The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Summary of The Summer I Turned Pretty:

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.

Length:

278 Pages

Reading Speed:

3 hours and 40 minutes

My Opinion Of The Summer I Turned Pretty:

This is one of the few instances where I watched the show and liked it more than the book.

It wasn’t bad, buuuuuuut the TV show was a lot better. Let’s break it down.

Female Main Character:

Isabelle, or as she is called most of the time, belly, was the most annoying kid I’ve ever seen.

Look, I grew up being the only girl in the friend group as well. I know that the feeling of being left out is 100% accurate in this book. I also know that her dislike of other girls stems from being left out because she is a girl. She wants to fit in so badly, that she hates what makes her stand out.

The romanticization, not the romance itself was cute. During most of the book, we see soon-to-be 16-year-old belly experience new things constantly. Her world was changing and her personality shined through. She was leaving some of her kid personality traits behind, like tatletaling and blossoming into…

Well, a little of a brat to be honest. She was so entitled have the same that it made it difficult to relate to her. I want to emphasize that this is a barely teenage girl. And for someone who is in their early twenties, especially someone who matured passed what Belly was feeling through, she’s annoying.

However, I can see the potential for a lot of character development which I LOVE. I’ll be continuing this series and updating you.

Side Characters:

The side characters were so unimportant and provided nothing. If you have read any of my previous reviews you would know: Side Characters are what makes or breaks a book for me. I want to be immersed in the world and simply knowing things from the main character doesn’t do it for me.

Except for this time, the side characters might not have mattered but Belly’s feelings towards them certainly did.

Is Conrad really that dreamy?

Does Taylor really sound so conceited?

Is Jerimiah that good?

Was her mother really so annoying?

Had we had another point of view or even a neutral one, I bet we would see that the opposite is true. But it only mattered how Belly saw them and their actions. Which brings me to my next point.

Writing Style:

This is what is going to make me finish the series. Every moment Belly had felt so significant, so detrimental to her personality and actions. If Belly thought it was a big deal, I thought it was a big deal. This is purely because Jenny Han was so in-depth with the emotions of her character.

I’m actually not convinced this wasn’t written by a teenager. This book took me back a few years. I don’t believe I would have had the memory of those emotions to not only write them so accurately. But to also make the audience feel it as well.

I think the only reason I liked the show more was because 1. I didn’t hear so much of Belly’s inner thoughts. 2. The ambiance, lighting, and background music added to the intensity of Belly’s emotions. Those emotions, though amplified, are what makes this book good.

Bonus:

I listened, instead of reading this. I stopped audiobooks for a while and now I’m back on it.

The voice being the same actor as who played her on the show was a nice touch. It really felt like this character belonged to Lola Tung, the actor and voice-over for Belly.

It is also currently free to add if you have an audiobook subscription. I added the entire series instantly.

Recommendation for The Summer I Turned Pretty:

This is a great coming-of-age book. I highly recommend this to any 14-17 year old girl. Especially if they are the type to romanticize their lives.