Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han
Series: The Summer I Turned Pretty 1#

Genre: YA contemporary romance

Publication Date: May 5th 2009

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Goodreads || Amazon

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.

Wow. What the hell did I just read?!? I don't know what to say.. I mean I kind of liked and hated this book at the same time. *_*

I decided to pick this one up based on its cover. I have a confession to make - I almost always judge books by their covers.. I can't help it!! How am I supposed to ignore a beautifully done cover like this one ?!?!
So, this summer-ish looking cover featuring a girl my age and two hot guys caught my attention. I am a HUGE fan of summer romance books and I really needed one now to remind me of the summer.

Well, this book actually did its job pretty well as a summer beach novel. It was light and fun and good-spirited. It made me miss the summer vacation.. I read it cover-to-cover in only a couple of hours and I actually felt sad when it was over, just because I had to leave this summer paradise for now.. :/


 The main issue I had with this book was Belly. I had a hard time understanding her. She was 16, but acted more like a 12 year old. She was whiny and selfish.. She threw tantrums whenever she was the slightest bit upset, and after that she was surprised when the boys treated her like a 4 year old.
She wanted boys to like her, but she never really cared about any of them. She USED a boy just to make another one jealous. There were times when I thought she was finally learning a lesson but she was always back to her childish behavior after no more than two pages.
I was so frustrated by her!! She made me want to slap her.. I mean come on. This is supposed to be a coming-of-age novel! She's supposed to grow up, right?



The whole story was very unrealistic. The sudden attention Belly got from guys was weird and kind of.. inappropriate. I mean, she was only 15 years old!!! Belly was presented as a normal girl, not a super-model. Normal girls don't get these looks from guys all the time. I couldn't relate to anything that happened it this book. It was just too strange...

Well, overall this was an ok read. I didn't hate it - the fluency of the writing and the plot kept me turning the pages and wanting more. It just that the book could've been so much better had the characters and the events been more realistic and relatable. I'm not sure if I will continue the series.. not right now anyway.

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Disclaimer: All the photos used in this post were taken from Google Images.  I don't own them.

THANKS FOR READING THIS ♥♥
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Sapir

BOOK BLAST: Liar, Liar by Dawn Pendleton

This book sounds so good~~! I am sure going to read it. I already have it on my Kindle :):)

Hazel is a freshman at Coastal Carolina and looking forward to making new friends. When she meets Roman, she’s head over heels for him. There’s one problem, though: he’s still hung up on Hazel’s roommate, Cheyanne. But Cheyanne has a secret, one that has the potential to ruin her life in college. When Hazel learns the secret, she’s determined to use it against Cheyanne to win over Roman. She never imagines her plan could backfire, leaving her as a pariah among her new circle of friends.

The BFF series follows the lives of new adults, Hazel, Miranda, Cheyanne, Destiny, Audric, Nolan, Andre, and Roman. Follow their stories as the first season of novellas are released once a week from September to March.

Get your FREE copy today!

Amazon † BN 

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Book Review: Dare You To by Katy McGarry

Dare You To

Author: Katy McGarry
Series: Pushing The Limits #2

Genre: YA contemporary romance

Publication Date: May 28th 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!!*

Goodreads || Amazon

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

Wow. That was my reaction after reading this book - wow. I can't find any other words to describe the sheer awesomeness of this book.

Let me start off by saying that I was crazy excited when I first got my hands on this book! Pushing The Limits was the undoubtedly the best book I've read on 2012 and I just couldn't wait any longer to read its sequel.



So from that you can understand how high my expectations were. I was expecting to be BLOWN AWAY by this book, nothing less than that. And guess what? I was!!

This book tells the story of Beth and Ryan, two people that come from totally different backgrounds but that doesn't stop them from falling strongly in love.

If you've read Pushing The Limits, I bet you remember Beth. She was so mean to everyone!! She was awful. I remember how much I hated her. I never once stopped to think about what is standing behind her behavior. I judged her based on what was on the surface - I wasn't even trying to understand her. This book gave my a chance to see the world from her point of view and I was surprised at what I found. Beth's life are unimaginably difficult. She was surviving rather than living - no one ever took care of her and she had to be responsible for her drug-addict mother and deal with her abusive boyfriend.
After struggling so much with the world, Beth can't trust anyone. She keeps her guards up and doesn't let anyone reach her. That's why she comes off as mean and unfriendly, even though she is very soft and sensitive from the inside. I loved how the author presented Beth to me in a new light - this glimpse into Beth's soul helped me connect to her and I learned that I shouldn't judge anyone because I can never know what he has to deal with.

After getting involved with the police, Beth is forced to move into her uncle's house. She hasn't seen him for years and apparently he became VERY rich. She gets the opportunity to start over in a new school, but she can't really leave her old life. Who will take care of her mom? She plans to run away, but than something gets in her way - she falls in love.

Let me introduce you to Ryan, AKA the hottest guy ever!! He was my favorite character. I loved him right from the beginning!!! He was the school's baseball star, popular and handsome. And the best thing was - he had a great personality. He had a good heart. He really cared about the people around him - about his family, about his close friends and most of all - about Beth. He balanced her - his stability balanced her changing moods, his persistency balanced her easily giving up, his positive attitude balanced her negative thoughts. He loved her with all his heart and excepted her for who she was. He never once flinched by her behavior, even when she was very mean to him. He understood her soul like no one else did.

The book started pretty slow, giving the readers a chance to get to know the characters well before the plot actually start. That was pretty unnecessary in my opinion. The first 100 pages were a bit boring a dragged too much, and that's were one star goes. I was really disappointed at the beginning - I was worried that the whole story would be this slow. I almost gave up on the book then, but luckily, somewhere around page 100 the plot finally picked up and turned into a crazy rollercoaster.

So many things happened in this book. There wasn't a single moment of quietness. The two main characters were overflowed by so many troubles - both hers and his. Their lives were full of troubles and difficulties, but they helped each other overcome everything.
I love reading books in which the romantic relationship between the two main characters empowers both of them.



This book was so good. I had some minor issues with the beginning, but other than that I loved everything about it. It was definitely a satisfying sequel and I can't wait to read the next!!!


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