Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Book: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Pages: 276 Pages

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: May 5, 2009

Source: Bought

Grade: A

Synopsis:

Some summers are just destined to be 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 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’ve read lots of mixed reviews on this book, so it took me a while to decide whether or not to get it. Once I saw the pretty cover on the Barnes and Noble Bargain Books list, I had to get it. My decision made me happy after I finished the book.

Belly-the main character-was a lovely girl and I liked how she didn’t let Conrad and Jeremiah tell her what to do when she wanted to go places or do things they wouldn’t approve of. What I didn’t get about Belly is what made her so much more pretty? The book only tells me that she got contacts, is that all that makes her prettier? Another thing that bothered me is that all through the book, people were all saying “Wow you’re gorgeous Belly.” Or “Whoa! Is that the same Belly from last summer?”

The book showed flash backs of Belly’s past summers and I thought that was really cool. Through that, I was able to connect to the characters better. Speaking of characters, I LOVED Cam. He was so sweet and cute and I totally fell for him. Conrad also made me fall, but not as hard as Cam did.

Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty was a fantastic read and I can’t wait to read the second and third books. If you have nothing to read next summer, try this book and I assure you, you won’t be disappointed.

Writing: 9/10

Setting: 9/10

Characters: 8/10

Plot: 8/10

Cover: 10/10

Ending: 3/5

 47/55= 85% A