Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author: Jenny Han
Series: Summer #1
Pages: 276
Date of UK Publications: June 3rd 2010
Source: Borrowed from school friend.
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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 wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.


My Thoughts:
I never ever read books like these. 'Girl books' my brother calls them. Proper girly books, beach reads, summer romances. They'd never really appealed to me, but then I came across all the hype that was surrounding this one. At first I didn't want to read it, but then when it popped up again a couple of months later, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. I borrowed it from my friend and was done with it a day or two later.

I loved it. It was completely different to what I expected, but also in a way, exactly what I expected. I thought it was going to be a fun, sweet story, and it was exactly that. I didn't expect to love it nearly as much as I did though.

Belly was awesome. I love her name too! I get called Belly sometimes too, but it REALLY gets on my nerves. I hate it when people call me that, but it was cool and fun for Belly in the book. I loved her character. She was nice and funny, and I know what she means when she says she wishes the boys would stop treating her like a child. My brothers do that. And one of them is younger! Anyway, I could relate to her that way, which made her even better.

I loved the boys. I could not, and still cannot decide which one I like better. Conrad is stubborn, private and a little bit of a jerk at times. Jeremiah is sweet and caring, and even though he treats Belly like a child at times, it's still clear he cares for her and might even be a little bit in love with her. A little bit. ;)
And I felt so sorry for Cam! It was so obvious that he didn't have a chance, and I was screaming at Belly in my head to let him go. There was never going to be anything serious between them, and the way she made it seem like she liked him and that he had a chance was just cruel. But it made for a better story, so... ;P

The Summer I Turned Pretty is an awesome book. It's short and sweet, and just what I needed. It's even better when you can read it while lying in the sun, just like Belly does in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I cannot wait until I can get the second book, It's Not Summer Without You, as I'm pretty sure it will be just as good, and maybe it will help me decide once and for all whether I like Conrad or Jeremiah better :)


My Rating:

I give it 5 Feet!

I think this one deserves 5 Feet because I wasn't expecting to like it nearly as much as I did! I recommend it to EVERYONE :) 

Challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #34