Tittle: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author : Jenny Han
Overall Personal Ratings for Series : 3/5 🌟
Format : Paperback
Publications: Simon & Suchster
Source: Secondhand Set (Going Green!)Disclaimer: For the posts that I put SERIES REVIEW, I would be reviewing the whole series together in a whole post. There will be some series that I would review the books separately and give my whole thoughts on the series itself in another post. Thank you.
FIRST BOOK : THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY
Personal Ratings: 3/5 🌟
Synopsis
(Taken by Google)
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 Thoughts on the Book
When I first started on the book, the first thought that ran through my head was that I had expected the series to be more like the To The Boys I Loved in terms of writing style as it came from the same author. What shocked me was how the by the first 5 chapters of the book, I find myself in a major headache and wanting to give up on the book so bad.
This 3 book series revolves around 3 main antagonists which is Belly, 16, Conrad, 18 and Jeremiah, also 16. Conrad and Jeremiah are brothers and the relationship between the three of them had started from their mother’s friendship. Every Summer, Belly’s family would come to the summer house owned by the brother’s family and it became some sort of routine for the two families and the children also became best of friends.
What intrigued me to get this book was the promise of a summer romance and I thought that it would be a light read for me, which turned out to be very wrong. Before going into the details of what I don’t like about the book, I would state what actually made me finished this trilogy despite having constant meltdowns while reading the book which is the Friendship of their mothers.
Susannah, the boy’s mother, and Laurel, Belly’s mom has such a beautiful friendship. Their dynamics in the story had made me teared up at some parts and really admire how they handle really difficult situations. The family bond between the two families was also one of the things that I love about the book. It was filled with warmth and the summer vibes that we are getting makes you want to go to a beach house as well.
Unfortunately, that was the only thing that I liked about the book, heck even the whole series.
Going into the details of what I don’t particularly like about the book would be giving spoilers which I would not do. However, the one thing that really irks me about this book, even the whole series, was how much I really hated Belly. I didn’t like her character and throughout the book, she was written as spoilt and childish to a point that it got annoying. I do understand that the book is about teenage romance, but its hard to a read a book where you’re trying really hard to find the redeeming qualities of the main character to stay for the whole series. However, I convinced myself that maybe the author wanted to portray a different kind of character and I should stop comparing this book to To All The Boys I Love, because Lara-Jean is such a lovable character.
Anyhow, I gave the first book 3 stars instead of 2 because I really find the family’s relationship to be beautiful. It really made my heart warm despite everything that happened. The progress of the story was okay, and the first book is to set up the progress of the three main characters. I’ll continue on my thoughts on the second book at the second part of this post.
PART 2: THOUGHTS ON SECOND BOOK OF SERIES
SECOND BOOK: IT’S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU
Personal Ratings: 2/5 🌟
Synopsis
(Taken by Google)
Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?
It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.
But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started—at Cousins Beach.My Thoughts on the Book
After the first book, I was really preparing myself to embrace the series, and sincerely hoping that Belly would have some development on her character.
Eventually, it didn’t happen.
What saddens me most, was that, something bad had happened to one of my favourite characters in the book which made me really sad. The two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah had a spiralling of their character. From the first book, I could guess who would end up with Belly at the end, and my presumptions happened to be spot on, but it still annoyed me so much that the 3 main characters are written in a way that makes you so frustrated, especially in this book.
This book showed some good parts on some and showed some really bad parts that made me cringe at certain parts of the book. I was really rooting for the (real) main character but it turned out to be that the second main was more prominent when the real main was so obnoxious and selfish it made me just mad.
Yes, I’m mad at the book. I was so frustrated it worsened my headache when I was reading it. Like I said, I stayed till the end of the book for their mother’s and their friendship in this book really made me teared up even though they’re playing a minor role in this series. I honestly feel like they should get their own retellings.
All in all, this book was my biggest disappointment. Even the way the author wrapped the book at the end made me so annoyed as there are so many loose ends and things that had not yet been addressed in this book.
I’m still hoping for redemptions on the book as I really want to like the series, and my last hope would be on the last book, which I’ll continue my thoughts on Part 3.
PART 3: THOUGHTS ON THE LAST BOOK OF THE SERIES
THIRD BOOK: WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE SUMMER
Personal Ratings: 3/5 🌟
Synopsis
(Taken by Google)
It's been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college—only, their relationship hasn't exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It's time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever.Finally! The last hope for the series!
Did it made me angry?
Yes and no
I’ll explain.
The first part of the book continued from the last moments of the second book and it was going on smoothly.
Until.
The author decides to suddenly make the second lead make the worst decision of his life, which also made Belly to do the same thing.
For me, the first part of the book was so cringe-worthy. It made me so mad but what actually made me feel better was Belly was starting to become a bit more likable. However, the book still didn’t show any signs to salvage it until we go to the second half of the book.
Overall, I think the plot for the third book was actually poorly written and quite unnecessary. Its also tiring to read love triangles that consists of brothers liking the same girl. You’re bound to hurt the other person which saddens me as families could be broken at this point which adds to my frustrations for this whole series.
I almost gave this book a 2 stars, but the ending saved it for me although I still was quite perplexed with the whole plot for the third book.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Should you get this series? Personally, I would not recommend this to anyone. It added years to my age while reading this trilogy and I find myself getting so tired after finishing it.
However, for an author to make you feel all those feelings that i had, she must be either really good or just frustrating. It’s a shame because I had wanted to like this book so much but the Plot of the story which are quite unnecessary at some points of the book and also the unbearable characters and lack of character development for some had me quite disappointed with the whole series.
If you want to give it a try, its okay! Go for it. Maybe you will end up liking it, but it’s a big no for me.
Thank you for reading till the end lovelies and I’ll see you in my next post.
From all the stars and galaxies,
Xoxo,
Afi