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

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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.

Rating:

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