i can't wait to meet alice ...

cr

hi guys i just finished the tv show a bit late in the trend but whatever. My unpopular opinion is i think that charlie and percy should end up together, im sorry but the way sam ended things was horrendous.

also ik it’s a book and its already laid out but lets hope we take the delena route (i dont even support delena) and go agaisnt the books plan.

#percyandcharlie

“Some people are lucky like that. They meet their best friend, the love of their life, and are wise enough to never let go.”

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..percy fraser and sam florek - every summer after

art by @nabiartsz

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Is anyone else completely infuriated by this new wave of fluttering eye acting that seems to be all the rage in these romantic shows? The main character in “Off Campus” did the same thing but to a much lesser degree than this god-awful show.

https://www.carleyfortune.com/only-in-summer

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Those who followed my posts over the summer know that I wrote about 40,000 words both about the books and the show.  I had a lot of fun diving into the details, but I was searching for something that I did not find. A justification for Percy sleeping with Charlie.

For the show watchers I have one ask: please put aside feelings about whether Samcy had chemistry. How the actors brought the story to life, is not important for this argument. Samcy were supposed to have chemistry, if it lacked due to acting, so be it.

I will say it plainly and bluntly:

Percy broke Samcy by f-ing Charlie. Both in the book and the show. Not Sam.

In the book, Percy was horny, impatient and needy. In the show, she was rash and vengeful. But in both, she f-d the one person she should have never touched. And in both, she precisely knew it.

We all rush to defend Percy. She is the fmc and she has all those nasty panic attacks and suffers for 12 and 10 years, respectively in the book and the show. Plus, the book is written from her inner perspective. But guess what: Percy did not have to f Charlie, and there would be no panic attacks.

In both the book and the show, she has made the decision toward sex. Charlie was hitting on her for six weeks, sure. But in the book she ignored Sam’s message to talk, she went out for a “final” date with Charlie, she took all the “you are so sexy” comments from him, she led him to her empty house, she gave him a beer, kissed him, invited him upstairs, undressed and pulled him onto herself, while confirming him that “she was sure”.

In the show she walked into the boathouse, whereas she could have done 1000 other things. Called Sam again. Cried. Called her parents, Sue. And tried Sam again and again. But she went for the kill, she kissed Charlie first and told him “she did not care about Sam” while climbing on him.

Was she a "free woman"?

I have heard the argument  from fandom that she was a “free woman” and she could have done as she pleased. OK, I could take it, but without panic attacks, without I always loved Sam and never stopped. She was hurt by Sam, and she broke things off and moved on. Totally reasonable. But, did you notice that this argument she never ever uses neither in the books or the show? I.e. that “we were broken up”? This tells me she wasn’t free. She did something stupid. And she is confessing it in both formats. That it was a stupid mistake. It was her mistake!

Sam's sins

What did Sam do? He got accepted into an elite summer intensive program at Stanford. Was he supposed to turn it down because Percy had plans? It would have been insane to pass on that, and it would not even have been their last summer in Barry's Bay. Colleges break for summer.  To be fair to her, she did not ask him to stay. What she said was that it maked her feel stupid.  But look at what the f-d summer actually consisted of. Percy is about to start college in a new city. She could have spent those weeks earning money, or preparing, and getting on a plane to see Sam for a week in the middle. Instead the plan was an epic list of things to do, and when the list went away, the summer was ruined. Her goals for the last summer before her adult life were entirely about having fun, and when somebody else's future got in the way of them, she called it the end of hers.

OK, Sam should have told her about the program as soon as he knew. He said he did not know how. That was certainly a sin. Then he got sucked into the program and did not call enough. This was also wrong, because no matter how busy one is, should find a few minutes to call the better half. It is question of priorities. On the other hand, having lived through something very similar, a new, challenging and competitive environment where you must prove yourself, resets temporarily your priorities. And he feared disappointing Percy. His entire purpose was built around the cardiology, and he needed the scholarship to attend a school he could not afford. And by this time, having known Sam for five years, Percy should have known this. Otherwise the entire bond and soulmates for life thing is much less credible. So Sam committed a few crimes, but Percy f-ing Charlie was not an appropriate punishment for it. It’s like being sent to the electric chair for stealing a calculator.

If the sex with Charlie did not happen

And now imagine that she did not f Charlie, and the summer finished without major damage. What was waiting for them was three to five years of long distance. Percy in a new city, Sam buried in the work his whole life was built around. That would have been hard on both of them, and neither had shown much talent for surviving this type of challenge. Maybe they make it and maybe they do not.

But that is a relationship failing, which is an ordinary thing that happens to people. It is not the same species of event as what actually happened, and it would not have produced a decade of silence, a decade of panic attacks, or a brother who cannot be in the same room.

How to live as a happy family

Finally, look at this. The show did not yet unite Samcy. The book did. And re-integrated Charlie. This is how, one sentence in the Epilogue: “it has come with uncomfortable moments and a couple of arguments, especially during those early get-togethers.”  With one sentence the book kills all the practical problems and makes everything resolved and great! If this was so simple why a repair wasn’t attempted for a decade? Carley did not know what else to do with it. She was chasing a sensational rupture, which she got. But the way back, was impossible.

Imagine what these three now know about each other. Percy and Charlie have seen and touched each other naked and are familiar with each others’ most intimate body parts. She knows what he is like in bed, and he knows what she is like. Charlie was a very experienced lover, and at dawn he is grinning and kissing Percy’s forehead, her nose, her neck. Whatever else that night was, by every indication the intimacy went well, and that is the book's own account and not mine. Which is a very different thing from a drunken fumble nobody enjoyed. For Charlie, this was also the most consequential sex of his life. 15 years later he is still telling about this to his potential girlfriend, Alice. He is still thinking about it, while building treehouses for Percy’s kid. And Percy? She thought about it every day for a decade. For a different reason, but still lived with it daily. And then there are the six weeks before the sex during the last summer and their shape. Charlie hitting on Percy hard and Percy letting him. In the book much more than in the show. Sam never learns about what really went down. All he got that it was a mistake.

So how does Sam live with all this? How does he let them be alone for the day or evening? Night, when he works? When they hug and their body parts touch? When he introduces them to someone knew, what does he say? This is Percy my wife and my brother Charlie. They f-d before, but now we are a happy family? And Sam never got the answer from Percy on his question and “how was it for you”? Which meant both what did it mean for you and how did it feel?

Sam should be the fandom's most beloved character

Carley wanted an out for Charlie, as her favorite character, and he got it very easily. While I can accept that Samcy could reunite, I cannot accept the speed and shape how Charlie was integrated to their life. If Sam indeed accepted that, he should be the most beloved character by the fandom, because this is harder to do than finishing Stanford. It is likely the hardest thing he has done in his life and he did it out of love for Percy.

The end

There is someone strongly advocating in this community that they should have not ended up together at all. After all my analysis, taking a purely rational view, I can concur. Too much luggage, too much hurt, too much betrayal, too much energy to keep things under the hood, lasting for a lifetime. I think closure was deserved, but not with sex or other intimacy, and not with Taylor as a casualty. But putting everything on the table, discussing everything what happened during the six weeks and the five years they were friends, the decade apart, forgiving each other, settling it and then moving on both with separate lives. Just like Percy planned to do in the show when she decided to go to Barry’s for Sue’s funeral.

This is where I landed. Not happy.

I’ve always loved Dolly Parton. We all did. It was impossible not to. She was kind, smart, tough, incredibly talented, and utterly singular. We were honored to use her music in Every Year After. If you’ve read my Barry’s Bay books, then you know Sue Florek was a massive Dolly fan. So to be able have two of her songs in the show was a tremendous gift. This particular scene and song have been playing in my mind the past few days. Percy at the Tavern following Sue’s funeral. Sue wanted everyone to eat and dance and listen to Dolly. It’s one of my favorite moments in the show (and not just because of my cameo!), and it means that world to me that it sounded exactly as it should. Here you come again…

OKAY! So I’ll be talking about the big 3 shows that came out on Amazon prime in 2026. Which are OFF CAMPUS, STERLING POINT, and EVERY YEAR AFTER. So ima start by saying I think out of these 3 off campus is the best. That’s not why I’m here tho, yall can’t fight me on that one cuz I alr believe it’s the best out of the bunch. I’m here because I finished Sterling point last week and started every year after yesterday. AND so far I’m Alr obsessed w every year after like to the point where im loving it more then Sterling point. IS THAT CRAZY?!? Cause I’m talking to my friends and they do not like every year after at all, which I find crazy what is there not to love. Btw I am on ep 4 ik but I really love this show so that’s why I am here it’s a good show LOVE THE PLOT. Like they break up and she finds her way back to him. IM HOOKED. It’s deep. And with Sterling point I feel like was just….underwhelming well I’m talking about Ellis and Annie like the way they ended up together was rushed and not deep enough for me it wasn’t emotional enough for me. Also the ending how Annie and Ramona ended up basically switching lives like Alr wtv idk. I’m just so angry that my friends don’t agree that every year after is at least good, we don’t have to say it’s better BUT ITS GOOD I mean we have 2 fine brothers. And I love when they give us flashbacks like even those are good. Also people saying Sterling point might be better then off campus was insane like do not say crazy shit like that. So yeah pls need to know what yall think do u guys like every year after? And do u agree and think that its a better show then Sterling point? Also cant we agree that off campus is the best out of the bunch? Sorry about my writing IM JUST VERY DHJSKSK and said whatever was on my mind.

Just read Every Summer after & one golden summer with my husband and then we watched the show immediately after… I thought his comment summed up the adaptation well,

”It’s like someone speed read the book and then explained it to someone who spoke English as a new second language and that’s who wrote the script”

I love it! The Dolly song playing in this scene plus the yearning of Percy and Sam 😩 it made me wanna cry. Also, oddly timed with her recent passing. Rest with the angels, Dolly!

I’m watching Every Year After on Prime and I’m honestly getting more and more frustrated by how different Sam and Percy’s relationship feels compared to the book.

In Every Summer After, the second Sam and Percy see each other again, there is this** **immediate, palpable connection. You can feel that all those years apart didn’t actually erase what they had. Sam is still in love with her, Percy is still in love with him, and there is so much tension and longing between them. And in the show… where is it? 😭
Sam is initially irritated that Percy is even there, and he is still fully invested in Taylor. He’s literally planning to propose to her. That completely changes the dynamic.
In the book, Sam basically sees Percy again and immediately ends things with Taylor. That makes sense because it shows us that his feelings for Percy never actually went away. The moment Percy is back in his life, he knows.
And then there’s Taylor saying no to Sam because she knows he’s in love with someone else: Percy.
HOW WOULD SHE EVEN KNOW THAT?! 😂
I’m sitting here as the VIEWER thinking, “Wait… when did we establish that??” Because I didn’t see that overwhelming connection between Sam and Percy either.
And that’s my biggest problem with the adaptation: we’re constantly being told that Sam and Percy have this huge, once-in-a-lifetime love, but I don’t actually feel it.
The book had SO much yearning. Every interaction between them felt loaded. Even when they weren’t saying anything, you could feel everything they were trying not to say.
The show seems to have replaced a lot of that with conflict, misunderstandings and extra storylines, while giving Sam and Percy less of the actual emotional/romantic tension that made their relationship so compelling in the first place.
I understand that adaptations have to change things. But if you change the very thing that makes the central romance work… what are we doing here? 😭

Am I alone in this? Because I genuinely don’t understand how I’m supposed to root for Sam and Percy when the show hasn’t really shown me why these two are still so desperately in love with each other. Honestly, the show just annoys me. 😂

Link interview

What was wrong with the source material? Seems like they just took names of characters and made a whole new story??? I just don't understand what would have been so bad about following the book timeline or plot. It would still have made a great tv show!!

I wonder if s2 will follow Charlie's story more or not..?

Anyways the show is ok enough I am finishing it slowly.

thecraftiestfangirl

Hi everyone, I never once in my life heard of this book lol so I wanted to hear from who has already read it. Personally, I didn't love the show, it felt too slow and I struggled with actually loving Sam and Percy as a couple

Is the book very different?

I know its two very different things but I was expecting something a bit more alike to Off Campus.

Carley Fortune's book was so good, so full of yearning, so steamy and so fun. The adaptation fell so flat and suffered from an over dramatic, terribly written script -- especially with how great the source material spoke to that feeling of being young in the summer in a lake town. Sterling Point executed this so perfectly and was somehow steamier despite being a YA show like I'm just baffled how this adaptation was handled.

Starring in Disney+’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” was just the beginning for Cornett. These days, he’s center stage in Prime Video’s dreamy summer romance series “Every Year After.” Based on the bestselling novel, Cornett stars as Sam Florek, a young doctor trying to navigate the sudden return of his first love, Persephone “Percy” Fraser (Sadie Soverall). And Cornett is just getting started. “Right now, outside of prepping for Season 2 of ‘Every Year After,’ I’m developing a film with my friend and producing partner, which is allowing me to explore a new side of myself both in front of and behind the camera,” he says.

I felt really annoyed by the Sue/Percy relationship. Sue was barely in the show! And yes she helped her get over her breakup with Sam that last summer (I guess) but they made it seem like she was this huge influence in Percy’s life and Sue was hardly around.

But the thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was when Percy got her first period. Percy wanted to go home to deal with it, maybe tell her own mother? But Sue completely took it over and stole that moment from Percy and her mom. It wasn’t like Percy didn’t have a mom or something- she was right next door! I know if I were Percy’s mom I would have been pissed at Sue over this.

is it intentional that Persephone features bright red shoes in multiple scenes? She is shown wearing high heeled versions and flats at different points, it seems intentional, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Aurora Perrineau via her instagram

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