****TRIGGER WARNINGS: focus on death, suicidal thoughts, drowning, PTSD/ phobias, paranoia, homicide, mental/ physical/ emotional abuse.
Five years after a terrible accident nearly killed Olivia, she returns to her childhood home to visit old friends, and to face her fears.
The Summer I Drowned by Taylor Hale weaves together elements of a mystery, a psychological thriller, and teen romance. I flew through reading this book, trying to figure out the mystery. Olivia really drew me in as well. Thanks to a near-death drowning, she understandably has PTSD, and (literal) hydrophobia, both of which can trigger panic attacks. Thanks to losing an eye, I lost my depth perception and have become legally blind. I have demophobia, or fear of crowds/being crowded and panic attacks can be triggered if I don’t pay attention to growing anxiety. For that, I felt the novel was well-researched, as I did with other psychological issues presented.
I definitely grokked Olivia’s feelings about how her friends had changed, even her closest friend, Keely. Five years gave her distance and perspective about all of them. It can be an eye-opening experience to realise you don’t know friends as well as you think. These kids are all still so young. Haha, aging myself here, but it does make me shake my head at the foolishness of youth. And the drama! I certainly don’t miss being that age. Recommended! I plan to keep an eye out for anything else written by this author.
***Many thanks to Netgalley and Wattpad for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
