The Darkest Summer by Ella Drummond @drummondella1 @HeraBooks

Book Description:

One hot summer, Dee disappeared. Now she’s back…but she’s not the girl you knew.

Sera and Dee were the best of friends.

Until the day that Dee and her brother Leo vanished from Sera’s life, during a long hot summer thirty years ago.

Now Sera is an adult, with her own child, five-year-old Katie, and has returned to her childhood home after her husband’s death.

While she grieves, the past haunts Sera at every turn … and then Dee and Leo return to their small Hampshire village, along with Dee’s young daughter.

But Dee is silent and haunted by her demons; no longer the fun-loving girl that Sera loved. And when Sera uncovers the shocking secret that Dee is hiding, it’s clear that the girl she knew is long gone – and that the adult she has grown into might put all of them in danger…

My Thoughts:

Having read My Last Lie by the author and loving it, I couldn’t wait to read her new standalone and it didn’t disappoint.

Set in the hottest season of the year, The Darkest Summer makes for at times, a stifling read. You get the sense of the heat and dryness that Sera is having to endure but that isn’t all she has to deal with!

The story is set mainly in the present with some chapters in the past. We get to see the difference in Sera and Dee’s friendship between then and now. In the past, Dee and Sera were the bestest of friends and carefree and loving life. Fast forward to present day and whilst life has obviously hit both of them hard, Dee is far from the person she was when they were younger.

As soon as Dee comes on the scene my senses were going through the roof. It was obvious her and her brother Leo are not telling Sera everything and I was desperate to know more. What I love most about this authors books is how she gently draws you into them and slowly reveals things along the way. Usually I would struggle with books that do that to me but not this authors! They are so compelling and when I pick her books up, I swear I can’t tear myself away as am so fixated on the story and characters and to how it will end for everyone involved.

The Darkest Summer is an addictive read that totally absorbs you. Whilst I had managed to work out some of what was in store for us, I certainly hadn’t anticipated all of it and when it came to light, it literally blew me away. Ella Drummond without a doubt is vast becoming one of my favourite authors in this genre.

My thanks to Hera Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

The Darkest Summer is available to pre-order now from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an affiliate link).