The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

⭐️⭐️.5

Synopsis

Belly has always lived for the summertime because it means all her favorite things— swimming, the beach, and the Fisher boys: Conrad and Jeremiah. She has spent every summer of her life with them at Cousin’s Beach. All the while Belly has Conrad from afar, until finally, one fateful summer, it seems like he might feel something for her, too. But as it turns out, so does Jeremiah. 

Oh Gosh

Welp, I’ve had this whole trilogy as a bind up, just sitting on my shelf for about two years. I don’t know why I have so many contemporary romance books when it’s really my least favorite genre. But I promise that this review is completely unbiased. I don’t have poor judgement. If a book is good, then it’s good. Who am I to let my disdain for a love triangle get in the way of enjoying a book? 

What I Disliked
The Summer I Turned PETTY. Oops, I mean pretty...

Aside from the concept being cliché, Belly was pretty shallow, pretentious, and predictable. 

In the beginning of the book, Belly sees the girl that Conrad has a crush on. The girl is working one of the booths at the boardwalk and Belly admires how skinny the girl is. I don’t think this is such a good message to send out to a  young audience. Especially when it’s not key to the story. Why does being skinny have to be the image of beauty? As if that’s the only redeeming quality for a girl her age. 

On a side note. I’ve been skinny all my life, and majority of the time my size wasn’t admired. People always had something rude to say like “do you eat?” I’m only including this because I don’t want people thinking I must be this overweight person who's just against glorifying skinniness because I’m bitter lol. I’m not. I just  don’t like false portrayals of made up ideas of perfection. 

Anyway. I also am stumped on the idea of how Han stretched a boring summer romance for this long, let alone a whole trilogy. Belly was pretty much annoying throughout the book. Not even her actions, but her thinking and the basis for her acting is what annoyed me. I’m kinda tired of the whole ‘ignore the good guy and chase after the jerk who will obviously hurt me’ habit that these girls have. I was hoping I’d be surprised, but my predictions were correct. 

Seeing as how this is a trilogy I’m gonna give it some room to turn the tables. But  I doubt it will. 

I also didn’t like that Belly was so rude to her mother while placing Susannah on this pedestal right in front of her mother. She ridiculed Conrad for being a jerk, but she was a jerk too. 

The Few Things I Liked

Conrad made this book steamy. Despite his moodiness I still liked him. I think maybe Jeremiah is my favorite though. I loved that they were brothers but still managed to be different in actions and thinking. I also love that Han included a brother for Belly. The connection that the boys all had was genuine and relative. Really brought fruition to the beach setting. I almost wish Belly could just be removed from the story and the book just be centered around the guys. “The Summer I Turned Handsome”. Haha, has a nice ring to it. 

I  also think Han’s writing saved this book for me. It was simple seeing as  how old Belly was. I am guessing the writing will improve as Belly gets older. 

I also like that other pressing matters are going on. Like the divorce and Susannah’s situation. Although, those issues are in almost every book I’ve read this summer.. so it didn’t throw me for a loop. 

The last thing I’ll mention is the few heated scenes. Like the fight between Conrad and Jeremiah, and the jealous behavior from Conrad when it came to Belly trying to act independently. I like the rises in the book, and how they weren’t sporadic and stacked on top of each other. Han brought them in at just the right time. 

I Guess

I’ll continue reading this series, if only to see how things end up. To confirm my suspicions.