Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author: Jenny Han
Series: Summer #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: December 2010
Format: eBook | 304 pages
Genre: YA | Contemporary
When each summer begins, Belly leaves her school life behind and escapes to Cousins Beach, the place she has spent every summer of her life. Not only does the beach house mean home away from home, but her favourite people are there: Susannah, her mother's best friend, and her sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has been chasing Conrad for as long as she can remember, and more than anything, she hopes this summer will be different. Despite distractions from a new guy named Cam and lingering looks from Conrad's brother, Jeremiah, Belly's heart belongs to Conrad. Will he offer his to her? Will this be the summer that changes everything?
My thoughts:
Can someone please tell me why I've waited so long to read this book?
What I loved most about this read was not only was it all about summer, it was about how one girl changes over many summers. There were quite a few flashbacks of past summers with all of the characters living together so it made for some amazing opportunities to get to know the characters a whole lot more. You get to learn what makes them who they are and why they act the way they do in the main part of the story (the present time). The characters were amazingly well rounded and perfectly developed so I pretty much fell in love with every single one of them for different reasons.
The writing really captured the essence of summer - I could imagine all of the settings with ease and be reminded of my own summer experiences just from the tone of the book sometimes. Since it is December while I'm writing this review, this book succeeded in making me look forward to the summer if nothing else.
The plot was also wonderful. It was nothing like I was expecting. I was thinking there would be a huge focus on romance for obvious reasons but there was so much more. This book was pretty heartbreaking at times and it left me in tears more than once. Since I loved the characters so much, everything that happened to them really hit home more than usual.
Aside from the ending, which I hated, I thought this book was a fantastic read. I honestly can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.
My rating: 8/10
Jenny Han:
Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook
Summer:
- The Summer I Turned Pretty
- It's Not Summer Without You
- We'll Always Have Summer
2 comments:
I've always wanted to read this book but couldn't get past the main character's name being Belly... great review!
Find me lurking Under The Mountain
I absolutely loved this book...I tore through the series wayyyy too fast.
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