listened to this entire book on Libby and I have to say it was so good! The complexity of Ellis’ life and relationships really pulled the reader in and the audiobook always did the characters and situations wonderfully. I felt so badly for Ellis and Easton and when we finally learned the whole story my heart broke for them. I also wanted to point out how beautiful and eye-catching this cover is. I am super glad I was able to pick this book up this month!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

This book was tough to read. I wanted to love it. There were moments when I did love it, when I returned to my teen self and the joy and heartbreak of first love as well as the struggles of growing up in a dysfunctional family. But most of the time, I wanted to shake the characters and throw the book across the room. The book came so close, but ultimately missed its mark. As someone who identifies so closely with Ellis, being just off the mark made the book exceptionally frustrating to read.

I read an ARC of this book.

Absolutely adore this book. Every single page tugs at the emotions. A stunning debut, and I look forward to more books from this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer.
A book about first love, family addiction, and finding who you are. A book that is perfect for high school students. Kristin Dwyer has created a strong main character within a novel that will make you feel all the feels.

Sadly I couldn’t get my head in the right frame of mind to read this book. I’ll have to set it aside for a later time.

You know when you're reading a good romance and you get to that point where everyone's hearts are breaking and you don't know if they're going to figure it out and you get that sinky desperate feeling in your heart? ( . . . it's one of my favorite things about reading romance . . .) Kristin Dwyer manages to maintain that feeling throughout the entirety of the book. It's so good and so impressive. And this is her first book!! I might not survive her next book . . .

Beyond keeping you on an emotional edge, this book does an amazing job at portraying the repercussions of poverty and parental neglect, and how difficult it is to break unhealthy cycles.

Found family; childhood BFF's to enemies to lovers; a full cast of well-developed characters; a teenage girl I rooted for whole-heartedly; a reference to my favorite K-drama; very realistic portrayals of emotional damage and healing processes; I loved everything about this book.

Content warnings: This does have a fair bit of language and open-door sexual content.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Teen for the arc of this book. I enjoyed reading about Ellis and Easton's relationship, and the coming of age story for Ellis.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Some Mistakes Were Made felt like an obsession gone right (?) book. Easton and Ellis can not be away from each other. Ellis' parents are both addicts so she does have addiction in her family, but instead of being addict to a substance, she is addicted to Easton. She will not let him be away from her. This book left me very unsettled and there seemed to be no real character growth.

Ellis is caught between two worlds: one where her dad is an addict and drug dealer and her mom is an addict and user who comes and goes with the wind and a world of wealth, love and comfort. Sandry was once in love with Ellis's dad, but sometimes, love is not enough to be with someone. So Sandry chooses another path, but when she sees Ellis struggling - she takes her in. And Ellis becomes a part of the Albreys: Sandry, Ben, Dixon, Tucker, Easton and Ellis become a cohesive unit. But Ellis always feels trapped between two worlds. And when the two worlds collide, she makes a major mistake: one which she is sent away to California with Tucker and her aunt to get some distance from the events that unfolded. But Ellis is haunted by her past home.

What I loved most:
The suspense that builds. You don't find out what this huge mistake is until the end-ish.
The brotherly nature between Tucker, Dixon and Easton.
The complicated nature between all the characters.
The resolution - it was a little too good to be true, but I still loved it.
The end - the last social media post and comments - wonderful!

It was beautifully painful, heartachingly sweet.

I did not expect my vast expression of emotion. It came as a shock.

The Taylor Swift reference is much appreciated though.

Will totally recommend to all fans of We Were Liars and books similar to this.

SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE was a fun and sad summer read. I became the characters and their emotions. The pace was just right, and the flashbacks were beautifully written. I loved the comp with Taylor Swift’s Cardigan - it definitely lived up to it! This was a painful joy to read, one that I know I’ll read again.