Publishers Weekly
★ 06/20/2022
Using an intimate first-person narrative and alternating between the past and present, Dwyer celebrates found family in this emotionally layered and strikingly romantic debut. With her father in and out of jail and her mother often disappearing without notice, Ellis Truman spent most of her Indiana childhood with classmate Easton Albrey and his family. After taking Ellis, then 11, under their wing, the Albreys—which include Easton’s mother, father, and brothers Dixon and Tucker—essentially raise her as their own. When she’s 15, Ellis realizes that she’s fallen in love with Easton, but following an incident, Ellis, now 18, is living with her aunt in California. Though she and Easton haven’t spoken since she left, Tucker encourages Ellis to accompany him home for their mother’s 50th birthday. Ellis’s melancholy present, juxtaposed with scenes from her joyful past, provide insight into her struggles navigating conflicting loyalties to her biological family and the Albreys. The narrative’s alternating timelines and the slowly unfolding mystery behind Ellis and Easton’s fallout introduces intrigue and palpable tension between intricately characterized, presumably all white, characters. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May)
From the Publisher
The slow-build romance is swoonworthy, and young adult fans of Colleen Hoover seeking emotional devastation and unforgettable characters will find much to enjoy here. A powerful tale of found family and first love.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Readers will desperately root for Ellis and Easton in this unforgettable romance. A perfectly emotional read for fans of Nicola Yoon and Becky Albertalli, this coming-of-age romance is one not to miss.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
"An emotionally layered and strikingly romantic debut." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A breathtaking tour de force of angst and longing. Heartbreaking, painfully romantic, and deeply human.” — Stephanie Garber, #1 bestselling author of Caraval
“Funny, romantic, and heartfelt. A stunning debut!” — Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Creatures
"A novel you can make yourself at home in, with characters so real it feels like you’ve known them for ages. I loved the family dynamic, the slow burn, all of those gorgeous lines so clear and startling they lift off the page, and the way it made my heart slowly (but surely) shatter. This one will stick with you." — Jenna Evans Welch, New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato
"A deeply human story of first love, found family, and the heartbreak of losing them both. With vulnerable prose that is at turns achingly tender and others hilarious, readers will laugh through their tears. SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE is a profoundly honest exploration of identity, friendship and learning to let go. This is the kind of book you return to again and again." — New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young
"SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE made me feel. Dwyer writes with such wit and honesty, I was at turns laughing out loud and then crying my eyes out. These characters will stay with me forever, and I'm only heartbroken there wasn't another chapter to devour." — Isabel Ibanez bestselling author of Woven in Moonlight
"This book comes with its own aching heartbeat. Be forewarned, it's stronger than it looks." — Stacey Lee, award winning author of LUCK OF THE TITANIC
“Beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful. This is a rare gift of a novel.” — Robyn Schneider, bestselling author of The Beginning of Everything
"SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE is a gorgeous meditation on shattered dreams and making amends, found family and loyalty and what it means to sacrifice for the people we love most. Dwyer’s debut is brimming with hope and love amidst angst, longing, heartache, and the bittersweetness of growing up. It is tender and romantic, vulnerable and sincere, but it is never ever cheesy. I was rooting for Easton and Ellis from the very first page." — Ashley Woodfolk, acclaimed author of WHEN YOU WERE EVERYTHING and THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS
"Some Mistakes Were Made is the angsty romance of my dreams. I wanted to linger in Kristin Dwyer’s beautiful prose forever and savor all the perfect, vivid details. But once I started this special book, I just couldn’t put it down!" — Elise Bryant, author of Happily Ever Afters
“Gorgeously romantic and compulsively readable. Some Mistakes Were Made and these flawed, unforgettable characters wrecked my heart and then repaired it, filling the cracks with hope and possibility. A captivating story of first love, first heartbreak, and the delicate beauty of second chances.” — Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of Today Tonight Tomorrow
"Dwyer's debut reaches into the complexities of family and societal pressure and draws out a one-of-a-kind narrative of the pain and passion of reuniting broken bonds. With vivid prose and heart-stopping romance, Some Mistakes Were Made is the powerful entry of a gorgeous new voice." — Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Always Never Yours
"Some Mistakes Were Made is full of lyrical prose that weaves a story as gut-wrenching as a Sally Rooney novel while showcasing the vulnerability found in a Katie Cotugno book. You are holding in your hands the next big, bold, and beautiful thing in YA!" — Isabella Ogbolumani, Children's Bookseller & Events Coordinator, >Buffalo Street Books
Stephanie Garber
A breathtaking tour de force of angst and longing. Heartbreaking, painfully romantic, and deeply human.
Kami Garcia
Funny, romantic, and heartfelt. A stunning debut!
Stacey Lee
"This book comes with its own aching heartbeat. Be forewarned, it's stronger than it looks."
Robyn Schneider
Beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful. This is a rare gift of a novel.
Jenna Evans Welch
"A novel you can make yourself at home in, with characters so real it feels like you’ve known them for ages. I loved the family dynamic, the slow burn, all of those gorgeous lines so clear and startling they lift off the page, and the way it made my heart slowly (but surely) shatter. This one will stick with you."
Ashley Woodfolk
"SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE is a gorgeous meditation on shattered dreams and making amends, found family and loyalty and what it means to sacrifice for the people we love most. Dwyer’s debut is brimming with hope and love amidst angst, longing, heartache, and the bittersweetness of growing up. It is tender and romantic, vulnerable and sincere, but it is never ever cheesy. I was rooting for Easton and Ellis from the very first page."
New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young
"A deeply human story of first love, found family, and the heartbreak of losing them both. With vulnerable prose that is at turns achingly tender and others hilarious, readers will laugh through their tears. SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE is a profoundly honest exploration of identity, friendship and learning to let go. This is the kind of book you return to again and again."
Isabel Ibanez bestselling author of Woven in Moonlight
"SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE made me feel. Dwyer writes with such wit and honesty, I was at turns laughing out loud and then crying my eyes out. These characters will stay with me forever, and I'm only heartbroken there wasn't another chapter to devour."
Elise Bryant
"Some Mistakes Were Made is the angsty romance of my dreams. I wanted to linger in Kristin Dwyer’s beautiful prose forever and savor all the perfect, vivid details. But once I started this special book, I just couldn’t put it down!"
Rachel Lynn Solomon
Gorgeously romantic and compulsively readable. Some Mistakes Were Made and these flawed, unforgettable characters wrecked my heart and then repaired it, filling the cracks with hope and possibility. A captivating story of first love, first heartbreak, and the delicate beauty of second chances.
Isabella Ogbolumani
"Some Mistakes Were Made is full of lyrical prose that weaves a story as gut-wrenching as a Sally Rooney novel while showcasing the vulnerability found in a Katie Cotugno book. You are holding in your hands the next big, bold, and beautiful thing in YA!"
Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
"Dwyer's debut reaches into the complexities of family and societal pressure and draws out a one-of-a-kind narrative of the pain and passion of reuniting broken bonds. With vivid prose and heart-stopping romance, Some Mistakes Were Made is the powerful entry of a gorgeous new voice."
School Library Journal
★ 04/01/2022
Gr 10 Up—It's been a year since Ellis was banished to the West Coast; a year of being cut off from her best friend and love, Easton Albrey. She's freshly graduated from high school when Easton's brother Tucker Albrey swoops back into Ellis's life and convinces her to return to their small town in Indiana for his mother's 50th birthday bash. Going back means facing the heartache and betrayal that obliterated her life last summer and Ellis isn't sure she'll survive it. Debut author Dwyer conceives a touching romance between two teens, whose inseparable bond is tested by calamitous events. Flashbacks of Ellis from ages 11 to 17 creates the groundwork for the beautiful, complicated, and messy connections Ellis has with her parents, the Albreys, and Easton. Ellis's fractured relationship with her family reveals the struggle of obligation vs. happiness, which seamlessly plays into the underlying tension in the novel of the haves (the Albreys) and the have nots (Ellis). This, in turn, drives home the notion that nurture—or the environment in which one is raised—affects how one construes and reacts to situations. Ellis's upbringing has made her emotionally blinded by self-doubt, which, when mixed with Easton's earnestly privileged outlook, implodes their relationship. It's only when both realize and face the mistakes made that they're woven back together. Readers will desperately root for Ellis and Easton in this unforgettable romance. All characters read white. VERDICT A perfectly emotional read for fans of Nicola Yoon and Becky Albertalli, this coming-of-age romance is one not to miss.—Emily Walker
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-01-11
After a year away, Ellis returns home to confront her past.
Graduating from high school far from everything familiar was not part of Ellis Truman’s original plans, but she nevertheless ended up spending her senior year with her aunt in California. In Indiana, Ellis practically grew up with the Albrey family and their three tightknit sons, Dixon, Tucker, and Easton. Now, Tucker wants her to return home for matriarch Sandry Albrey’s 50th birthday celebration on the Fourth of July—but Ellis is dreading seeing Easton, as they haven’t talked since she left. Chapters alternate between past and present, and much of the story unravels slowly: How did she come to live with the Albreys? What caused Ellis to then end up in San Diego? What happened in her relationship with Easton? Patient readers will find the heartfelt tension pays off. With her father in and out of jail and an absent mother, socio-economic differences separating Ellis from the middle-class Albreys don’t go unnoticed, and Ellis’ down-to-earth journey shows how she unpacks her feelings about her relationship with her parents. The slow-build romance is swoonworthy, and young adult fans of Colleen Hoover seeking emotional devastation and unforgettable characters will find much to enjoy here. Characters read as White.
A powerful tale of found family and first love. (Fiction. 14-18)
