Book: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Key Words: Summer, First love, Coming of age

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I read the first book in this trending trilogy as a buddy read with one of my best friends Taylor and her sister Chantel! We thought it would be fun to read these and then watch the new Netflix show based off of them. I just gotta ask…WHAT do people see in this book?! The others must be better. The book was pretty light-hearted and easy to read, but I just feel like nothing happened! 

To summarize, Belly loves spending her summers at Cousins Beach with her mom, her brother Steven, and their friends- her mother’s best friend Susannah and her sons Conrad and Jeremiah. The beach house has been a tradition for her whole life, and it is her favorite place in the world. But, this summer is different. She is not the snotty little girl that she always has been around this crew of boys- and they notice it. Tensions and hormones rage as Belly navigates the new dynamic between her, Conrad, and Jeremiah. The situation is made even more complicated by family drama for the boys and a new boy taking Belly’s time and attention. This may be the last summer they are all together at the beach house- will they ruin it for each other?

***SPOILER ALERT- DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT***

I’m hoping this book is setting up the rest of the series well. I don’t understand the ending AT ALL- it doesn’t fit with the rest of the story. We spend so much time learning about Taylor and Cam, but they end up having no major effect on the story. Even Steven is only really there so it isn’t super awkward just being Belly and the brothers. In the last few chapters, we go from Belly confronting Conrad with her feelings and him completely shutting her down, to him opening up to her and getting some lip action, to him ignoring her again, to them randomly meeting up and going to a mysterious place in the middle of the night months later? It just seems like nothing happens the entire book, and all the important stuff happens in the end, and then a bunch of time is skipped and we end up somewhere that doesn’t make sense.

I wanted to like it so much! I want to hear opinions from those of you that have read this book! What is it that you liked about it? What makes it interesting enough to be a show?!