The Summer I Turned Pretty Book Review and Trailer Reaction
In my The Summer I Turned Pretty book review, I get to give you all the wonderful details about Jenny Han’s trilogy that’s getting a TV show on Amazon! You can watch my review with the trailer reaction below.
With several love interests, an unforgettable summer, and wonderful beachy vibes, read my review below to see if this novel is for you 😊
Book Information
Belly is finally old enough to do everything the boys do. To be specific, everything Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher do. Every summer, Belly, her brother, and her mother visit the Fishers’ beach house. Belly looks forward to summer as soon as it’s over and measures her life in how many summers she’s had. She’s always been in love with Conrad, but with him going to college that fall, her brother leaving early that summer, and everything else, she feels like this is her last chance. Her last perfect summer where everything is almost normal. It’s her last chance to win Conrad over.
Review | Heidi Dischler
Alright, so I was expecting a lot more from this book. This is the second book I finished on my vacation (on the beach, mind you, so the setting was perfect), but I just didn’t get into it as much as I hoped I would. First of all, Belly’s name drives me crazy. I literally could not get over the whole entire novel and looked forward to when they finally called her Bells or something else at least a tiny bit more endearing than Belly. That’s not a major issue unless names stick with you (they stick with me, so this was a huge turn off for me). A lot of people rated this novel poorly because of Belly’s actions. However, I think Jenny Han did the perfect job of creating a fifteen-year-old. I think a lot of people forget Belly’s age and chastise the entire novel because of her actions even though her actions fit her age.
I loved almost all the other characters. Conrad was amazing as well as Jeremiah. What I really didn’t like was how the plot was so slow. It just ambled on and I really wanted something to be central to the story, but even the romance felt lackluster (which is seriously disappointing since this is marketed as a romance novel). Also, I hated all the flashbacks. Some of them gave you information you needed for the story, but most of the time, the flashbacks could’ve been taken out all together in favor of a little exposition from Belly in her mind instead of through flashbacks.
Spoilers ahead.
First of all, I feel terrible for Jeremiah and Cam. Jeremiah because he got rejected by Belly. Cam? Because he got straight up ghosted by Belly, which is much worse in my opinion. That’s the main spoiler I had because it was so disappointing, but nothing really happened with Conrad either. The lack of romance in this novel seriously made me sad.
Overall, I enjoyed the lightness of this book, but not so much the romance. I will definitely finish this series especially since the TV show is coming out soon, but it’s not going to be as amazing as To All the Boys I Loved Before. Jenny Han is an amazing writer and you can see how much she’s grown between these two trilogies.
Source: Personal Copy
"It's hard to throw away history. It was like you were throwing away a part of yourself.”
– Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty
Trailer Reactions Summed Up
- How am I ever gonna be able to tell the difference between Conrad and Jeremiah??
- Where the heck is Cam?
- Who is this friend you keep seeing Belly with?
- WHY IS BELLY A DEBUTANTE?!?
- Loved the beachy vibes, but I have totally mixed feelings about Belly being a debutante because, first of all, she would NOT just because of how the boys would react.
4 thoughts on “The Summer I Turned Pretty Book Review and Trailer Reaction”