A Summer of Wonder by Hilary Dart is a sweet book about a woman named Sarah who lost touch with herself, her marriage, and her daughter. 

This book centers around Sarah and her family. Once she got pregnant with her daughter Amelia, Sarah got it into her head that she had to be the perfect mother, the perfect wife, and the perfect person. In doing her best to become the perfect person, her relationships started to suffer. 

Then, as Sarah is going over some things that need to be done for Amelia’s high school graduation, her husband Donny drops the news on her that he wants a divorce. He wants to separate from her because he feels neglected and unnoticed by her. Their conversation is cut short by their daughter Amelia walking in and overhearing the conversation. Ultimately, this ends up shattering Sarah goes over everything in her marriage trying to figure out what she had done wrong. 

I really liked the first 25% of this book. I really enjoyed the way the characters were developed and how the problems they were having were ordinary everyday problems. I have been with my husband for almost a decade, and there are days when I feel neglected, and days where he does. There are days that needs are not being met and everything feels incredibly hard.  

The biggest problem I had with this book overall is Sarah herself. Hilary did a masterful job at creating a character whose biggest flaw was herself. But eventually it hit a point while reading where I got tired of Sarah, tired of her whining, and tired of her blaming everyone else for what was going on. Who hasn’t lost themselves in their desire to be something? But she really lost herself and when people started to point it out to her, she denied it, ignored it, or tried to come up with excuses to justify why she had acted the way she did. 

The tipping point for me in not liking Sarah was when her daughter broke her arm. Sarah and Donny had gone away on an overnight vacation as an opportunity to reconnect with each other and try to save their marriage. While they were away Amelia ended up falling and breaking her arm. Sarah gets the call in the middle of the night and literally EVERYONE told her Amelia was ok, and that Sarah should stay in the hotel for the night. Amelia said it, Sarah’s sisters said it, Donny said it. And while I understand that Amelia is Sarah’s daughter and has been the focus of her life for the longest time, this event was the tipping point where I couldn’t even feel sorry for her anymore. This moment made it feel like Sarah was just inviting more negativity and bad things into her life and marriage because she couldn’t let go. 

It also really bothered me that at the end of this book, it felt like none of the character growth the characters had mattered. Donny forgave everything Sarah did without her having to change, Amelia forgave everything, Sarah’s sisters forgave everything. Donny and Sarah ended up starting over in their marriage when Donny said he was going to build a house on Sarah’s mother’s land. So even the parts of this I did like, and the development that the characters were undergoing, didn’t even really seem to matter. Which was ultimately disappointing. 

Overall – The writing in this book was good and Hilary has a way of writing a sweet story, but the story itself had problems that I think needed addressed before this was published. I think there were a few too many plot threads happening in this book, as well as too many characters to try and keep track of. I understand what the author was doing, and that she was not only writing Sarah and Donny’s story but also setting up book two and three as well, but it was a bit too much for one book. 

A Summer of Wonder (The Seedling Homestead Series Book 1) – Hilary Dart 
Cost* – eBook is $3.99  
*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published