The Summer After the Night Before

LoveReading Says

Authentically voiced by a trio of teenage characters through alternating narratives, Lisa Williamson’s The Summer After the Night Before is a nuanced and profoundly thought-provoking YA novel that explores themes of consent, self-esteem, coercion, and the damaging impact of perennial people-pleasing alongside themes of friendship and family, love, longing and loyalty, and finding the strength to trust your own instincts.  

Molly, as described by her best friend Rhiannon, is “the kind of pretty that people just can’t seem to get enough of — blonde, blue-eyed and angel-faced”. Molly is also a “chronic people-pleaser” who can never say no to boys who want to take her Snap handle because “they might feel bad”, which leads Rhiannon to wonder why Molly “needs to seek validation from some random guy she can’t possibly be interested in”.

One guy Molly isn’t romantically interested in is Ben, Rhiannon’s brother, who also feel like a brother to her. For his part, Ben has been in love with Molly for as long as he can remember. As a result, he can’t believe his luck when Molly kisses him at a party. Drunk at the time, when memories of the night start to re-surface, Molly begins to wonder whether it might be true that good guys like Ben can do bad stuff.  

Molly’s journey to learning to trust her own instincts is powerfully authentic, with positive representations of relationships and sex serving as encouraging counterparts to portrayals of predatory behaviour, and questions around coercion. As a result, The Summer After the Night Before comes heartily recommended for 15+-year-olds who relish relatable stories that explore friendship, relationships, and first experiences of love and sex.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About The Summer After the Night Before

Ben's been in love with Molly for ever. When she finally kisses him at a party, he thinks all his dreams have come true. And later that night, he thinks they've started something really special.

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