The Secret Summer Promise

by Keah Brown

THE BSE (Best Summer Ever) LIST!

1. Blueberries

2. Art show in ShoeHorn

3. Lizzo concert

4. Thrift shop pop-up

5. Skinny Dipping at the lake house

6. Amusement Park Day!

7. Drew Barrymarathon

8. Paintball day

Oh, and ….

9. Fall out of love with Hailee

Andrea Williams has got this. The Best Summer Ever. Last summer, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She’s waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life. Together with her crew of ride-or-die friends, and the best parents anyone could ask for (just don’t tell them that), she’s going to live it up.

There’s just one thing that could ruin Her best friend, Hailee, finding out Andrea’s true feelings. So Andrea WILL fall out of love with Hailee–even if it means dating the cute boy George who keeps showing up everywhere with a smile.

Do we want Andrea to succeed? No! Does she? We’re not telling!

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Disability, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary, Summer

Audible Audio

First published June 6, 2023

About the author

Keah Brown is a journalist and freelance writer from Western New York. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Essence, Catapult, Harper’s Bazaar, and Lenny Letter among other publications. She is currently writing her debut essay collection “The Pretty One” slated for 2019 release via Atria Books.

Reviews

[Anniek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sounded like a super cute summer read, and in many ways, it was. The MC has newly realized she's bisexual and has a crush on her best friend. Last summer, she was recovering from a surgery related to her cerebral palsy, so this summer, she wants to make the most of it. That's why her best friend and her make a bucket list for the summer with 8 (mostly really fun!) items, and the MC secretly adds a 9th one: fall out of love with her best friend, because she doesn't want to ruin the friendship.

For the most part, I really liked their friendship. They're super close, which I always love to see in books. I also loved seeing how close the MC was to her parents.

I ended up with somewhat mixed feelings despite this, though, especially because the writing felt a little rocky to me. I also thought the book felt strangely young considering the main character is 17. This was especially noticeable in the way the MC and her best friend would argue with each other. The reason why was very understandable, and I sympathized, but the way they argued felt really immature and read more like they were around 14.

All in all, I would recommend this as a quick, heartfelt YA summer read, but it wasn't a new favourite for me.

[tane'a · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lovable YA queer romance just in time for summer! we’re following andrea, who is determined to make this the best summer ever, after spending last summer in bed recovering from surgery. she has a list of things she wants to do to achieve that goal, in addition to one more that no one knows about, falling out of love with her best friend hailee.

i really enjoyed this book, it was pretty fast paced and i flew through it. we see a lot of great representation for disabled and lgbtq characters, we sorta got a little bit of everything and everyone in this book!

as someone with a disability, i loved andrea’s unwillingness to never backdown when someone had something negative to say about her, she really was able to stick up for herself and unapologetically at that!

i will say, at some points in the book, the friend group seemed a bit aged down, some of the tactics and things happening throughout the book did not give almost juniors in high school. on top of that, i wish we spent less time fighting and more time getting to view andrea and hailee’s relationship after getting together, their relationship were just so sweet and i wanted to see just a little more of that

i got to listen to the audiobook and had a great time with it! i especially loved the narrators voice when speaking as Hailee, definitely need to look into more books that they’ve narrated

thank you RB Media and Netgalley for the audio arc of this book!

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️
I always enjoy reading a Young Adult story, but this time I just couldn't connect with the MCs. The communication was terrible in parts and the behavior was more like middle school than high school seniors, but maybe I'm just too old for this story.

Congratulation to Khea Brown for the diverse group of people (for example POC, bi) and also the theme of a chronic illness, cerebral palsy. This doesn't happen very often, but disabilities are an important theme. And it is about finding out one's own sexuality, which is not always easy at this age, as most of us probably know.

The romance is pretty innocent and a bit cheesy but in the end, the girl gets her girl. The dynamics in the friend group fluctuate between being wonderful and helping each other, and full-steam drama with manipulation and also unfairness, which I didn't like very much. And what I liked was the relationship of Drea with her parents.

All in all, an entertaining story for teens and young adults.

Thanks to Keah Brown and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jade’s Favorite Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."

✿ 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 ✿
This story was so cute!
It was light, sincere, raw, heartfelt, comforting, and beautiful. It had been a hot minute since I had read a young adult, and this YA romance didn’t disappoint!💗

I loved how authentic and lovable the characters were. The relationship between Andrea and her friends was definitely relatable! It brought me back to my teenage years, where friendships are wonderful, awful, simple and complicated.

This book contains great representation. It tackles the different types of parent-child relationships, the challenges of being a teenager, falling in love for the first time, trying to find out who you are and where you belong.💗

I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend! I wish I read this book when I was in high school, but I still very much enjoyed it as an adult.🌻🌿

✿ 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 ✿
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

✿ 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨/𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨 ✿
• friends to lovers
• summer list
• high school friends
• teen relationships
• found family

[Manon the Malicious · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Andrea has the best summer planned with her best friend Hailee and her other friends. She wasn't able to enjoy her previous summer due to a major surgery so she has to enjoy that one. But most of all, she has to fall out of love with Hailee. It could never work anyway. Oh and what if that guy, George who is showing interest was the perfect way to get over Hailee? What could go wrong??

I was really excited for this one. I love a good friends to lovers story and with a Black queer protagonist with Cerebral Palsy? That sounded great to me. Sadly, the execution was a bit of a let down. The characters sounded much younger than they were and the writing as a whole felt a bit off to my ear. Some situations were just too dramatic or unbelievable to me and I wasn't able to fully invest myself into the story. The family dynamics were pretty interesting though and I did like some of the friendship storylines. I also loved that one part where Andrea stands up for herself and tells boys to get f*cked.
But overall, this didn't really work for me. I will still check out more books by this author though. I do think some of them will work for me.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a heartfelt YA summer read. Two best friends make a list of eight fun things they want to do this summer. Drea is 17, black and has cerebral palsy. Her girlfriend group is supportive of her and her disability. Drea also just realized that she is probably Bi as she is attracted to her best friend Hailee. Things get confusing when the most popular boy in school asks Drea out upsetting the friend balance.

There is a lot of teen girl drama going on in this story. Part of the friend group is Olivia who use to be BFF’s. I’m not sure why they still hang out together when they are constantly sniping at each other. It is almost like Olivia missing Drea’s mom more than her friend. And the friend’s lie to manipulate Drea and Hailee which I didn’t love. The antics and arguments all felt more middle school than seniors in high school. There is a lot of shouting, tears and texting drama. Also there was some outing within the friend group which I didn’t like either.

These kids are priveleged. Drea’s mom is a well known fashion designer, the friends have access to a Lake House, and even a driver. That isn’t a bad thing as most of the parents are wonderful but it is unexpected. In fact I think Drea’s relationship with her parents is one of the better aspects of the story. There is no fear in coming out to them.

Of course everything is going to work out. And HEA is getting the title of girlfriend. The story is all very innocent. Nothing more than hand holding or kissing among any in the friend group again making this seem like a younger plot line. I did like the inclusion of a MC with a physical disability. I would have like to have learn something about the disease but I guess it fits that her friends already know all about it. This can easily be recommended for middle school and up. Thank you to Levine Querido and NetGalley for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review. (3.5 Stars)

[Angela Y (yangelareads) ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Copy provided by Levine Querido.

Andrea Williams has got this. The Best Summer Ever. Last summer, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She has waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life. Together with her crew of ride-or-die friends, and the best parents anyone could ask for she is going to live it up.

There is just one thing that could ruin her best friend, Hailee, finding out Andrea’s true feelings. So Andrea will fall out of love with Hailee – even if it means dating the cute boy George who keeps showing up everywhere with a smile. Do we want Andrea to succeed? No! Does she? We are not telling!

This is a heartfelt YA summer read. It was a cute, cheesy friends-to-loversbook with a POC, bisexual, and chronically ill main character. It dealt with a lot of figuring out with sexuality and identity, and struggling with feelings for your childhood best friend. My main problem for this book is that it did not feel like the characters were in high school. The writing style, of the characters and how they acted and talked felt definitely on the younger side for a YA book. I would have also loved to see a little more about what it was like for Andrea to live with chronic pain and the illness. I felt like most of the mentions of it were very brief and often glossed over. It was honestly a very minor part of the storyline and I really wanted more. However, the family dynamics were pretty interesting though and I did like some of the friendship storylines. Overall, it was a cute story and I I am all here for queer romance and main characters with disabilities. I would recommend this for anybody wanting to read a diverse queer book.

[Maeve Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really disliked this book and even considered DNFing it (which is rare for me) but I got this from a blind date with a book at my local bookstore and felt like I needed to see it through. I appreciated the disability rep and the diverse characters (although I felt like the disability rep was only very briefly mentioned at times, though I can understand not wanting the novel to solely revolve around Andrea’s cerebral palsy). However, it was hard to enjoy any other part of this novel. Simply put, this read like a 13 year old’s Wattpad fanfic. The characters, though in high school, act like middle schoolers with conflict occurring at every possible chance. There were too many characters for so short of a book, so the characters came off as flat. While I didn’t necessarily dislike any characters, I wasn’t really interested in any of them because of how little they were developed. I also didn’t feel there was much of a plot either besides a miscommunication conflict every few chapters. Supposedly Andrea and Hailee are trying to complete their summer bucket list, but that plotline seems to be lost in many moments of this book. I didn’t even feel that the romance was very deserved or as much of a slowburn as the author wanted it to be. Andrea and Hailee are fighting so much that it was hard to even root for them. I wish I could have nicer things to say about this novel, but it really was a struggle to get through. Unfortunately I don’t recommend this one.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 reads: 271/300

andrea and hailee are determined to have the best summer ever. their list includes an art show, lizzo concert, and amusement park, to name a few. what andrea can’t tell hailee is that she has another item on her best summer ever list: fall out of love with hailee. she’s certain this is the only way to save their friendship, but what she doesn’t realize is she may be actually pushing hailee away.

i wish i had read this in the summertime, because the atmosphere would have been perfect! even still, this was a sweet book. unfortunately, andrea and hailee suffered from quite a bit of miscommunication, which normally bothers me, but i think it made sense in their case. in addition to the friendship and, eventually, relationship, i appreciated the disability representation in this book. andrea has cerebral palsy, and the fact that she spent the previous summer recovering from surgery for it is a big contributor to why she’s determined to make this summer so great. i loved seeing how she stood up for herself when people got nasty about her disability. overall, this was a sweet, sapphic summer romance.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

This YA debut from the creator of the hashtag #disabledandcute was a good ownvoices story about a bisexual teen girl with cerebral palsy who is determined to have a fun, adventurous summer after recovering from a surgery related to her CP.

While I liked the cast of diverse characters and thought the disability rep was great, I thought the friendship/romance relationships were a bit messy and I wasn't particularly rooting for any one couple. More a coming of age story than a romance for me but still good!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Kandace Branch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a YA novel that speaks to young teens navigating their sexuality. Drea is in love with her best friend but doesn't feel as though her best friends loves her in the same way.

This book could have been better if it interrogating Drea's feelings a bit more. I think young adults would have connected more in understanding the nuisances of being young and figuring out what all those feelings mean.

The writing is good and I think young readers will enjoy it.

[Jelke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded books for letting me review this book.

Unfortunately, I have to start with that I did not enjoy this book.

I did not like the characters one bit, they felt very juvenile to me (I often read YA and this has rarely been an issue).

Andrea and Hailee had such awful communication skills, it was often difficult for me to continue. I kept on reading because I was hoping that the communication issues would stop.
I felt that the plot was all over the place and the ending was not satisfying at all.

The narrator did a good job with the female voices, but the male voices could've been better as I often could not hear a difference between them.

[Mel { wolfsbanebooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy. First of all, I do want to bring back the “Is this synopsis accurate?” for books I receive for review. This description is accurate enough. It also should’ve been a giveaway for one of my big issues of this book. This writing of the main character doesn’t match with the canonical age of the character. The MC is supposed to be 17 years old, but everything in the writing suggests a way younger age. From how the characters interact with one another to their “Best Summer Ever” list. For a young friend group that will be 18 next summer, it seems a very low bar to be the best summer ever.

It’s a fast read but it took a while to gain my interest and I lost it pretty soon as well. The first time I considered DNF’ing was at 18% where the MC has a nightmare that’s just… poorly written, in my opinion. The writing style is very much action-after-action based, like “and then this person said this.” which I would normally associate more with middle grade writing, sadly.

I have other questions that I wish would’ve been expanded on or just removed like how famous are Andrea’s parents and why did it contribute to the plot? I don’t feel like it did.

This book also has a lot of miscommunication which is not my kind of trope, add to that the fact that some characters make sudden switches in their personalities or even get villain traits… I personally cannot recommend this book.

FULL REVIEW: https://wolfsbanebooks.wordpress.com/...

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in audio: I went in blind and picked up another book with the main character having Cerebral Palsy like me. It reflected quite a few things that I've experienced. Losing friendships because they were ashamed to be seen with me, or felt I was holding them back, not feeling represented in media, being someone's "dirty secret". Having parents who would jump to protect you without learning how to hear what you need. Having one side of your body be stronger than the other.

I loved to from her good friends they were willing to accommodate her. The romance when they got to it was sweet. I loved the bond between Andrea and her mother though for the most part.

I wish it was disclosed that Andrea's type of CP isn't the only type or severity only because I know most readers that are abled-bodied won't do the research and make assumptions. This is a sweet fluffy summer read though.

[Kara (Books.and.salt) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for a fun, sun drenched read and Brown delivered exactly that!! Most stories that feature Black, Disabled characters don't tend to be so lighthearted and to see Drea living her best life was really refreshing. I spent the summer between my Sophomore and Junior year of high school recovering from brain surgery, and I really related to Drea's fear of missing out. This is another one of those books that I wish I had when I was younger.

Where I was disappointed was the tone of this story. I felt that these characters seemed much more like 14 year olds than 18 year olds - from their aspirations to their arguments, they just seemed really young. Personally I think this one would hit better with middle grade readers. But either way it's a really sweet story.

[meli · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.netgalley.com/book/278506...

[Lit_Vibrations · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute and warm-hearted YA novel. It was well-paced and I loved the representation and the authors approach with the book.

It follows 17 year old Andrea Williams after spending last summer recovering from surgery due to cerebral palsy she’s determined to make this summer the best one ever. With the help of her friends and the support of her parents Andrea plans to live it up. The only thing that could get in the way is her best friend Hailee finding out she’s in love with her. But in an attempt to push those feelings behind her Andrea figured dating the popular cute guy in school George would do the trick.

The author created such a well-rounded character with Andrea from her confidence, vibrant personality, and how outspoken she was. She didn’t let her disability own her and I think she could be very relatable to a lot of younger readers.

All of the characters were lovable and supportive when it came to Andrea. We even see growth within her friendships. Although there was quite a bit of miscommunication between the characters forgiveness was an important aspect in the novel. It took a lot for Andrea to mend her broken friendship with both Hailee and Olivia. But I loved the dynamic between them all and how quickly they made up. George wasn’t right for Andrea I knew he’d be a problem as soon as he popped in the picture.

Overall I enjoyed the complexity of the novel, the diverse characters, and again I applaud the representation. It was fun, sweet, and well-developed I definitely recommend for a younger audience. Special thanks to the author, @hearourvoicestours, & @levinequerido for my advanced copy!!!!

[Nikki]

This was a really sweet and short summer read!

The Secret Summer Promise by Keah Brown follows our main character Andrea Williams and her group of friends on a mission to have ‘The Best Summer Ever’. After creating the BSE list, Andrea adds a secret 9th task - fall out of love with her best friend Hailee in order to protect their friendship.

I have really mixed feelings towards this novel. I felt the characters were a little young and immature for their age and the constant arguing and miscommunication throughout the book made it difficult to relate or empathise with the characters. However I found a lot of things I loved about the book including the incredible representation as well as the main character’s relationship with her parents. I also enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and felt the narrator did a great job of differentiating between characters.

Overall, I think this is a really important book for young queer people. I would have probably cried if you told younger me that I could read a novel with queer, gender diverse, BIPOC and multiple characters with disabilities all in one book. Although I do think it would be better suited to a younger teen/middle grade audience.

Thank you so much to RB Media & NetGalley for providing me with an advanced audiobook copy of this book.

Rep: Black bisexual MC with cerebral palsy, Asian LI, side characters with disabilities, various BIPOC, queer and gender diverse side characters

Content Warnings: Ableism, neglect of a child (side character), past surgery mentioned

I post about diverse & queer novels @niksreadss on Instagram

[LGBT Representation in Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trigger Warnings: past surgery, past death of a grandparent, ableism

Representation: Bisexual, Cerebral palsy, Black, Chinese-American, HOH

The Secret Summer Promise is a queer, ya contemporary about Andrea Williams. Last summer, she spent all her time in bed, recovering from the latest surgery for her cerebral palsy. She’s waited too long for adventure and thrills to enter her life. Together with her crew of ride-or-die friends, and the best parents anyone could ask for (just don’t tell them that), she’s going to live it up. She has got this, the Best Summer Ever!

There’s just one thing that could ruin it, her best friend, Hailee finding out Andrea’s true feelings. So Andrea WILL fall out of love with Hailee – even if it means dating the cute boy George who keeps showing up everywhere with a smile. Do we want Andrea to succeed? No! Does she? We’re not telling!

This ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What sounded like a cute, easy summer read quickly became a little lacks luster for my personal taste. The story is written well and has some really good representation, but I couldn’t get invested into it. It often feels a bit superficial and immature but I think that’s also because it’s a high school story. I felt like the characteristics of Andrea were very in depth and helped makes the reader want to cheer for her. I also loved the romance. Overall, I think this was great summertime read.

[piper monarchsandmyths]

thank you to Recorded Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet and heartfelt, if not particularly captivating book. As a whole, I think it could have worked a lot better as a middle grade story, from the general actions of the characters and some of the plot in general. Or, at the very least, marketed as younger YA instead of 17-and-18 year olds. The audiobook was pretty enjoyable, although a few of the character voices (though decently distinct) took me out of the story (the LI for example, usually sounded like she was about to cry to me). I appreciated the variety of characters that we saw throughout, and to see a main character not wholly focused on relationships but also her own hobbies and pursuits. Overall, I wish I’d had different expectations going into reading, but I appreciated the audiobook as something to listen to on a long car ride. If you’re looking for something younger with an interesting main character, disabled and queer rep, or some friends-to-lovers trope goodness, this might be a good book to check out!

[Liz Seasalt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrea and her best friend Hailee have a list with things to do this summer. There's just one item on it Hailee doesn't know: Andrea desperately wants to fall out with her because crushing on your straight best friend is an absolute pain. Annoyingly enough, a bunch of things interfere with their seemingly so perfect summer plans ...
I am a bit on the fence about this one. I definitely enjoyed the plot and I really liked the characters, but I found it a bit annoying that every time one of them appears, which happens a lot, their outfit and hairstyles had to be described. I liked that the narrator did so many different voices for the characters, but I found the one for Hailee really unpleasant to listen to. Nonetheless, it was a cute story and I'm all here for queer romance and main characters with disabilities!

[Skye Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute YA romance with SO much representation for the disabled and lgbtq community. It was fast paced, and easy to read but still touched on important topics and had some pretty amazing quotes about love, friendship, coming out and self-acceptance. Andrea was a strong character who never let anyone disrespect her for her disability and I loved seeing her stand up for herself. Hailee and Andrea’s relationship was so sweet and I wish we got more of them at the end after all of the fighting in the friend group! But I loved all of the sweet moments between families and friends throughout this story. It was such a warm feeling book and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it!

[Lynn Meeuwissen · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Cute young adult book with disabilities and queer representation.
- I did feel as if the main characters and their behavior seemed more fitting for younger girls then they were said to be.
- Loved how confident Andrea felt about her identity with her disability and never accepted anything else from everyone around her, who is supposed to be a friend or love interest!
- Absolutely loved the parents of Andrea and how supportive they always were, also putting her into her place when needed but never without creating a safe environment to always come talk to then about anything. It is my hope to be such a parent as well!
- Enjoyable narrator.

[Teneisha (Teesbookjourney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read was an enjoyable coming-of-age read. Andrea's summer will be fantastic - she has her best friend, Hallie, and a list of fun and firsts. The personal item on her list is to stop being in love with her best friend.
I loved the disability and queer representation in this book -All the characters were well-rounded with their little backstories.

I truly enjoyed how Keah went about the drama in this book because we've all read a best friend in Love with a best friend before, but this unfolded in a new and exciting way, and I was very invested in the characters' happy ending.

A few chapters at the end were not needed - Once the happily ever after happened, there was still a lot o wrap up, which was a bit much.

This book is an actual teen book with all the fun-loving trappings. Tamika Katon-Donegal did an excellent job with all the voices and characters - she added a nice little touch to this book that was already a gem!

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated that the disability was truly a part of her everyday life & not just used for dramatic effect.
The times she'd just start stretching because that's what her body needed, at the dinner table, after talking with friends sitting too long... it was just a real part of her life

I liked the themes of friendship and forgiveness and that it can be hard to be open and honest for fear of being rejected and hurt.

Overall, it was a great story, but often, the girls felt very immature for 17. To me, they felt more like 15 year olds with their first crushes and interests.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am rating this book as a 27-year-old woman but while reading it I often thought about my 17-year-old self and how she would like this book. Although, I still do love reading YA novels at 27.

This book includes really important topics such as LGBTQ+, diversity, inclusion, and disabilities. As a 27-year-old I can really appreciate that this book hits all of those topics knowing that younger people who may experience hardships due to the issues discussed can feel more included and have more relatable content in their lives to read. This book can also help those who are learning about these topics to be more inclusive and notice how others may struggle in life and how to be more accepting.

My 17 year-old-self would have loved this book for the writing and having similar emotions when I was a teenager and going through relationships for the first time. Especially having a crush who didn't know I liked them and wanting to tell them but not knowing how (we've all been there).

Throughout the book, I was really rooting for Andrea and Hailee to end up together and I felt so bad as they both had their own struggles with their sexuality and friendship. It was a fun and cute read while also covering these serious and important topics which made it more enjoyable to read.

I would definitely recommend this book to people around the ages of 14-20 or if you like YA this book is for you. I also think this is a great book to have in a school library for kids to be able to read and as many kids struggle with their identities so having a book with people their age going through similar things may help in self-discovery.

[sinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE SUMMER ROMANCES !!! Or just books set in summer in general. I think this was a super cute YA novel that really makes you wanna get together w/ a friend and make a bucket list for the summer.

The Secret Summer Promise by Keah Brown is a new (soon to be released) YA novel that follows Andrea Williams and her best friend, and newly founded crush, Hailee! They come together and make a BSE (best summer ever) list with 8 pretty fun things. Along with a secret ninth addition: Andrea must fall out of love with her best friend. This was a really cute and easy read for me, especially with being in a reading slump for so long. I loved Andrea and watching her deal with her new realization about her sexuality. I think at some parts the characters seemed a little younger than they actually were but besides that, I really enjoyed this book. If you’re looking for a teenage coming of age with friendship, self acceptance, and just overall lovely vibes, I think you’ll also enjoy this !!!! ☀️

Thank you NetGalley and Keah Brown for this epub in exchange for an honest review!

[an ungraceful swan · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book might not have been a well written literary masterpiece but that does not stop me from wanting a tv show this instant like i can see it in my head. A lot of things that ddin't work on the page would actually work really well on screen and i have to say this is a very fun book.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It doesn't feel right to score this book. Its wonderful seeing more inclusive books making their way to the YA shelves, it's simply that this book was written for a much younger audience.

[Arzum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute but nothing more🥲