Anything by Jennifer Hartmann is an instant buy for me, even though I know I should be terrified for my heart. As expected, this book put my heart in a blender. Just when I thought it couldn't possibly have more gut wrenching twists, it does.

I seriously felt so many emotions while reading this book. It took me back to days of playing on the playground with my best friend and him giving me dandelions. Then it took me to high school where I was the weirdo kid with the orange backpack. I forgot a lot of those memories, but this instantly transported me back. I had the biggest smile on my face as I read the happy parts.. followed bye ugly crying at some of the emotional parts. I wish I could bottle up the happy feelings of nostalgia and the love these two share for one another.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

WOW!!!

Okay this seems like it will be a sweet little story about young love, but it is so much more!!!!!!

Max and Ella are childhood friends and neighbors. Ella moves away, but finds herself back there 10 years later, where they reconnect. This is a story filled with trauma, tragedy, love, and heartbreak. There were several plot twists that I didn’t see coming!

Jennifer Hartmann books leave you thinking about them for days after you’ve finished reading them. They are so powerful and well written that i really get emotional reading them! She is an auto buy author for me and I can’t wait to read what is next from her!



📘: Catch The Sun by Jennifer Hartmann
🗓️: July 16, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Hartmann, and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley, Amazon, and Goodreads.

I’ve read a few Jennifer Hartman books, so I knew going in to expect a heartbreaking storyline. This did not disappoint. I love Ella (Sunny). I loved Max. Watching them both overcome trauma, then endure even more trauma together was rough. I can easily say I didn’t suspect what happened was about to happen, and I love being surprised.

I didn’t cry, but I felt so much for these two and what they were going through. I wish we had even more glimpses of Brynn! because I loved her character. It would have been interesting to see some of what happened through her eyes and mind.

I really enjoyed this book and definitely plan to continue to read Ms. Hartman’s stories. Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for allowing me to read and review!

In the usual Jennifer Hartmann style this story bleeds heartache, tragedy and healing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 (rounded up for Goodreads).

At a glance:
▪️Childhood friends to lovers
▪️Slow burn romance
▪️Dual POV
▪️Bonded through trauma
▪️New adult (on page bedroom scenes)
▪️Both virgins
▪️First love / only love
▪️Found family
▪️Small town

My thoughts:
📍If you’re familiar with Jennifer Hartmann the content of this book will come as no surprise. If you’re not, may I introduce you to her heart wrenching formula: backstory, tortured souls grow close, tragedy strikes, separation, healing and reunion. As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and she should definitely not fix it! This book was deeply emotional, true to her usual style.

📍I’m not sure why though, I didn’t feel as engrossed in this book as I normally am with Jennifer’s stories. Perhaps it was the main character’s ages (17/18). I didn’t really connect with them. Perhaps it was the beginning 20% which I found slow.

📍That being said, I would still say that the novel had a great cast of well built characters. The exceptions being MMC Max, who was swoony sure, but too ‘perfect’ to be realistic and the FMC’s brother Jonah who required more depth. As a true crime aficionado, I was interested in Jonah and while I knew the story was not his, I would have loved more of an insight into his mind and crimes.

📍Overall this book features a solid, engaging plot and poetic writing but there were moments that felt too melodramatic.

📍I must confess being confused by the YA marketing of this book. When I first heard this author was releasing a YA book I thought it would be lighter in terms of content (compared to her other novels) and not have on a page bedroom scenes. The opposite is true. This book has dark themes, on page spice and the characters are 18 for a large portion. To me, this read as adult. So I present that warning to parents.

Other:
✨All comments here are my own, are my honest thoughts and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to Jennifer Hartmann, Sourcebooks Bloom Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

☀️ARC REVIEW - COMING 16TH JULY☀️

Thank you to @valentine_pr_ and @author.jenniferhartmann for the opportunity to receive this ARC in return for an honest review🏵️

4.5/5 ⭐
2/5🌶️

☀️ YA
☀️ Tearjerker
☀️ Small Town
☀️ Coming of age
☀️ Childhood friends to strangers to friends to lovers.

How can I possibly begin this review? Ella lives in a place where she is vilified for sobbing on TV as a child because her brother was convicted of murder. It drives people, particularly at school, to ridicule, mock, and mistreat her.

Ella's narrative alone was tragic, but when pieces of her recollections with Jonah, her brother, were added to the mix, emotions became jumbled and frustrating. Jonah was undeniably a killer at times, but Hartmman, by opening the doors to Ella's inner world, helps us experience what she does. It was astounding how the author was able to let you perceive Jonah through Ella's eyes by giving you a deeper and more personal connection with her. Her unshakeable trust in his innocence because...how could her beloved brother have done what he was accused of? However, as the narrative advances, questions surface, and the reader eventually doubts their own suspicions.

Max, who appears detached at first, has his own issues. His upbringing was, eventually, similarly unhappy and turbulent. Max has so many responsibilities on his back that I was astonished it was not dragging him down more.

This narrative is terrific with hope represented by the rays of sunlight between the trees. Max and Ella were always intended to be together, even as kids, before anything with Jonah happened.

Prepare a pair of tissues before reading this because watching the sweetness of children's friendships being inverted by pain trauma and so on...will undoubtedly shatter your heart.

Another amazing book by Jennifer! It hooked me in with the first page. Although it was a slower build than her other books to me, when it got to around 55ish percent it was full throttle. I didn't know what our fmc or mcm was going to do with the situation at hand. And I felt myself on the fence of what I would do in that situation it felt impossible. Jennifer was already a top author for me, but she continues to shock me and pull at my heart strings every book.

Jennifer Hartmann knows how to write - REALLY!!!!!!

She is amazing in everything she does and omg, I ADORE EVERYTHING SHE WRITES.

This one was a surprise, I found myseelf reading more and more everyday!

"Catch the Sun" by Jennifer Hartmann is a poignant and beautifully written novel that explores themes of love, loss, and healing. Hartmann's evocative prose and well-developed characters create an immersive reading experience that tugs at the heartstrings. The story's emotional depth and compelling narrative make it a must-read for fans of contemporary romance. Highly recommended!

♾️/5 ⭐️

My face is covered in snot + tears.

This is my new favorite Jennifer Hartmann book!

I looooved everything about this book. These characters are everything.

Every Jennifer Hartmann book needs to come with tissues! This book broke me, but was i surprised of course not ! Max is perfection he loves Ella so hard. The emotional journey of healing and turmoil in this book was just beyond words! Jennifer never disappoints.

This book was everything. Run and read it and do not stop. I loved the characters, the short chapters and the story line. I read this a month ago and still think about it daily.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC! #netGalley #CatchtheSun

Ella and Max are Ella's Mom moves her back after her brother that she idolizes is sentenced to death row for killing his girlfriend and a guy. She is harassed and judged for being his sister and stays to herself. Her Mom is so busy trying to get her brother's case overturned that she forgets to be there for Ella as she grieves. Meanwhile Max happens to live across the street with his twin brother and Dad and the responsibility of taking care of the house and their depressed alcoholic Dad has fallen on him so he doesn't have time for a social life. Over time they keep being thrown together by fate and circumstance and become friends again and the emotional walls she has built around her heart are slowly coming down until New Year's Eve when the events of the night change the course of their lives and their friendship and budding romance.
I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you so much for the ARC!

This was a good read! I enjoyed it. I really liked the humor which I felt strengthened the connection between the two MCs.

Recommend!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ella & Max meet when they are in grade school, but lose touch when Ella’s family moves. They run into each other again in high school and try to rekindle their friendship. This book left me gutted multiple times. Max & Ella endured a number of traumatic experiences throughout their life. This book is listed as YA; my suggestion would be 16+. Even then some of the themes are fairly ‘adult.’ Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for this ARC. Definitely enjoyed it! #booksbyashleynicole

I love anything Jennifer writes. They keep getting better and better. Another masterpiece. This story was such a rollercoaster ride. I went through so many emotions. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us.

** spoiler alert ** On page attempted rape/ SA. On page attempted murder. I love spice but it’s too much for YA. This book should not be classified as YA.

It took me a minute to get into this book but then it smacked me in the face with all the angst and heartbreak. I loved Elle and Max being childhood best friends. The brother element in this book went dark and emotionally devastating.

This author has been one of my favorites and I have loved all her books. This one fell a little flat. Some parts felt like added unnecessary drama because everything was already soooo messed up. Yes you will have your heart pounding at times. Unfortunately the in between times I started reading faster to get through the slower parts. I guess it didn’t always flow well for me. Having said that I don’t regret reading this book which is always something that defines my reading experience and recommendation.

If you love this author then you should definitely read this one. It is important to stay true to beloved writers. You also might feel differently than I did.

Happy Reading Everyone!!!

I’m not sure what made me want to read this book after also disliking the only other novel I have read by this author, Still Beating. I think it is mainly because the characters in this book are closer to my age (I am a teenage girl) and the characters in Still Beating are much older than me, so I thought maybe I would give Jennifer Hartmann’s writing another shot. Although I definitely think Catch The Sun was better, it still greatly disappointed me.

For starters, the book was way to long - I practically skipped through the last 20% of the novel. However, the main thing that caused me to not enjoy the book was the MISCOMMUNICATION! UGH! It was so stressful to read and the only reason I didn’t DNF was because I had already wasted 2 weeks trying to get through it, so I thought I may as well finish it otherwise it would be a total waste of time (it was still a waste of time though).

What I find hilarious is that when I was seriously considering giving up on reading this, the FMC states this whilst she is talking about how she doesn’t like to DNF books:
‘’Nothing feels worse than an incomplete story, the characters dangling in limbo, the plot points collapsing into unknowns.’’
It’s almost as if the author knew how much I wanted to put the book down and she was trying to give me some motivation…

…I guess it kind of worked? Because I ended up skipping to the epilogue out of genuine interest for what did actually happen in the end. So clearly I did care about the characters and the story. It’s just a shame that it was executed poorly.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher
for the free digital copy💕

4.5 ⭐️ As kids, Ella Sunbury and Max Manning were self declared soul mates. When life pulls them apart, it will be years later until they are reunited - as broody high school students each dealing with their own struggles. As their relationship begins to blossom, tragedy threatens to pull them apart once again.

“You can’t catch the sun, but there’s no shame in chasing its light.”

I fell in love with Jennifer Hartmann’s writing earlier this year when I read Older and have been more and more impressed with each book I devour. While most of her books are steeped in heavier themes of trauma and grief, I think Catch the Sun, as a YA novel, strikes a balance of the heavier with the lighter (trauma juxtaposed with the hope of young love).

As always, her characters are richly layered and multi-faceted, complete with relatable flaws. Her characters are strong, and while faced with hardships, never lose their sense of self and I think this more than anything keeps me coming back to stories I know are going to break my heart. Sunny and Max are no exception.

Read if you like:
• emotional reads
• mature YA books
• friends to lovers
• coming of age
• healing from grief and trauma
• complex family dynamics

Thank you Bloom Books for the gifted copies.

Catch the Sun ☾𖤓
by Jennifer Hartmann
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

is a whirlwind of emotions that had me flipping pages like mad! Ella and Max, childhood friends who are torn apart and then reunited years later, are at the heart of this gripping story. The blend of first love, trauma, and raw, beautiful moments makes for an unforgettable read. Max is the ultimate swoon-worthy book boyfriend, and Ella's journey is both heart-wrenching and inspiring. Hartmann's talent for pulling you into her characters' lives is unmatched. Get ready for a rollercoaster of feels—this one will stick with you long after the last

Thank you to Bloom books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own