Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Genre: Young-adults, romance, contemporary 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Reader 

Publication Date: May 5, 2009

Synopsis: 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. Read more ...

Review: I am very conflicted about my feelings on this novel. I think I went into it with high expectations, which it did not live up to. I feel that this novel is advertised/presented as kind of the ultimate summer read, equivalent to Anna and the French Kiss. It unfortunately was not all that I thought it would be.  Even though The Summer I Turned Pretty was a fun read, I did not think that it was that much of a romance. Not much heart pounding action takes place, and I was left less than satisfied. Additionally I did not really like Belly. I found her to be immature, silly and self-centred. I found Belly to be more than slightly annoying.

Even though I want a refund on the summer romance I was promised, The Summer I Turned Pretty was cute. Although I really did not like Belly, I did enjoy Conrad, Jeremiah, Susannah, and even Belly’s mom. I found the character’s to be insignificantly developed though. The flashbacks throughout the novel helped a little bit, but I still felt that I had a very superficial understanding of who the characters in this novel were. I felt that this prevented me from really becoming emotionally involved in the outcome of the novel, as well.

Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty was predictable and simple. Belly’s selfishness and constant disregard of her friends and family’s feelings pissed me off, and I felt very little compassion for her. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a nice beach read, (and you’ve read all the other contenders), then it wouldn’t hurt to pickup The Summer I Turned Pretty, although I wouldn’t have high expectations.

Warning: Minimal romance will be found between the pages of this novel

You might also enjoy: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants or The Last Summer, both by Ann Brashares

My Rating: 3.0/5.0