I know what you're thinking. The idea of summer romance have been done so many times before (think of Dessen, Colasanti, and plenty more...) But before you dismiss the book for the 'perfect' cliche, I'd definitely give Han's Pretty a chance. It's one of the first books I've read by author Jenny Han, and honestly, I was expecting it to be as predictable as a summer romance could be. And guys, I will not lie when I say: I really picked The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy for it's cover. I mean look at it! It’s gorgeous! But no matter what-- no matter how underlingly cliche a romance novel could be-- I am a sucker for them and well, you see that The Summer I Turned Pretty is no exception to my never ending book collection.
*
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Release date: April 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 304
Genre: Young Adult/Romance
Sixteen year old Isabel "Belly" Conklin measures her life in summers. Every summer brings her back to Cousins Beach, and finally she can be back to the ocean and swimming, being with Susannah... and along with every summer, there's a catch and this catch are the Fisher boys (ah, no pun intended!) Belly has known brothers Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher her entire life so Belly didn't see anyway how this summer could be any different than the rest. But in a both exciting (and equally, terrible) summer everything changes. And I mean, everything.
I think what was what surprised me most about The Summer I Turned Pretty is the rawness of Belly's character. She's no different than any other teenage girl, and believe-it-or-not, Belly has her flaws. Even in the case of some sticky romance situations (no spoilers, I promise) she doesn't become a Bella Swan. I totally understood Belly, even if it took me a bit of time to actually come to like her character. She's insecure and on the brink of womanhood, and while it isn't the summer she turned pretty, it's the summer when she truly felt it.
This sets a tone for Han’s debut novel near-perfect and even if it this is a story of a fictional place it felt “real”--hm or, well, in this case as real as a fictional novel can be. The relationships between the characters and how they all connected together just seemed genuine and as the backstories slowly begin to piece together, you’ll be bound to develop a greater sentiment for each of them.
But nonetheless, at first Belly's narration can become tedious and sometimes comes off as a bit little too slow-paced for my liking. Between the balance of backstories and memories, it just takes a long while for things to get going. I get for some readers slow-paced books can be a total turn off (trust me, I’m one of those readers), but ‘Pretty’ is simply just one of those books where you have to stick it out out till the very end. There were some brief moments when admittedly, I wanted to put the book down and move onto another because--meh!--the storyline just didn’t seem to be sticking to me as well as it should in the beginning. But as expected things definitely began to pick up towards the end, and Han snuck up a few surprises up her sleeve too.
All and all, ultimately, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a charming read and endearing characters that I’m positive any romance fans would be bound to enjoy, not only teens. If you’re looking for that perfect end-of-the-summer read and you haven’t read The Summer I Turned Pretty yet, and it seems like your kind of book then I wholeheartedly recommend to give a try!
Star count?
★★★☆☆
With love,
Bee
(And psst, be sure to check out the sequels It’s Not Summer Without You & We’ll Always Have Summer! Reviews coming soon.)
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