Tori's Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Series: Summer #1
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Chick Lit
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 276
Publication by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers May 5, 2011
Date Finished: August 11, 2013
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Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Okay this book was just perfection. I don't know. I usually hate books like this--you know, romance books about girls switching between one guy to the other and with flashbacks and memories--but for some reason Jenny Han's writing just did it for me. I mean, I loved this book so much. I'm probably going to make it a tradition for myself to read this book every summer. Maybe even every winter as well.

I want to kick off this review by showing you guys what the front of the book says. It's the page before chapter one, and I promise it doesn't spoil anything. I'll post a picture of it here since I'm too lazy to type it out.

Isn't that just the perfect way to start off the novel? I think so.

Anyway this is basically the perfect summer read. Seriously. And a lot of people think that Belly is immature, and she is, but you, as a reader, have to understand that she's only fifteen years old. Her first love was Conrad, and she's obviously going to do whatever it takes to capture Conrad's attention. If turning pretty is what Conrad wants, then so be it.

At first I thought this was going to be a light read about a girl who falls in love during the summer and then has to leave her love at the end of summer. But no. It's so much more than that. Conrad is unresponsive this particular summer and Jeremiah has somehow developed a major crush on Belly. Things just aren't the perfect summer that she wanted. But somehow everyone finds their place at the end of the novel.

I really don't know how to explain how I feel about this book. It was just so amazing. The characters felt so real with their struggles and their secrets. I felt that I could relate to Belly in so many ways. Her friend Taylor who visited the summer before the novel takes place reminds me of my friend. She gets what she wants no matter who she has to hurt in the process, and then she expects everything to be okay in the end.

But I mean the characters...I could imagine them being real life people with real life people problems. Especially Conrad. For him it was so much more than just growing up and wanting to be on his own. He has his own issues that prevent him from being kind and caring like he had been before (if that's what you want to call it).

This is actually the first love triangle (or love square?) book that had me rooting for nearly every boy. Okay I admit that I was more toward Conrad throughout the whole book but that's just because I love older, hotter dudes. But Cam Cameron (inside joke. You'll understand if you read the book) and Jeremiah were pretty awesome as well. I wouldn't have cared if she ended up with one of them.

Let's just say that this novel deserves 5 stars, and I'm probably going to get the second book asap.

I was always Team Conrad, so I'm so glad that's who Belly ends up with at the end.
I also have to add in that I hated the way that Cam and Belly's relationship ended. It was kind of sad. I mean, sure it was a clean break, but... If I were Belly, I would've felt really put out about the whole thing. Although I have to admit that she had it coming for her. Conrad was right when he said that she was stringing him, Jeremiah, and Cam along. That wasn't right of her to do, but then again she's just a fifteen year old girl who's trying to get a boyfriend.