My Thoughts: The Summer of No Regrets by Katherine Grace Bond

This was the summer that would change my life.

No more being what everyone expected. No more doing what everyone else wanted. 

So when Luke came into my life, I decided to keep him a secret. Maybe he as a dead-ringer for notorious Hollywood bad boy Trent Yves. And it was possible that everything he told me was a lie. And yes, I was probably asking for trouble. But all I saw was Luke--sweet, funny, caring--someone who would let me be the real me. 

But which was the real him?

**ARC received from RainCoast books for review**




I am going to say this from right here, right now! The Synopsis of The Summer of No Regrets is SO misleading. It leads a reader to believe that it is a frilly novel with no depth, it leads a reader to believe that it is your average run of the mill contemporary YA novel, with a typical romance and teenage angst. The story that Katherine Grace Bond gives us is none of that. The Summer of No Regrets (which again is not properly titled), is about a girl who is struggling with her spirituality, it is about a girl who is struggling to find her own identity within her incredibly eccentric and in a number of way, broken, family. It is about a girl who lost something and is trying to find it. The Summer of No Regrets is about a boy who has numerous identities and is struggling to find his true self, it's about a boy who's family is broken and it's his responsibility to keep everything together.


Ok, so maybe my synopsis makes The Summer of No Regrets sound like your everyday contemporary novel, but it's not. It is SO much more.


I really liked this book. A lot. What I loved the most was the transformation that we (the reader) saw happen within the characters. Specifically Brigitta. She was a rather confused teenage girl. Especially after the death of her Grandparents (her Grandmother specifically). These events have a life altering effect on not only Brigitta but her father as well. Which also effects Brigitta. This may sounds rather confusing. But the relationship between Brigitta and her father is absolutely heartbreaking. She feels completely abandoned by him. This is something that they both need to realize and they both need to work through. It was beautiful to read. I loved Bond's writing.

I also enjoyed the romance between Brigitta and Luke but I didn't find it epicly cute. It wasn't a breath taking romance. It was sweet. But now as I write this I am having trouble remembering what was so great about it. I know I enjoyed it. I liked Luke I thought he was an interesting character. But nothing incredibly memorable.

In saying that, The Summer of No Regrets is much more than it would seem and I really enjoyed the depth each relationship had. I would encourage all of you not to write this one off. It was well worth the read.

~Happy Reading Everyone!