This book is simply utter perfection. This is the first book I’ve read from Cecilia and I couldn’t honestly put it down. I have to say it was probably the quickest I’ve read in a long time. It kept be hooked, is was beautiful, full of meaning, full of adventure and for me full of dreams.

Best friends Aubrey and Rae, are taking their very last summer trip together before everything changes. Together with Jonah, Aubrey’s boyfriend, Gabe, he kissed Aubrey and Clara, Rae’s massive crush, things couldn’t honestly be more awkward. Aubrey is very much a girl with a plan, she has had since well forever, her life plans are set, Columbia, Jonah and happily ever after. Rae is very much a last minute kind of girl, an all-in bet, she intends to go to the furthest place possible to live, study, a life of adventure and a life of forgetting the one person she’s had a crush on her best friend. Told through alternate POVs, travelling isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and living with your best friends for 10 days can certainly have a strain on all your relationships.

I absolutely adored this book, it’s the perfect summer read and the best YA one I found in such a long time. The romance, the secret rendezvous, the bittersweet kisses made me smile so much and the fact I haven’t read something like in a long time spoke volumes. Whilst the plot was centered a lot around Aubrey and Rae dramas and romances,  the whole backpacking around Europe was the perfect backdrop and just made the whole book. It was romantic and adventurous and Cecilia has a beautiful way of describing the surroundings that just make you feel that you are there with them. I loved how it was captured in such different lights, artistic in Rae’s eyes and touristy in Aubrey’s. It was serene and captivating and I really want to see why sights are so much more surreal at night! I think there’s something about the atmosphere and you honestly can’t help but just want to transport there instantly. It makes me want to travel, I’ve never been abroad and I think I felt quite jealous and yet giddy at the prospect that I have all that to come.

This may be a love story but I also felt it’s about finding yourself. Aubrey had these life plans, in he beginning she was scared of leaving her friends and family. This trip kind of defines that, it’s wrapping up that part of her life. Rae is going on a adventure, to Australia with her mum Lucy and studying art, but she almost feels that maybe she’s running away from something. But what if plans change uncontrollable, that people change all the time and yet some can really surprise you.  As Lucy said it’s about being aimless and you have all the time in the world, enjoy life while you can not plan your future. I really emphasized with that, because when I finished 6th Form, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I’ve been very lucky where I am now, I’ve fallen in love, my job is amazing and so rewarding and right now I really couldn’t be happier. Sometimes having no plan can be the best plan of all.

With the world as your oyster, travel and witness the love story of the summer. The Summer of Us, is the perfect YA contemporary of 2018 and ones the best one I’ve read in a long time.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️

Thank you to Team Bkmrk for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.