{Review} The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

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.

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty {Summer, book 1}

Author: Jenny Han

Publication: 5th May 2009

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

276 pages

This book is the first novel of a trilogy.

My review

Unlike a lot of people, I wasn't hooked from the first pages of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Until the last third of the book, I thought my review would mostly be negative. But then, approaching the end, I finally dived in the story and I was totally unable to put it down. Eventually, I was so in the story during the last third of this first installment that I read the three books in a row, in only two days. I didn't stop to write reviews, to catch my breath, I just read them because I so wanted to know what would happen next.

Belly is a great character, it was very easy for me to relate to her, as I was a bit like her. She's realistic and she's got real problems as every teenager. She has typical reactions for a 16-year-old girl who has grown up surrounded by three older boys, her brother and the two sons of her mother's best friend. She may seem annoying, immature and selfish but in fact she is just insecure and she just want to fit in. She's touching and we want to protect her, for me, she somehow epitomizes the little sister everyone may have. As for the boys, they couldn't be more different. I usually prefer dark and mysterious guys and Conrad was no exception.

The plot is a bit slow-paced especially at the beginning but it's totally necessary to the story and it never gets boring. Even if the action is quite slow it's never dull and The Summer I Turned Pretty is a touching read. It's a bitter-sweet book which deals with teenage years, every day life, first crush and first love. It may seem a bit shallow but this novel has also some inner depths.

The writing is smooth and pleasant. The descriptions are really well-written and it feels vivid and alive. It was really easy for me to visualize the scenery. I could easily imagine myself walking on the beach, along the ocean, under the sun. Between present and past, Belly tells us about her life, her summers and her memories. The flashbacks are relatively numerous and they enable us to have a better understanding of her history, her past and her relationship with the three boys.

To sum up, it was not love at first sight for me but the last third of the book kept me spellbound and compelled. As I've read the three books in a row I can already say that the first one is not my favorite, but it was nonetheless a great read. The ending will really make you want to read the next book It's not summer without you.