The Summer After The Night Before

by Lisa Williamson

Genres: Young Adult

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2026

About the author

A writer since an early age, I have been fasinated by stories where the characters go through changes and develop strength from great trials. I prefer the genre fields of fantasy, science fiction and horror over the general fiction. By placing my characters in fantastical settings I can let them grow and develop in ways that you just can't in a real world setting.

Published in the early days of the ebook movement in a CDRom book that saw little movement I have now taken to the digital age with style. I will continue to set my words free and hope that these children of my heart find homes with caring readers who are willing to look beyond the normal to the fantastical.

I can be found writing fantasy, science fiction, light horror and fanfiction.

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hate to use the phrase this should be on every High school's curriculum because it annoyed me when I was teaching but ...

This book should be compulsory reading on every High School KS4 SRE curriculum to teach young people about consent, what it means, how it looks and the implications for when boundaries are respected in a healthy relationships and where they are crossed in less than ideal circumstances.

I love Lisa's books so was so excited to get another YA title from her. The whole cast of characters are brilliant. The story grips you and it is so relevant. The story looks at consent from both angles and I like the contrast between Rhiannon's relationship and the situation Molly finds herself in. It isn't sex shaming or victim shaming and the issues it raises helps teen readers to explore what consent looks like in a healthy relationship whilst exploring the implications of being blind drunk means for the ability for that person to give consent.

Brilliant UKYA

[Zöe · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the cover design and the blurb, I thought this would be a BFF to lovers romance. This is NOT the case so be wary.

Molly thinks she's been sexually assaulted by the "boy next door". Boy next door is madly in love with her and seems to think she consented (they were both drunk). Molly's best girl friend is his twin sister so doesn't know what (or who) to believe.

This was good, to a point. Sadly there was no resolution for any of the three main characters which is pretty unforgiveable for a book which deals with topics as serious as rape and consent. What have these characters learned (apparently nothing)? How have their views changed (apparently not at all)? What message are you actually trying to pass to your YA audience (apparently a poor one)? This needed serious work.

[Eva Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great exploration of the aftermath of violence but I did not love the ending to this. None of the other characters got a resolution apart from molly. I kinda felt like some chapters had been ripped out the back of the book.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Williamson has a knack of getting to the heart of issues that are important for young people and writing about them in a sympathetic but no holds barred way that is extremely powerful. The Summer After the Night Before explores consent from both sides , a young male and a female , and clearly shows the perils of getting blind drunk and therefore not being in control of your actions. Of course there are some sexual scenes included , I really appreciated that there was one extremely positive new relationship/loss of virginity portrayed and I think reading this would encourage young people to realise their own autonomy and to feel empowered to explore their sexuality without feeling that 'everyone else is doing it so I should'. Great exploration of what being a friend really means too and the need to provide support always, even if we don't fully understand a friend's actions. An important, engaging read.

[Vonprice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful & well written Young Adult novel which explores the concept of consent. You can read my full review here: https://vsviewfromthebookshelves.home...

[Beth Knight]

Please be aware that this book deals with themes of sexual assault.

It's all about the importance of consent and communication but be aware of the subject matter. I struggled with this due to my own trauma. What I managed was very good and really well written.

[MISS RACHEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent an early copy of this by the publisher.

It’s a (sadly) believable story about teenagers who get very drunk and then can’t really remember what happened after they kiss…

It addresses issues of the different expectations for boys and girls, of consent and more.

Reading it with my ‘work hat’ on, I can see that it could be a valuable tool in helping young people think through some of these issues but I’m wary of introducing books where sexual relationships are treated as so normal and accepted.

I also think that this book, despite having both male and female narrators, will appeal more to girls… yet needs to be read by boys just as much.

“Good guys can do bad stuff” is as message they all need to hear… though it’s certainly not the only message or truth in this story.