The Summer I Turned Pretty

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages: 276
Release date: May 5th 2009
Source: Library
Summary (from Goodreads):  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.



My review:

 I immediately loved The Summer I Turned Pretty, especially liking how Belly measures her life in summers.  I, personally, love summer and find this an interesting way to write a novel.


Belly was a great character, though I did have some mixed feelings for her, and I love her nickname.  It makes her seem young, which is strange, because she seemed older than fifteen.  I couldn't quite figure out all of my thoughts about her.  Sometimes she seemed childish and selfish, but other times she seemed the complete opposite.  Throughout the whole book, I could tell that it wasn't quite right when she was with Cam; I always was on Team Conrad.


And speaking of Conrad, I absolutely loved him, even when he was being selfish and heartless.  There was something underneath that that I could see, and Belly obviously could, too, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself.  It was hard to watch as she tried to love one boy, when she actually liked another, even though she didn't want to.  The Summer I Turned Pretty was a very realistic read, focusing on real problems, making it very likely that it was true, rather than a regular contemporary novel, although it wasn't a true story.

Another great thing was that I had no idea where the book would lead me.  There were no hints as to who Belly would end up with or how the story would end.  This was a very enjoyable fact for me; I can't stand it when I know the end to the book when I'm only two chapters in.  I liked how often the book brought you into Belly's life when she was younger, I found that an interesting change.

If you love contemporary, this is a must-read book!


Rating:
Characters: 4.5/5
Plot: 5/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5

         Bubbles!

Overall,