Review: Loved it, but the side story seemed unnecessary to me.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 20, 2013
Perfect Summer by Katie Graykowski was an adorable story about a woman with self-image issues and a man trying to clean up his self-image being thrown together all because of a Teacher of the Year Award.Summer, the female protagonist, was quite endearing. I loved how she cared for her students and how she outwardly showed the utmost confidence, pretending that she didn’t care what people thought about her. Sure it sucked that she always thought people could careless about her or that they laughed at her appearance, but deep down she really didn’t care all that much, thinking things would blow over and all be forgotten anyways. What annoyed me about her was the way she thought Clint, the male protagonist, saw her. She was constantly doubting him and second guessing his intentions. Seriously, give the guy a break!Clint was really a sweet guy. He’s this big shot NFL quarterback and may seem arrogant and self-centered at first, but really he’s just insecure. He has a phobia that he has to deal with every day that stems from constantly trying to live up to his father’s image and expectations. Can’t blame him for hiding behind his arrogant facade in order to hide his insecurities. Plus part of all this mayhem is so he could get an endorsement, become secure financially for the rest of his life, and leave the spotlight. A bit selfish, yes. Self centered and arrogant, not really.The biggest issue I had with this story was the unexpected side story featuring Lily, Summer’s mother. Yes, I know they have a horrible relationship. Sure, it sets up for their interaction at the end. However, I still don’t like her. I could careless about her. I really didn’t need all those chapters about what was happening in her life. It didn’t help me like her anymore than I did at the end.Overall, I’d give Perfect Summer by Katie Graykowski 4 stars. It was cute and fun. I loved Clint and Summer even though Summer annoyed me at times, especially at towards the end. Also I may have enjoyed it more if I didn’t have to endure Lily’s story that much. Some of the things she thought or said still felt off for me and kind of contradicted what she was supposedly striving for. Regardless, I’d definitely check out Katie Graykowski’s other titles, hopefully finding more fun, quick reads like Perfect Summer.