So, I read Every Summer After a few years ago. I honestly didn’t like it that much but Amazon Prime has been killing it lately with original series (see Off Campus 🥵), so I decided to give Every Year After a chance. 

The main things I didn’t like about the book was how horrible Sam acted all the time towards Percy (still applies tbh), and how nice and underrated Charlie (Michael Bradway) was in the books (honestly doesn’t apply to the show unfortunately). I also hated HATED the ending. When I finished reading the book all I could keep thinking was “THIS is what everyone keeps fawning over??”

This is where my review for the actual show comes in. Let’s start with the good: I think Sadie Soverall killed it as Percy, switching seamlessly between a teenaged version and semi adult version. She was amazing. I also loved Delilah (Abigail Cowen) mainly because I loved her acting in Redeeming Love. Matt Cornett and Michael Bradway were okay as the Florek brothers, but I never felt drawn to them (except maybe during that intense ice cream licking scene… weird but oddly alluring). Chantal (Aurora Perrineau) was an interesting development that differed from the book, but I didn’t find that she added enough to really invest my attention towards her during the show. 

Like I mentioned above, I didn’t particularly enjoy the book, so the story for this show didn’t really call my name either. It was interesting and, of course, full of drama. A lot of the shining moments in this show were from Jordie, Delilah, Sue, and the moments of friendship between Percy and Sam before they started their relationship. Those were the best, and I felt like the chemistry between young Percy (Juliette Hawk) and young Sam (Blue Clarke) was better than the adult versions. Because I’m going to be honest, Sam and Percy are TOXIC. I thought the same thing in the book. 

Spoilers ahead.

So here are some of my unfiltered thoughts throughout the series. I’ll go over the ending and what happens after these.

Episode 1:

• Think Susannah from The Summer I Turned Pretty 
• Basically I feel like we really don’t know anything at this point (I read the book, so I know, but the show doesn’t feel like it gave us any stakes or things to look forward to). 
• My favorite parts so far are with young Percy and Sam.

Episode 2:

• I wonder if her best friend, Chantal, will end up breaking off her engagement for Jordie. 

Episode 3: 

• What Sam did to that poor ice cream was UNCALLED FOR. Like jeez, who goes in to lick ice cream like that 😩😮‍💨. 

Episode 4:

• Sam was an asshole in the books and is an asshole in the show. Period. 
• Go Percy for calling Sam out on his bullshit. 
• The soundtrack for this show is ON POINT.
• Here comes all the secrets from Charlie….

Episode 5:

• I was like, oh yeah, no way, the Tavern scene was totally a dream. 
• Charlie (Michael Bradway) looks like a young Tom Cruise and Sadie Soverall legit looks like an older version of Sadie Sink.
• Ugh. Sam is such an asshole. New Year’s Eve party? Like ughhhh Percy deserves someone so much better. 
• So now I’m wondering if Delilah will end up with Jordie (or maybe a love triangle with Chantal). 
• Some of the transitions from past to present with the same actors were hard to tell the difference between. I wish the lighting or something else may have been a little more different than it was. 
• Love how Sam says something sweet and then all of a sudden every rude or horrible thing he did to Percy before is forgotten. 

Episode 6:

• What the show misses a lot of is Charlie. It’s been a while since I read the book, but Charlie (from what I remember) really liked Percy and was the only one who really stuck by her. He seriously got the shit end of the stick because Percy just used him. In the show, poor Charlie gets hardly any screen time. 
• Damnnn Sam is so mean. He literally said Charlie poisons everything after finding out all that Charlie did when they were young. Solidifies how much I don’t like Sam. 
• Jordie is probably my favorite character on the show. 
• Really glad Chantal and Jordie didn’t kiss. Let’s break up with the fiancé first please. 

Episode 7:

• There’s the Charlie I remember from the book. 
• OMG SAM IS SUCH A SELF RIGHTEOUS ASSHOLE. 

Episode 8: 

• Honestly watching Sam and Charlie fight on the docks is so hilarious. 
• Sue is Susannah from TSITP literally. 
• I’ll say it one more time. I hate Sam. He is horrible and he and Percy’s relationship is toxic. 

Basically, Percy slept with Charlie after Sam broke up with her AGAIN because “it’s too much and I need to focus.” Like bro. You’re the problem. Yes, what Percy and Charlie did was wrong, but oh my gosh. SAM YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. Percy was literally emotionally manipulated and tossed around by him and they were the worst as a couple. They should’ve just stayed friends. You finally get to see Charlie’s redeeming qualities towards the end of the season, but the book made me love him so much more. Also, apparently the ending with the picture of Charlie, Sam, and Percy in the boat hints at the next season (and Carley Fortune’s book for Charlie’s love story), One Golden Summer.

To sum it up after the big secret: Jordie and Chantal end up together with Delilah looking on mournfully. Percy ends up with Sam (blech) as she runs the Tavern with Delilah. Charlie looks like he has a whole heart attack after looking at the picture of the yellow boat.

I have been told (and I’ve read) that there are a bunch of big differences from the book. It’s been too long for me to even spot differences (and I didn’t like the book enough to remember that much), so y’all let me know what big differences there were!

Overall, this show is definitely not as binge-able as Off Campus. If you want a show that has a better girl-and-two-brothers-vibe, you’ll find it in The Summer I Turned Pretty. If you want a book that does a WAY better job of “I love this brother but I made a mistake with the other brother”, check out 99 Days by Katie Cotugno.

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