Sunday, March 27, 2011

Review for The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer, #1)The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1)

Author: Jenny Han
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Public Library
Challenges: For the Love of YA, Library, I'd Wish I'd Read That
288 pages

"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" - Goodreads


    Have you read this book? Seen it around? Have it in your TBR? Well, GET IT OFF YOUR SHELF AND READ IT! It's a great book to get your right into the mood of summer. Jenny Han did an incredible job with character building and setting description.

  Lets talk characters. I loved Belly as a character (btw that's not her real name-it's Isabel). She loves summer and one summer everything changes. She loses the glasses (and I think braces) and turns pretty. That's when the other two main charactes come in. They notice that Belly isn't that sweet little brother's sister anymore...she's a young lady.  I loved both boys! On one side you have Jeremiah, the funny, sweet, always open upbeat one... and then Conrad the quite, strong, mysterious one. (Really who can choose?) Throw in another boy, the chance of loosing someone to cancer, family troubles, and perhaps the last summer ever; then you've got yourself a great story.

  Jenny Han's writing sytle is easy to follow, clear, and beautiful. The characters aren't contradicting, what they say flows, so.... Thumbs up from me. When reading I could easily hear the ocean and smell the saltiness. It was amazing to read this book.

  The setting is was grabbed me up. Who wouldn't be interested in a summer romance? I kept this review short so that I didn't give anything away. All, I can say now is GRAB IT AND READ IT!! I highly recommend this book to everyone!!

Excerpt:

 I say, "I can't believe you're really here."
He sounds almost shy when he says, "Me neither."
And then he hesitates. "Are you still coming with me?"
I can't believe he even has to ask. I would go anywhere. "Yes," I tell him. It feels like nothing else exists outside of that word, this moment. There's just us. Everything that happened this past summer, and every summer before it, has led up to this. To now.