The Summer I Turned Pretty

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author: Jenny Han
Pages: 276
Publication: May 2009
Series: The Summer I Turned Pretty series

Summary: 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.

My Thoughts: I was a little wishy-washy about this book, but I was nonetheless taken in by this perfect-for-summer YA read.  Now, let's start with the main premise: Belly (slightly strange name but very memorable, I must say) has been in love with Conrad her entire adolescence, but the thing is he hasn't really reciprocated her love.  But this summer is different, apparently. She's over Conrad and is determined to have a fresh start.

There's a new boy in town, Cam, who is kind of less of a character and more of a plot filler. He had so much potential when Belly and Cam first meet, but pretty much fizzles as the book goes on.  Not only was he a little dull when it came to plot development, but he also slowed down Belly's character development when it came to her relationships within the novel in general.

However, Conrad and Jeremiah, the brothers in this story, were by far my favorite characters.  They were complete opposites. The yin to the others' yang.  Conrad played the broody older brother type to a T but left room for real depth while Jeremiah was the sensitive jester with nothing but the best intentions for those he loves.  These are not my favorite qualities about them, though. No, that award would have to go to the fact that they call Belly out for being too self-involved when she needs it because oh my goodness does she get self-involved near the end. They're pretty much her best friends in that regard, which I loved by the way.

And that is probably why I did not rate this book higher than a 3.5 out of 5 stars.  After reading one of Jenny Han's other novels, Burn for Burn, I had slightly higher expectations for this light-hearted summer read.  Belly ended up getting on my nerves in one way or another about 50% of the time I was reading this novel, but it was the other 50% that completely sucked me in.

Even though Belly and a few of the other characters got on my nerves, it sort of made the book all the more a better read. These characters had flaws which is what made them believable and human.  No one wants a protagonist who's annoyingly perfect.  It was just a little frustrating being in the head of a self-involved sixteen year old when you're not one yourself. Other than that, I did overall enjoy this book. It was a nice getaway to a lovely summerscape from an otherwise mundane week and I definitely need the second installment of this series in my life before this summer begins.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars