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.[1]
This book series was really good but definitely a slow-burn and there are certain parts of this series that are slightly irritating. I really enjoyed the whole idea of this book overall, though. Some of my favorite parts in The Summer I Turned Pretty series was Belly’s character growth; she turned from obsessing over Conrad to finding herself. During the series, we see how Belly falls in love with Jeremiah, while even getting engaged, but still not having the courage to let go of her love for Conrad. This made me like the book even more because it is more realistic than most; holding on to the past. I really appreciate how the author captures the moment of Belly and Conrad at the end, giving us something to grasp onto at the end of the series. Another thing I really like about this book is that the author occasionally switches perspectives from Belly to another character, which gives a better feel of their emotions. For example, in Belly’s perspective, Conrad is this cold, ignorant man who played with her feelings. However, we can easily figure out that Conrad has loved Belly the whole time, sitting silent in the shadows.
This book is another romance, slow-burn. Some parts of this book that I found really interesting was the extreme differences of Belly and Jeremiah and the similarities of Belly and Conrad. For instance, Jeremiah lives a care-free life, he doesn’t care for education, and he’s all for parties full of beer and heavy smoking. Conrad is enrolled in college and he’s working on getting his medical degree. He showed to minimal parties, and occasionally smoked. Belly is more similar to Conrad in these senses. Conrad is also more mature than Jeremiah in many ways. While Belly and Jeremiah were “on break”, it took Jeremiah a few days to get intimate with another girl. However, Conrad has been seen with few girls occasionally throughout the series, and not exactly enjoying his time with them.
The Summer I Turned Pretty also portrays emotions very well. In multiple occasions, characters are seem doing things out of spite and later regretting their decision. I like how accurate this is compared to the real world because it gives the book more meaning. Another thing that I really seem to like about The Summer I Turned Pretty is the difference between Belly and Taylor. Although they are best friends, Belly seems to be more mature and make better decisions than Taylor. Taylor seems to have this more outgoing life, similar to Jeremiah. Overtime across the series, Belly starts picking up some of Taylor’s interests which shows how much influence can impact and change a person.
I really liked this series in total, it really captures many things that I have described and more that I haven’t in three books. It shows many aspects of life that can be hard to go through as well, like Susannah’s death, which could be troubling for someone. I really recommend for people to read this that like romance.
- Han, Jenny. The Summer I Turned Pretty. Simon & Schuster, 2009
