The Sun Always Sets

by Ali Marie

Lainey Kate knows what she wants.

After just graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA, she doesn’t feel like playing around with her feelings anymore, especially now that she’s an adult. After losing her high school boyfriend—Wade Conley—to a tragic drowning, she’s determined to be herself for a little while. That’s all before summer comes once again, and it seems that all of her past secrets of last summer are unfolding, especially the ones that she tried to forget.

And the biggest secret, is how did Wade Conley drown if he was a professional surfer?

Genres: Romance, Summer Reads, Mystery

300 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2025

About the author

Ali Marie is the author of cozy, coastal summer mysteries that will have your heart in the ocean, but your mind in a crime scene.

Ali began writing stories at the age of 8 and published her first children's book at 11. She spends her free time with her family, reading, and competitive swimming. You can see her frequently walking around the aisles of Strand Bookstore in New York City. She resides in the area of Southern New England with her family.

Reviews

[juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

I'm stunned.

The fact that this was written by a 17-year-old shocks me.

The writing was so beautifully poetic and descriptive that for a moment, I forgot I was the reader and not Lainey.

The way Ali Marie describes summer will forever be etched into my brain because how can one describe summer so delightfully? Rays of sunlight, lemon, fresh linen, sea salt...

The plot twist took me by surprise too. I was literally on the edge of my seat while reading this, desperate to find out the truth - and when I did, I gasped the most gasp anyone has ever gasped.

And the cover, ughhhh, how can one make a cover so stunning? Whenever I try to make a book cover, it literally looks like a toddler attempting to draw a picture. I'm not even kidding.

The only reason why I took away a star was because (none of this is hate by the way, I'm so sorry if it sounds like it) I feel like Lainey's friends weren't good friends. When Lainey would be stressing out, they would make it worse by saying things like, "Oh yeah, that's terrible Lainey." Like just comfort her, give her a hug, tell her everything will be ok! And I'm not going to lie, I could sense a duo in a trio. I know that Lainey was depressed and didn't want to leave her room, but that doesn't mean that Zoey and Brynn should go. They should stay with her, hang out with her, and make sure that she doesn't spend the day alone and anxious. And proposing in the bathroom...I'm so sorry but that's not for me. Imagine you're in the middle of saying "Will you make me the happiest man on Earth an-" and then someone barges in, shouting at you to leave because they need to take a dump. But, I'm so happy that Lainey found someone who deserves her and will treat her right.

Overall, I highly recommend this book! The perfect mystery/romance novel for summer!

Ali Marie, you inspire me in so many ways. Never give up on writing because I can tell that this is a very big passion of yours!

☀️🌸🌊

[Samantha Osterberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sooooooo good! I have no idea how. At first I was kinda bored and not wanting to read but they was because I was in kind of a reading slump but I’m not in that anymore! And, I realized that I was obsessed with this book.

First the cover; OMG 🥰🪄STUNNING🪄🥰 like everything about this cover is amazing the sunset orange-pink ombré! Perfect👌 and the birds(seagulls I’m guessing) Yessssssss.

Second the writing style; I have your last book WWWLS a 4.5 star just because I did not love the 3rd person POV but when I noticed this was 1st person I was like yesssss. And I love the pace of the book it wasn’t too slow but not too fast and I LOVED that

Third the characters; I related to Lainey soooo much like I’m the same person as her! And I love how she wast dumb like other characters in other books. I have a certain picture in my mind of Lainey and she is gorgeous. Zoey is a baddie I loved her she was like the funny one I feel like and Brynn I loved her she was very practical I feel.

Fourth The chapters; I loved the names for the chapters they were so fitting like at first I was like what is that name and I would finish the chapter and I was like wow that little detail was the main focus and it was again so fitting!

Last but not least Fifth the Throwbacks; these were so necessary for the book they let me have my own little opinion on the relationship and it let me get to know Wade(A little toxic) and I liked seeing how Lainey felt in that moment and was with her past boyfriend. And loved the details for her thoughts too.

P.S. I’m Subscribed to you Ali on YouTube and I love you so much I look up to you a lot and I’m trying to start my first novel! 💖🥰❤️

[Emilia Crudale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved wwwls, but this has to be my favorite book by Ali! I'm like 20 pages in so far and it's great! She's so good at plot twists, it's insane omg you need to read this book if you like mystery!

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sooooo hyped for this book. And honestly I will probably pick this one up again in the future. I really really love Ali and this was my first read of her books, so I had really high expectations. I’m not gonna lie, though, it wasn’t the greatest in my opinion.
(I know Ali reads the majority of these reviews so I am only giving constructive criticism. I’m not going to just criticize heartlessly bc I’m an aspiring author too and I know it doesn’t feel good and it doesn’t really help to just have your writing nit-picked)
This book felt rushed and slow all at the same time. Every single unimportant detail was focused on and everything important was barely touched. For instance, the reader doesn’t really need to know that the MC brushed their teeth that morning. It doesn’t really move the story along and it’s not relevant to the topic. The emotions of a scene were bogged down by every tiny, unimportant detail focused on instead of what our character was feeling.
Our MC was basically a self-insertion. She was Ali. Not that that is a bad thing AT ALL, but I think the story could have benefited from a slightly different MC if that makes sense.
My biggest thing was that details were repeated or overlooked. For instance, there is one point where our MC says she puts her phone down on the table two or three times in a row. Idk if she kept picking it up and putting it down again or if maybe I misunderstood what was happening, but it really threw me off. Another time it’s explained several times in a row that she removed the doors from her car, but then proceeds to state she shuts the car door as she gets out. It was just little things like that that really threw off the book for me.
One thing I noticed is that there were random returns in the middle of a paragraph. That was just a formatting thing that I that Ali would benefit from knowing :)
As for the good things I have to say, that cover is stunning like Ali actually ate with it. The book is really good quality, the paper is suuuper nice. The formatting for the most part (other than what I pointed out above) was great and I am really impressed considering Ali did it all herself.
I will likely read on in the future, because, despite not resonating with the writing style, I am very interested in what happened to Wade. I just can’t finish this one right now.
The setting was super cute and unique and I did totally dig that. The flashbacks were really well written. There was a lot more emotion and the emotion she wanted to portray in the entire book was there especially in the flashbacks.

That’s all I have to say, though! At the end of the day, Ali published a book all by herself, she has mostly good reviews, and a pretty successful social media presence. That all is very impressive. She’s doing great and I don’t want my review to come across like I think anything different. I just figured these were things she could benefit from knowing 😊

[tristyn dawn❤︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️

Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey
▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 1:25
"I got that summertime, summertime sadness"

minor spoilers ahead!

read if you like:
⤿mystery
⤿lana del rey
⤿summer
⤿the beach

This was my first Ali book, and I enjoyed it! I loved the writing, setting, and plot. It was lwk depressing tho :(

{the writing☀️}

The writing was so good! I still can’t believe Ali wrote this when she was 17. It was descriptive and beautiful. She is so incredibly talented.

I loved the summer vibes, and the descriptions of the setting were amazing. I loved how she described the beach, the sunsets, and other buildings/places. The words she used were perfect, and it made me feel like I was there. I loved how she described the sky and the way the beach house smelled.

{the plot🌴}

the plot was interesting, and it had SO much potential, it just felt like there was no mystery or suspense. also, the plot twist was pretty obvious(for me at least)and the reveal wasn’t the best.

{the end🌅}

the end was really good! it was bittersweet. i loved the epilogue, and I think Ali wrapped it up beautifully.

{characters💕}

{Lainey}
I pictured Lainey as Ali the whole time. So know every time i see her channel I think, “it’s Lainey!” I felt so bad for her though. She went through so much grief and had to deal with depression, and anxiety/panic attacks. I just wanted to give her a hug as i was reading.

{Zoey and Brynn}
I wish we could’ve maybe had more backstory on them. I liked their characters but we barely knew anything about them. I also agree with what someone said in another review, they could’ve been better friends at some points in the story. I feel like they should’ve comforted her and been there for her way more. Also, what does Zoey look like??? I totally forget lol

{Wade}
ngl i loved Wade at first.😭I knew something was off about him, but he sounded like my dream man. Like, I loveeee my morally grey men, but sometimes im a sucker for golden retrievers. but in the end he(obviously)gave me the ick.🥴

Age rating: 14-15+(or mature 13 year olds)
No spice. Mentions of romance. In flashbacks it mentions that our fmc’s boyfriend kisses her on the cheek and they hug and cuddle.
TW: mentions of suicide and domestic violence. fmc has anxiety/panic attacks often. sexual assault(in a flashback, our fmc’s boyfriend is trying to touch her without consent). very light swearing. hell and d@mn used about 5 times in the book. The lord’s name is taken in vain a few times.
Other: fmc’s best friend is a lesbian.

❤︎ quotes ❤︎

qoutes may contain spoilers!

“I choose life now. I choose healing. I choose love-the kind that doesn’t hurt. And maybe that’s the real ending to this story. Not the one where the waves swallowed the past, but the one where I learned to swim.”

“And I smile. I smile because now I know how every bad twist in your life-every bad ending-can turn into a beautiful new beginning. And Wade taught me that.”

“The sun always sets.”

“He used to say that life should either be a joke or a poem.”


spoilers below!




I would’ve loved more info on how they found the body. I mean, they searched endlessly after he drowned, and they couldn’t find it. But a year later, they look again and find it first try? It didn’t really make sense to me. But i loved how Lainey got her closure. And don’t even get me started on Cole. The fact that he always asked her if she felt uncomfortable when he’d touch her(like touch her cheek or put his hand on her waist)because he knew what she had gone through with Wade? STOPPPP😭🫶🏻 He’s so thoughtful omw🥺🥺
Don’t know really anything about Cole but HE’S MY MANNNNNN i need a story abt him and Lainey!!

[Jamie Bowers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book and things I liked and things I got bothered by. The writing style had certain things that bothered me like instead of using the first person normal of saying “I grabbed ___” or “I ran” it was always “My hands grabbed___” or “My body/feet ran.” Which works some of time but when it was used for almost every action it annoyed me a little bit. I did like most of the characters and thought they worked well though I did feel like Emmie was just kinda there and not a super important character since she didn’t really do much. Personally in mystery books I prefer having the mystery slowly unravel throughout the book rather than just having the big twist come out of seemingly nowhere and this one had the ladder. I thought the twist was written well I just would’ve preferred having a slow unraveling of it. I definetly do think that Ali’s writing style has gotten better since A Girl Named Ivy and I think it will continue to get better as she writes more. Overall I think this book is 3 stars.

[sophia marianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐s!

It always surprises me how well Ali writes for her age. The plot is always so intriguing, and the characters have so much depth. Since I read all of her books this year, in publishing order, it has been so fun to see how her writing has grown with her.
I loved the characters in this book, and the ending was soooooo good. It gave the same vibes as we were liars and a family of liars, and I LOVED it. Perfect summer mystery to end summer with♥️

[Sadie R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm reading it right now and it's so good!! i normally don't read mystery, but i gave it a shot and i LOOOOVE IT!!!!! it's prob one of my fav books right now, and i've been hooked since the first page (literally!!!)

[Milie · Rating 1 out of 5]

/!\ THIS IS MY OPINION /!\
Honestly, I don't know what was the point of this. It was sooo slow that I almost DNFed it in the end. Literally nothing happened! I don't even know what the main character looks like, except that she looks better in pink than in blue. I felt like there was no mystery at all, except for Wade drowning. Really not my favorite book.

[Lyla Mobley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*. So this book honestly was pretty good. I thought the cover was beautiful btw! Now, this kinda disappointed me because the other 2 Ali Marie books were 5 stars for me-but this one was meh. So this covered a lot of grief and loss and that isn’t rlly my cup of tea (plus I just finished another book about grief and loss right before read this). There is some cuss words (which was surprising) but not many. I didn’t rlly like the ending. It was basically “I got over my old boy friend and now I got a new one” so I wish it was a little more of a better ending but…Age rating: 13+ or mature 12yr olds. As I said it was about grief and loss of her boyfriend and it kinda in a way made me sad and grieve for her. But! Even though I said some negative things about this book it was still a great, bingeable, summer read!

[Evelyn Kate]

It's here!

Honestly y'all I'm really excited for this review. And I don't know why. But before we dive into the book review...

BIG NEWS

I started a Substack!

If you don't know what that is, that's okay... because I honestly don't know either. It's sort of one of those things you can't pin a single definition on. But it's a great community of fellow writers and I'm hoping to expand my reach, develop my brand, and spread the love of God! My handle is Faithfully, Evelyn Kate if you wanna check it out:)

Ali Marie! There's still a chance! Be my Fifth Friend on Goodreads! (Lol funny side note but Goodreads says that Goodreads is spelled wrong I just noticed that.)

For all you sensitive Christians out there who wonder...is this book clean?? I’m going to be wholly honest with you when I say that The Sun Always Sets isn’t quite as clean or innocent as Ali’s other books. But absolutely no hate. As Ali has grown and matured, her books have grown and matured as well, and I get that. That said, sensitive Christians, The Sun Always Sets is ONE OF THE MOST CLEAN YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY ROMANCE BOOKS YOU’LL EVER READ.

This book was sooooooooooooooo impressive. Ali blends coastal settings, cutesy protags, multi-layered love interests, mysteries that aren’t quite what they seem, and screaming truths about mental health. And, of course, I saw Jesus in between the lines. So, as a Christian teen author, I greatly admire Ali and her work.

Let’s talk about Wade, shall we? He’s one of those multi-layered lover interests I was talking about earlier. He is, of course, dead. I’m hoping not to get too spoilery here, and I think it’s safe to say at least that over the course of the book, the main character Lainey starts to realize that Wade was…sort of toxic. And as the story revolves around her trying to navigate anxiety, PTSD, and the mystery behind his death, I began to recall a couple of truths about God:

You shouldn’t change yourself for anyone. This is called “fear of man,” and I’ve talked about it before (in my Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli review, go check it out for more info 🙂). This is especially important when it comes to dating and relationships. I’ve always been told that it’s important to know who you are in God before you ever date anyone. There’s a common perception in the world that everybody is only half a person and that when they enter a romantic relationship with someone else, the two halves make a whole. That’s a lie. It’s not addition, it’s multiplication. One half times one half is actually one fourth. And that’s enough relationship advice, because yours truly has never actually been in a relationship.

God’s peace is the remedy to anxiety. See also, my What Went Wrong Last Summer review. God gave us so many tools to help us deal with stress, worry, and anxiety, yet I believe the only way to be freed from it completely is relying on the salvation Jesus gave us when he died on the cross. Worldly devices will only go so far to fill the hole that only God can fill.

A supportive Christian community is essential. In The Sun Always Sets, Lainey’s story was greatly affected by the love and support of her family and best friends.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16

Now imagine if everyone in this book was a Christian. (That’s one of my favorite things to do, is make a headcanon of books I read where the characters are devoted followers of Christ. No judgement.)

So…I guess that’s it for The Sun Always Sets. Pretty simple stuff and nothing truly unique today, but just as important. Go ahead and read this book and Ali’s other two books, which I’ve also reviewed. I hope you're feeling refreshed and reminded of the simple truths of God!

So I had a new idea for something to include in my reviews, and this is the first time I’m doing it. But I think…I think we’re supposed to pray for the authors of these books. So let’s just try it out. Holy Spirit guide us.

Dear Lord, we thank You for Ali Marie and her books. She’s such a happy, uplifting person in her books and on social media, and we know that’s a gift that You gave her so she could benefit others. We ask that you bless her this week, give her joy and peace about her past, present, and future. Protect her from any weapons that the enemy may try to form against her. In Your name we pray, Amen.

I need to get caught up on another review, so expect a review on Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir very soon--I mean VERY SOON. And I don't know what I'll review next. Maybe The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson or My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Either way, I love y'all so much and I'm praying that you have a blessed week!

[Sophie Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

This is the best book Ali has written so far.
Okay, let's get to it.

So, The Sun Always Sets is about Lainey, who just graduated highschool and wants to start doing things for her. Unfortunately, she's the MC of a mystery book, so sorry to tell you it won't happen (yet). With her family and her best friends, she goes to Crescent Point, an island they go to every summer. But this it's different. Why? Because Wade, her boyfriend or rather, her ex-boyfriend, died there the year prior, when he'd accompanied them. Only catch: he drowned but he was a professional surfer. A *PROFESSIONAL SURFER* who DROWNED. With that, you can already tell something's off.
Lainey tries to enjoy this summer, but she's being haunted by the ghost of Wade, and worse: she doesn't even remember what happened that day on the beach.
Let's just say: secrets are uncovered that summer, and I really hope Lainey has a great therapist after that.

After that not-so-short summary, why the hell is it so good? Except for the obvious mystery tension, of course.
Well, first of all, Lainey was very attaching for me. Just in the first few pages, where her close-ones literally FORCE her to go back to the island and are like "Deal with your grief but do it quick, okay? Your boyfriend died but you should enjoy going back to the place he did, and being so close to the last place he was alive."
That kinda made me mad, poor girl couldn't even grieve at her own pace 😭. Then throughout the book, where she's struggling but still trying to have fun and all. I think that overall Lainey was a good character. With VERY valid crashouts.
I started the book a looonnnng while ago, but never got to finish it because I had other stuff to do and read (thanks to school🥲), however I picked it up less than halfway through and finished it in two days. It would have been one of I didn't have other stuff to do as well. The beginning was a little slow for my taste but then, wow, it feels like a river naturally flowing.
I also loved the writing style, with the flashbacks mixed with the present, kinda overlapping one another. It made the story captivating, because I wanted to know what kind of person Wade was like and what had actually happened.

To me, the only thing that could have been done better is the depiction of Lainey's trauma. THIS IS THE PART WHERE I'LL SPOIL A BIT SO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET, GO DO IT NOW.
At the end of the book, it is said "Go through counseling for grief and for my depression, that I later learned I had." The problem is not that she didn't know she was depressed, no it's the fact that it wasn't depicted in the first place. It's completely understandable that she's depressed after the events of the book, but I really wish that it would've been more approached than a single line at the end. I know Ali Marie writes about dealing with anxiety and panic attacks (like in her previous book What Went Wrong Last Summer), so I know that I would have liked TSAS even more if she once again included a stronger depiction of it. Not that I don't believe in Lainey's depression. It's just that I feel this is a theme that could have been further and better explored.

Just scrolled through my review and oops, this might be the longest one I've ever written (Which is just another proof that I really appreciated this book). So, basically, this book was great and it's amazing to see how much Ali improved at only 18(HELLO???).
It's safe to say I inspire to be like that too, a published author that improves with every book she writes.

[Mallie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Okay, I would like to preface this by saying that, since she is 17, this is an incredible fest to have accomplished. Especially seeing as this is her third novel! The plot is really good and I feel that it is well executed.

You can feel how the main character is going a bit crazy and how much she is questioning herself. The imagery is sooo good, like I can picture myself actually being there with Lainey. Also I have had a similar relationship with a past boyfriend, (although he didn't die!) and this helped me to feel seen and that the little cracks in the relationship were actually important and I'm justified.

My main complaint is that there are manyyy formatting mistakes. There were indents in the middle of paragraphs on almost every other page. There were also a few spelling mistakes, but they were very minimal. Also some of the dialogue felt very stiff or confusing.

Overall I think that this is incredible. As a teen who is currently working on a novel, I understand how difficult this is and how impressive this is. I will 100% buy more books from her in the future and I always watch her YouTube channel. <333

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Not the one where the waves swallowed the past, but the one where I learned how to swim.”

The last line of this book was beautifully written.
I enjoyed the story, and found myself genuinely interested and wanting to know what happened to Wade Conley.
This book wasn’t the most amazing, I felt like it was kinda hard to stay interested because so much of it was taking place in the past, and what did take place in the future basically consisted of nothing but Lainey sleeping and going to the police department. So I wish we could have gotten more than that, connected more to the other characters.
There were a few grammatical errors, but they were very few and didn’t distract me from the story.
However I applaud the author, for being only 17 and having published her work! That’s a huge accomplishment!
Also the cover, absolutely stunning!!!

[Xana Faith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to preface that this is my opinion, and not a negative review, but rather a constructive one of the book.

I think the premise of the book was fine; however, the writing felt elementary., I felt like there was very little character development. I didn't connect with the main character, and the arcs felt very flat. I know this author worked hard, and there were moments in the book I really did enjoy! However, the psychology and behaviour behind the characters didn't feel well-researched, and I found myself getting angry, not with the author. It felt like there was a lack of research towards human behaviour, psychology, and general syntax.

Was this book bad? Not entirely! There were many points I did like. Would I recommend this to someone else? Possibly. I don't want this to be taken in a negative light, but for me, I truly did not enjoy the book.

[Reader Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally I did not know what to expect. Ali Marie was one of the few self published teen authors on my TikTok page and I felt as though I must read the books she has and support her. So I purchased this book. Without even any doubt I knew it would be good personally I’m not normally a mystery person but this book had me hooked by far the best mystery book so far. I will definitely have to read the other books. I finished this book within a day and it kept me questioning and on the edge of my seat always and forever. Thanks again definitely a well earned 5/5 stars

[m031403 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled across Ali's YouTube channel, which is what lead me to read this book (also because the cover is beautiful). Wasn't really feeling it at first, but I kept reading and eventually got hooked. Would've given it 5 stars, but I felt like the ending was sorta predictable in a way. There were also many typos throughout the book. Loved all the characters though, especially Lainey <3

[Kylie Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMFG THIS WAS SO GOOD!!! I follow Ali on YouTube and heard a lot about this book from her. I kid you not I had a travel day today, AND I FREAKING FINISHED IT!!!!!!! This was a definite 1,000,000 stars!

[linenleir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just started this book and I’m honestly already in love with it!! The plot is amazing! 💕

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

[Milii · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is very easy to imagine and its completly clean. Very captivating the way is told. I read it in less than 10hs. And its pass 2 weeks and Im still thinking about the ending.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! Ali Marie knows just how to plan the perfect mystery! And I love the setting, giving me summer vibes ❤️

[Ari ♡ ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.
Pretty good story! I enjoyed reading and all of the descriptions of the scene. But I think more action involved would be nice. But overall amazing book and nice plot twist.