The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1) by Jenny Han #bookreview #YA #contemporary
Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author: Jenny Han
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: December 21, 2010
Page Count: 292
My rating: 3 stars
About the book:
Belly has an unforgettable summer in this stunning start to the Summer I Turned Pretty series from the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (soon to be a major motion picture!), Jenny Han.
Belly’s never been the kind of girl that things happen to. Year after year, she’s spent her summers at the beach house with Conrad and Jeremiah. The boys never noticed Belly noticing them. And every summer she hoped it would be different. This time, it was. But the summer Belly turned pretty was the summer that changed everything. For better, and for worse.
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is the first book in the young adult contemporary Summer series. The story is a bit of a coming of age tale with a side of romance and family dynamics.
Fifteen, almost sixteen, Isabelle or Belly as she’s always been known is ready for yet another summer at the beach. Each year Belly’s mother packs up Belly and her brother and heads to her best friend’s beach house with Susannah and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, at Cousins Beach.
Every year Belly has gotten more and more of a crush on Conrad and every year Belly is the little sister the boys never had. This summer however Belly is starting to blossom and change and really hopes the summer will be different.
The Summer I Turned Pretty wasn’t too bad of a read, a bit out of my normal reading spectrum maybe but turned into a decent coming of age tale. Belly is obviously young and naive in the story and in some ways that made it seem a bit unbelievable as kids these days generally are more advanced at her age. This in a way made this one feel a bit dated as if it were something from decades ago, along the lines of Dirty Dancing and Baby being naive and growing over the summer just without the dancing side. Of course I loved that movie so when giving up trying to picture the story in this decade I found myself enjoying it more.
Find this book online:
Goodreads / Amazon
About the author:
Jenny Han is the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series; Shug; the Burn for Burn trilogy, cowritten with Siobhan Vivian; and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You. She is also the author of the chapter book Clara Lee and The Apple Pie Dream. A former children’s bookseller, she earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School. Visit her at DearJennyHan.com.
Carries Book Reviews 
I loved the book! Are you going to continue the series?😊💖
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I have book 2 ready to go, don’t have a copy of 3 yet though but I’ll have to check the library. 🙂
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I hope you can get it! I read all three in a row last year!💖💖
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Ok, you talked me into looking and I had to put it on hold but only 2 ahead of me so hopefully it won’t be too long. Always depends on if they’ve gone to book hoarders that just let them sit the whole time or quick readers that return early. LOL
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Lol perfect! 😊💖 Good luck!
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Thanks! 🙂
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Terrific review Carrie! I haven’t read a book yet by Jenny Han, but of course I’ve heard of her. Although I don’t read much YA contemporary fiction, my curiosity has been peaked by her popularity. Have you read any other books by her that you enjoyed more?
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Thanks Kim! This was my first from her and I did enjoy it but the same reason I didn’t mark higher is probably the same reason I want to continue… that old fashiony feel to the story. LOL
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Dirty Dancing was the best!! Glad this was a decent read. Great review!!! 🙂
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Thanks Dee! 🙂
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Well, the cover is gorgeous, Carrie! Happy you enjoyed it overall. I loved Dirty Dancing, too!
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Thanks Jennifer! This one has multiple covers and of course I loved the whole beachy/summer one. 🙂
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Nice review Carrie. I have never read a Jenny Han book.
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Thanks Carla! This was actually my first and she’s definitely a good writer. 🙂
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I may have to check out what the library has by her. I try to read one library book a week along with my my ARCS and books on my bookshelf.
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