O Verão que Mudou Minha Vida (2024)

I nearly melted when Conrad was introduced. That strong, silent, protective guy, why, he was even sexier than Edward Cullen! And although he didn't sparkle, he certainly made up for it by his sorrowful brooding, which my heart soared out to. I mean, who DOESN'T understand when someone who is in pain turns to drinking and picking fights at parties?There is just something so alluring, so captivating, about Conrad, because what he does not say or do in words is immediately engraved in my ever-loving heart. I totally, completely, 101% understand why Belly loved him her entire life.

As for Belly, heavy burdens are hard to accept, but World War 3.5 broke out the Summer She Turned Pretty. I totally sympathized with her, with all those choices she had to make. As a famous poet once wrote, "Two roads diverged into a yellow wood. And I, I took the one less traveled by." Like this, Belly did just that. Instead of romancing just one guy, she made the unusual, yet incredibly understandable choice to romance THREE GUYS. And WOW! Was this beautifully conflicting love SQUARE intense!! nearly had a heart-attack, my heart beat so loud in my ears, when THIS scene happened:

"Get out of my face," Conrad growled.

"No." Jeremiah stepped closer, until their faces were inches apart, just like ours had been not fifteen minutes before.

In a dangerous voice, Conrad said, "I'm warning you, Jeremiah."

So well spoken, so unique, so original, AMEN BROTHER. No scene has truly ever frightened me so much, to the point where I just had to wrench this book out of my own hands and go take ten minutes' breather in the bathroom. But since this review isn't marked with SPOILER, I'll just say that you will have to stop and re-read a few times what has actually happened at this 90-degree-climax.

I sympathize so well with Belly, and again, I praise Jenny Han for relating SO WELL, SO WELL, I SAY, to teen girls. Ms. Han really brought this scene to life, it was so intense and completely, reasonably dramatic, my heart literally skipped a beat and I almost had an asthma attack:

"I stood by the fire alone and pretended to warm my hands even though they weren't cold. That's when I saw him. He was standing alone too, drinking a bottle of water. It didn't seem like he knew anybody either, since he was standing all by himself." Ah! Ms. Han, you have such an elegant, easy way of making contradicting words and plain sentences flow so naturally! So barely noticeable! Continuing on,

He looked like he was my age. But there was something about him that seemed safe and comfortable, like he was younger than me even though he wasn't." Again, what is this? A beautiful paradox? No, paradox isn't even the word. I was so dumbfoundedly awestruck by this sentence that I had to stop, pause, and wonder, what was going to happen next? Really, at this point in the book, things really take a turn around the bend.

BUT. I am truly amazed by the way Jenny Han has a talent with words, and finally releasing reader's from their growing suspicion that something more was going on between Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad:

"Things had been weird with me and Conrad and also with me and Jeremiah-an impossible thought crept its way into my head. Was it possible they didn't want me with Came? Because THEY, like, had feelings for me?" I love how Jenny Han seems to remember how teenagers act, because by putting that single unnecessary "like" into the sentence truly, legit, won me over. I had no idea how poetic daily teen slang could have been.

There are some things I absolutely ADORED about Belly. She was so realistic in the sense that I felt she was RIGHT IN MY HEAD. Like, seriously, like honestly, like LEGIT:

"I didn't answer his question. Instead I said, "I was really good! I could have been dancing in a company by now!" I couldn't have. I wasn't that good, not by any stretch of the imagination." You can tell by this simply put declaration that Belly has given, how much she wants this guy to love her. She has gone so far, and given away her dignity, to BOAST HOW GOOD SHE IS AT BALLET.

""Maybe we can come back later." I knew he didn't mean it. Part of me was mad, and part of me was relieved. It was like craving a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich and then realizing two bites in that you didn't want it after all. I snatched my sweatshirt from him and said, "Don't do me any favors, Cam." Then I walked away as fast as I could, and sand kicked up behind me. I thought he might follow me, but he didn't."

This realistic intervention, this sudden, quirky, show of personality really is truly realistic. After all, EVERY teen needs to have their mood swings, but yet, this has shown Belly's true, twisting feelings for the guy she is talking to. I am truly amazed, I had no idea authors could get into my head so easily.

I feel proud to be a whiny, annoying teenager, because by the ways things turned out in the end of THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY, there is no doubt that I will Someday Find My Prince in the two hot guys I've obviously known all my life, but who started expressing their feelings towards me the Summer I Turned Pretty.

There was so much about this book that bothered me, and I almost gave up on it several times. I think the thing that bothered me most though was the protagonist. Very often, if I can't connect or feel compassion for the main character, the book has slim to no chance of winning me over. In my opinion, Belly was such an immature, self-focused and petulant child. Her actions and feelings about events and people really were annoying that I wanted to shake some sense into her, I'll provide more specifics in a few.

But first, one of the biggest things that irk me, and for those that know my reading style, they will laugh because I've said this often times before, I can't stand when an author doesn't tell you the name of the person narrating the story or who the story is about. Very few, maybe like one or two books (The Gargoyle being one) have been exempt from this number one rule of mine, I want to know who is talking to me or who the story is about right away! "Belly" doesn't cut it , especially when I find belly buttons gross and cringe-worthy. Ewwww! It's not until more than half way through the book that we find out her real name is Isabel, but by then it was too late, I was calling her Bellatrix in my head and couldn't get it out. Sorry, but it just happened naturally.

Overall, it bothered me how selfish Bellatrix… errr… I mean Belly was to those in her life, including family and friends. For example, her father tried so hard with her by buying her books, a piano and fixing up a room in his new apartment in the hopes she'd come to enjoy spending some time with him, but NOOOOO she didn't like the books he chose, the piano was out of tune and she wanted the yellow sheets, not the pink scratchy sheets. Ugh! Also, she has no real heartfelt relationships with ANYONE. She uses her best friend Taylor by inviting her to the beach house for the sole purpose that maybe she'll be able to fit in better with the crowd because of Taylor, but it ends up backfiring so she ends up resenting her BF. Her relationship with her brother is downright mean and shallow, nothing heartfelt or aww-worthy there. Even her friendship with Jeremiah and Conrad left much to be desired. It bothered me when Jeremiah and Belly overheard a convo between their mothers about Suzanne's breast cancer and Belly had no clue how to comfort him, all she could think of saying was "I hope your mom doesn't lose a boob." Really? That's all you got?? Glad you kept that in your little air-filled noggin and didn't say it out loud. How about just give him a hug and ask him if he's okay or wants to talk?? There were so many opportunities for her to show some depth and growth, but she just fell flat IMO.

BUT, the thing that bothered me the most is that she crushes on two brothers. That's just gross!! Pick one and stop with the "I like Jeremiah... no... I like Conrad... oh I shared a Twizzler with Jeremiah now I like him more again... Oh wait I like Conrad's dark and brooding side, I change my mind, I like him better." That gets irritating right quick next to her feeling that life got better for her when she turned pretty. No really, she felt I'm pretty now, life is like sooooo good now! I love being sooooo pretty. I was ugly before and an outsider, but now I'm pretty. Yay for me! Whatevs! *shakes head*

Lastly, the writing was simple and the storyline wasn't very complex at all, except for trying to figure out who this Belly girl really was. The story did switch back from present to past in random ways, but I don't consider that complex, just slightly irksome. The one thing the book did have going for it was the setting. I like seaside, beachfront, boardwalk settings, but that wasn't enough to hook me… I'd much prefer a Dessen book to provide me that fix. All in all, there's better out there IMHO.

Okay, this review feels sloppy and random... I'll just blame it on the book. DONE!

This book made me want to cry tears of blood.

Belly, if someone is hurting and tells you to stop talking, you don’t just kiss them. Also, if you and your friend overhear about his mother’s breast cancer, you don’t think thoughts like ‘oh, I hope she doesn’t loose a boob’

No. Just, no.

My husband does not approve of you.

Low Points in this book:
Belly.Girl, this is for being whiny and obnoxious. Also, for being a bitch to your mother and thinking that she would never ever do anything for you and for not appreciating her at all. For confusing me every two seconds by saying “i dunt even lyk Conrad. I lyk Jere. And Cam. but omg, hes sexeh mmm”
Conrad.Are you sure you’re going to college next year boy? My eight year old cousin is more mature than you. Don't you worry though, puberty will hit you soon enough.
Cam.

High points in this book:
Jeremiah.Since Cam is out of the picture, you’re obviously going to magically turn evil and f*ck sh*t up and hurt Belly so she can hate you and have babies with Conrad. Even though you’ve been her rock and best friend and remembered her birthday. You will feel like sh*t when the series ends for sticking up for her but guess what? Tough f*cking luck.

Taylor.You got slu*t shamed for kissing Belly’s brother and made her flip sh*t. You're invited to party with me.

That’s it.

Call me a masoch*st but I’ll read the next two books. Why? Because I like to torture myself that’s why. Or maybe because I’m hoping that Belly grows up and kicks Conrad once between the legs. My life will be complete.

The summer I turned pretty? No, more like- The summer I turned whiny.

If you ever have an enemy of sorts who likes to read, give them this book. It's a high tech torture device that will combust their brain into little pieces of nothing. Their soul will die a slow death and the will to read books will diminish. Isn't that great?
*proceeds to sob*

I want a beach house with hot boys

Could not get past the fact that her name was Belly.

i lost an abundance of brain cells reading this.

if my name was isabel and my mom nicknamed me belly i like to think i'd have a very very out of control rebellious phase.

i think we can all agree that the tv show is SO MUCH BETTER than the book

Amazing...that's only thing i can say! :) I recommend this book to everybody. One of the best books I've ever read :)

EDIT: I keep getting notifications that people like this review and I wondered why, then after seeing other reviews I understood. Here is the thing, I thought that if I read this book again now I wouldn't like it as much as me being mature and all that (put into a box in my brain labeled "lies I tell myself"). For that reason I didn't want to read To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but then the movie came along and all that fuss. As by nature I'm very curious person I gave it a try. The result are three sleepless nights I spent reading that trilogy, with tears in my eyes. So yes, you can say that these characters might be silly, immature, and both stories too dramatic. However, no one can't question Jenny's ability to put emotions into her words, and that right there I consider magic. For that reason alone I think I'll always read anything she writes.

Bottom line is read the first three sentences I wrote all those years ago! :)

P.S. Jenny you totally deserve all this popularity you're getting and I gotta say that the movie was actually really good! If, by any chance, you see Noah soon can you say hi to him. (wishful thinking)

I didn't like this book.

The thing that bother me the most was the girl, Belly, she was VERY annoying. I also just couldn't connect with the story, I mean all the book is about how much she loooooves Conrad (one of her mom's best friend's sons) and everything in her lifes revolves around Conrad.

It was bording on obsession actually, she came across as pathetic. And she complained about EVERYTHING, that the boys wouldn't play with her, that the boys weren't paying her attention, that her bestfriend was getting more attention than her, yadda yadda...
it was ENDLESS!.

Plus, she was so mean to her mother!, and she kept thinking awful things about her mother and father. She was so snotty and whiny and urgh just overall annoying. I couldn't swallow her.

I wanted to like this, the writing was well done, the descrption of the setting was amazing, and there were a lot of cute and funny scenes, ALL OF THEM including Jeremiah (the other son), so I didn't get why Belly was so obsessed with Conrad anyway, he wasn't even an interesting character at all :|

I dont need to be reading this, I've had enough Bella Swan for a lifetime. So I'm probably not reading the rest of the series. God knows it was already a big achievement to have finished this one.

my sister has taken over my old room.

due to the fact that i am 23 years old, lazy, and immature, a good chunk of my belongings are still in my parents' house. this means that up until a week or so ago, my bookshelves (see my profile picture) were largely intact.

in a room my sister now lives in.

which means, if you know anything about little sisters, that my books are being treated like a library. except with no organizational system or accountability of any kind. which is how upon my return, i happened to see her tearing through this series like she owned it.

i quickly removed all the books from her room, yelled at her, and gave her legal and emotional ownership of this trilogy. because it's not like i want anything to do with it anyway.

the main character in this series is intolerably bratty, one love interest is a snooze and the other is god's gift to assholes everywhere, and overall this is such a nightmarish ordeal to get through.

i won't be rereading, and the best punishment i can give my sister is making her read these anyway.

this is part of a project i'm doing where i review books i read a long time ago. this time, as with many others, i have discovered unexpected fury within myself.

petition to change book title to the summer i turned stupid

it is currently 4:30 am, i just read this in one sitting and i can confidently say this book was one of the cutest, most comforting reads EVER. it’s cliche and i hate the love triangle trope, but i am obsessed with the summer i turned pretty. i related to soooo much of this, it’s actually crazy. belly and i are very similar lol. this book made me laugh, tear up, and made me really frustrated at times. i am about to order the next two books in the series, because i have to know what happens next, especially after that final chapter like what????? i’m team conrad, but i also love jeremiah, so idk, i’m conflicted, which is why i hate love triangles lol. anyways, please read this book. filled me with joy.

the summer i turned from team conrad to team jeremiah

1) if my parents nicknamed me Belly, I would disown myself from the family.

2) the love web and confessions made me want to repeatedly smash my head against the wall.

3) I'm Team Cam (not for Belly, she doesn't deserve him), and if you're Team Conrad or Jeremiah, maybe you need to self reflect.

1.5 You know what, maybe I’m the bad guy. Could it be that I just don’t know a good book when I read one? Perhaps I have a desperate need to hate all things popular… Or maybe, just MAYBE, a truly awful book has once again paved its way to fame and a TV adaptation! Why? I have not a clue, but here we are again trying to make sense of it all.

Not to judge a book by its cover, but by looking at the title and summary alone you can pretty (pun intended) much tell what f*ckery you’ll find on the inside, and I honestly respect that transparency! We have our teenage-girl-with-quirky-name who’s been ignored by her two childhood friends all her life until one fateful day she ditches the glasses, grows a pair of tit*, and suddenly they both want her! Due to this newfound horny-teenage-boy attention, Belly has “turned pretty” and now has to choose between them! Isn’t that every girl’s summer dream? Every night I lie awake praying that one day I’ll have two douchey immature male specimens fawning after my douchey immature self, all in a beach house during the summer! What a life that must be.

I wish I could say that our lovely MC, Belly’s unfortunate name was her only crime against humanity, but in this first book alone she has several on her hands. I’ll try to cut her some slack in the “pick-me girl” department since shaming teen girls for chasing the male gaze is just another way of putting each other down, and when you grow up surrounded by boys; I get it! However, that is where my leeway ends with this recycled America Singer of a main character because my GOD, Belly is insufferable in every sense of the word.

Somewhere between her begging to be treated as an adult while behaving like a child, her animosity for her mother (who did nothing), and the weeks she led on Cam in order to make C*nr*d jealous, the waters of my rage against this girl began to boil! And that’s not even it!! If I were to list everything this girl did that made me want to punt her halfway to Mars, we would be here all day. The only (temporary) relief to my suffering came at the end when FINALLY C*nr*d told her what she deserved to hear, it’s the only time I’ll ever cheer for that douchey immature male specimen, he spilled!

Of course, this consolation only lasts about 5 minutes before Belly starts making out with him, because that’s obviously the best way to comfort someone that has verbally stated that they want nothing to do with you and also just found out their mom has cancer, right? According to Belly and the tone of the book itself, apparently so!

The discussion surrounding consent in this book is actually appalling, almost to the point of being funny. We of course have Belly kissing C*nr*d when he’s clearly distressed and had rejected her the day before, but we also have Jeremiah kissing Belly even after she tried pushing him off, AND we have Belly going on a whole rant about asking for consent being “weird”. Not to be a Karen on the tl, but is this seriously the bullsh*t we want pumped into kids brains? I honestly wish I didn’t read it because now every time someone buys it, (usually girls 12-16, I work at Barnes and Noble) I want to throw it out the window instead of giving to them!

When all is said and done, this is a poor excuse for a YA novel. Unless you’re like me and enjoy hate reading things solely to critique them, you should stay far away! On that note, I must return to reading the second book (spoiler alert: it’s even worse).

Read this during summer but have not turned pretty. Alas.

‘It’s hard to throw away history. It was like you were throwing away a part of yourself.’

It is a summer of budding first loves as they grow wild beyond the fences of childhood dynamics, uprooting friendships and getting the whole spectrum of emotions tangled up together in one glorious mess. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han chronicles the maelstrom of anxieties and desires of changing relationships over the course of the summer when Belly turns 16, contrasting it through glimpses of previous summers through her childhood to best explore the ways things change amongst a group of friends when attraction enters the picture. This was a rather lovely read, but all is not the idyllic summer of love in this gorgeous North Carolina town. Stormcloud are clearly rumbling in Conrad’s mind, making him standoffish, aggressive, and not the boy Belly thought she fell in love with over the previous summers and the sweetness of Jeremiah begins to take a whole new meaning. With all these changes, will relationship wreck upon the waves or may these friends sail on to more bright summer days?

‘Would you rather live one perfect day over and over or live your life with no perfect days but just decent ones?’

I had a blast reading this one, enjoying remembering the tumultuous time of being a teenager which this book captures so well. These characters are flawed, but in ways that I definitely remember relating to or seeing in my peers at the time and its hard not to feel for them as they struggle through all the changes in their lives. And, to be fair, ‘It's the imperfections that make things beautiful.’ While this book may make you cringe at points, it also felt truthful. And perhaps some of my cringing was not wanting to admit I saw my former self in some of these pages, the parts I try to pretend weren’t there and have hopefully outgrown. But that is also what made this so engaging is how well it plunges you right back into all those conflicting emotions, feeling both still a kid inside but wanting to be seen as mature, cool, and someone that someone might fall in love with.

Han does a good job exploring what begins as a love triangle but transforms into a love…square (personally, I felt bad for Cam, who was clearly being used to ensure the brother’s notice her new sexuality&mdash,and honestly, he was probably the most emotionally stable and mature of them all) But this was an interesting read, tracing the course of emotions that sprouted in earlier summers and seeing how attraction and a desire to be wanted can shake all that about. Which is what Han captures best, the way things change and that ‘things couldn't stay the same forever.’ As an adult, you realize change is just part of the territory. It doesn’t get easier, but you learn to expect it, adapt, how to catalog the losses and keep going because you’ve learned that time will keep marching and those hurts will fade. But when you are 15 it is all new, and the soft world of childhood starts taking on harsher edges. People are not static the way you think when only a handful of years feels like a long time, and the teenage years are such a whirlwind of change—physically and emotionally—that it can feel like being completely unmoored and thrust into chaos. Han nails this feeling, along with some sort of corny but cute teenage philosophizing. And sure, some of the characters are a bit cliched and too-much, but WHO WASN’T AT 16. This was lovely and sad and frustrating and just all the great summer reading vibes and though I didn’t turn pretty can I at least say I had my hot girl book summer?

— 2 stars ✰

belly was getting on my nerves, the amount of times she stuck her tongue out.. bffr. and the way she was talking about nicole? grow the f*ck up smh

— i just want to read the trilogy and compare it to the show but i can already say that the show is better, nothing happened in this book

4.25 ⭐️ NAH BECAUSE I ENJOYED THIS WAY MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD???? the fluff, the comfort, the characters.. i’m— yes.

i’m *drum roll pls* definitely team conrad. idk if my mind will change but for now THIS IS WHERE I STAND.

“that was the summer I turned pretty.”

I feel personally attacked by the hype surrounding this book that convinced me to read it.

you and i both know why i read this so let’s just move on with our days.

TAYLOR SWIFT IS PUTTING THIS LOVE (TAYLOR'S VERSION) IN THE SERIES, IT'S TIME TO HAVE MY HEART IN LOVE AND BROKEN WITH THIS BOOK AGAIN.

Let me just say I will never be over this slow burn childhood friends to lovers🥲.

“Moments, when lost, can't be found again. They're just gone.”

I'll just start off this

I'd gone into this with incredibly low expectations because I already knew I was going to like the show much more than the books based off of what I'd heard, and I was very, very correct.

The Plot

The show and book are two such incredibly different things that it seems like the show tries to fix the many, many issues that this book has, and I find that very funny. The show managed to have more plot than the books do, which is very rare for a show to do.

This is your typical 2010's YA contemporaries, and usually, I would have enjoyed that. My issues I have come in later. There is so much drama and literally no action. There's just jealousy, beaches, love triangles, bad characters, and nothing.

I will give props to the summer vibes though- those were great. Everything else? Not so much.

“It's the imperfections that make things beautiful.”

The Characters

And here is why my rant shall begin!

Now let's discuss Belly. I don't even remember her actual name, but I think it's spelled Isabel or something. Anyways, Belly is the worst, most stuck up, bratty, irritable, annoying, childish fifteen/sixteen year old I have ever read about. I honestly thought I was reading the perspective of a toddler or something because of how incredibly stupid she was. I was this close to throwing my book because of how bratty she was being to literally everyone around her.

Next up, Jeremiah. I will call him Jeremy until the day I die. I do not understand how anyone can possibly like him and I will not hear anyone out. He's alike to Belly in the fact that he acts like a child (he's better though) Now, this isn't from the first book, but after the 3rd book, I seriously don't know how anyone can still like him. Or how anyone likes him in the first place. He's just so jealous of Conrad and it makes literally no sense, but when it comes to Belly, he's always saying how he's better than Conrad, which just makes me confused (I can't remember if that happens in the 1st or 2nd book, it's all a blur.

Lastly because I don't care about anyone else, Conrad. Conrad is far superior in the show, but he's decent in the books. Even though I'm definitely team Conrad, I found myself annoyed by him a lot. Now I love the bad boy types, and I think Conrad was like that enough, but he also came off rude and there's a fine line between that. Either way, Conrad is better than Jeremy and nothing will sway my opinion on that.

I said I don't care but I'll give little shout-outs to these characters:
-Susannah and Laurel are great, probably the best characters in this book, though they let their children get away with a lot of stuff
-Taylor is far better in the show, which seems to be a trend amongst these characters

Overall: basically everyone's annoying.

“In the dark you can feel really close to a person. You can say whatever you want.”

The Romance

Love triangles are a crime against humanity

Conrad is obviously the better choice, but honestly, why would anyone like Belly? I'm confused on how these two guys are fighting over this fifteen year old child who can't take a joke. anyways, I think no one has chemistry with anyone. Conrad and Belly have much more chemistry than Jeremy and Belly but not much more and it annoys me to no ends. If you're gonna have a love triangle, at least make it complicated or make it so that there's chemistry with everyone.

I'm team Belly ends up with no one.

“Would you rather live one perfect day over and over or live your life with no perfect days but just decent ones?”

Overall, I'm honestly not even disappointed, I'm not even surprised. At least I just proved to myself that the show is so much better.

1.5 stars

“Victory is a thousand times sweeter when you're the underdog.”

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y'know, I had very low expectations. very, very low expectations. Somehow, they weren't even reached. the show is so, SO much better than the books, and Belly is the whiniest, most annoying character I have EVER had the displeasure of reading about

this is going to be a very fun review to write

rtc (1.5 stars)

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Pre-read: Eh, I decided I'd put this on my to-read list, because why not? Don't know why, since I HATE love triangles, but I want to watch the show, and I like reading the books before watching the show or movie so 🤷‍♀️

4.5? 5? I don't even know, but this book read like a dream and I really enjoyed it.

Also, I am terrified about what is going to happen in the later books.

Ahhh such a good book to get into the summer mindset and I’m SO excited to start the sequel. I love the setting and the characters. It made me so nostalgic for past summers when I was in high school.

[June 20, 2022: edited some of my ranting here from the time I was in the 10th grade because *cringe*]

284 pages where absolutely nothing happened.

I've read many books with annoying but-bearable protagonists, but this one made me want to pull my own hair out.

I tried my best to like Belly, but every five seconds, she immediately did something so stupid and I just had to hate her all over again.

The main issue with her character is that she was always contradictory. It was so obvious that it had always been Conrad who she liked, but what did she do? Flirt with everyone else to make him jealous? To make things worse, she tried to justify it by convincing HERSELF she did not like him.

Also, can she just stop whining about every single thing that happened? PLEASE STOP BEING SO ENTITLED AND ENJOY EVEN JUST AN HOUR OF YOUR LIFE. Plus, please stop overreacting.

My other complaints about this book includes:
Boring love interest(s): My friend convinced me to read this book saying it was her favorite romance YA book. I felt cheated. The only thing I could remember from this book was Isabel ranting about how her long-time crush did not like her back. Not to mention, all three love interests were completely dull. The fact that she felt conflicted to choose between them made me question her sanity.

Writing Style:
-Too much dialogue and not enough feels into the story.
-Very easy to go through but absolutely no plot at all.
-Chapters are too short and are often cut off to skip to another scenes. (It was extremely frustrating.)

Hi, so this book isn't technically a five-star read. It's a little cliche and a lot cheesy and centres around a love triangle and just is not a literary masterpiece. I don't care about any of that though because this is the book I was reading before I was a reader. This is the book that made me want to read. This was the first book I read into the night. The first book I couldn't put down. This was the book of my preteen years and the nostalgia I feel for this book surpasses any reservations I have about the plot now that I'm not 12 anymore. I've read this book upwards of fifteen times and no matter what stage of my life I'm at, I love it. These characters feel like family. The beach house feels like my own vacation home and the words feel like they live in my brain. So yeah, it isn't a perfect book and is the exact opposite of what I tend to lean towards nowadays but forever and ever and ever it will be a symbol of my love of reading and I will always be fond.

My very personal dilemma with Jenny Han is that the tv show (and movies) she helps produce are better than her own books. They're not excellent, they're not Academy Awards worthy, but I seriously question myself every time I read one of her books because she's the right example of how anybody could become an author with enough luck and popularity.
Since the internet is full of people with opinions, though, I clarify that I have nothing against Jenny Han and I’m very grateful for her contribution to modern literature.

The Summer I Turned Pretty - the book as the tv show - is a cute hobby for the summer. It can also be quite cringe, but it's cringe being sixteen after all.
It’s a light beach reading, perfect for when you don’t want to put too much effort in what you’re reading.

But, the writing? Not only the constant back and forth could give you a headache, where are the emotions?
I'm more than certain that I was influenced by the tv show and its portrayal of the characters because I was a simp for Conrad all book long, even if the narration didn't really make me feel something. It's in plain sight, tho: it doesn't matter what she's doing or who she is with, Belly always finds a way to think about Conrad. This is love, people!
On the other hand, Jeremiah is an awful brother and I stand with that. Maybe a little less here, but I’ll give him time.
About the others, Steven is not even a proper side character here and Taylor is annoying as in the tv adaptation.
But for whom I’m sadder is Susannah: she’s an amazing character in the tv show, full of brightness and warmth; she’s the mother or aunt we all want and here… she just wasn’t.

Being in my early 20s made me realize how cringe and naive I was at 16, and eventually this made me more sympathetic with this type of stories. Like, Belly is still a child, she knows nothing about real love and the one, but we all pretend that yes, she has a point.
Even if she doesn't, not really, and I wouldn't have fallen for this even as a teen.

↠ 2.8 stars

2.25/5.0 stars

“It was like coming home after you'd been gone a long, long time. It held a million promises of summer and of what just might be.”

i’ve got many problems with this book. let’s just get right to the chase bc i don’t want to just build up to it. i’ve noticed i tend to ramble on about my thoughts (especially when i hate a book) so here’s your warning for that.

“For me, it was almost like winter didn't count. Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers. Like I don't really begin living until June, until I'm at that beach, in that house.”

“For me there was—is—nothing better than walking on the beach late at night. It feels like you could walk forever, like the whole night is yours and so is the ocean. When you walk on the beach at night, you can say things you can’t say in real life. In the dark you can feel really close to a person. You can say whatever you want.”

belly got on my nerves. she was the type of person that was desperate for a man’s attention even if it was negative. her and taylor (mostly her) shamed the social norms for boys that we have started developing, from consent to seeing someone for who they are instead of dressing up just for attention. they craved a man that was below the bare minimum, just because it felt nice to have attention instead of looking for quality. not to mention she got mad anytime taylor flirted with conrad or jeremiah bc she “claimed” them. she said she couldn’t explain it, which is evident bc even though everything taylor did pissed me off, i hated the fact that belly just wanted both of them to herself. she cared about how she was perceived way too much, especially around boys bc she wanted to impress them most of all. none of them deserve her. i will stand by this

spoiler warning here!

“But if I blamed anyone, it was my mother. Why did she have to be so calm, so placid? At least my father cried. At least he was in pain. My mother said nothing, revealed nothing. Our family broke up, and she just went on. It wasn't right.”

she wasn’t just obsessed with boys, she also had the audacity to criticize her mom for being strong during their divorce. she recognized that her dad did something worse than her mother, but has the audacity to talk badly abt her mom for the way she copes. she liked the fact that her dad actually showed emotion and said it “wasn’t right” to not show emotion. she has NO filter whatsoever and doesn’t recognize her mom for the strong woman she is. she’s an ungrateful bitch who’s insensitive, selfish, snappy, petty, and so f*cking stubborn!! she hated her mom for showing emotion, yet she loves conrad even though he shows NO emotion. make up your mind girl!! she had such a bad relationship with her mom and it’s clear she never even tried.

i understand that belly wanted to fit in with the boys, but i hated the idea that she tried to grow up way too fast just to try and fit in. i don’t get why she liked conrad. there were times where he would stand up for her and be nice, but other times he would treat her like a kid. i can’t be rooting for them to get together if he’s going to keep commenting on the fact that she’s a kid. sorry to say it: i was team cameron while reading this book. if i were to choose one of the fisher boys for belly, it would be jeremiah but i still believe the boys are too good for belly. i already know who she ends up with, so i will inevitably be switching up. but he was actually nice and it’s clear they have a close friendship. i can see them having a friendship that blossoms into more bc he was never as mean as conrad and they understood each other.

cam cameron deserved better. she constantly compared him to the boys instead of cherishing his character and was able to bring conrad up even in situations where he wasn’t even mentioned!! cameron was way better than any of them. he was so kind, and she never took time out of her day to realize that bc she was so obsessed with conrad it was crazy. she kept talking about how she wanted cam cameron to be more like them and it made me so mad.

taylor was even worse than belly. i had to stop myself from rolling my eyes anytime she appeared in the book. why are they even friends? they bring out the worst in each other and it’s clear they’re toxic together. she hated the idea of belly being better than her, which i find to be stupid. she’s the type of person where she isn’t willing to do anything independently and wanted belly to join in even if belly didn’t want to. one thing abt me is that i HATE people who are like this.

spoilers from this point on
another thing is the fact that it felt too insta lovey between belly and conrad. he said goodnight ONCE and girl is in love? where’s the buildup? there was none whatsoever. with jeremiah, it’s evident that she’s seen him as a friend all these years and i feel like i’d like the storyline more bc i love the friends to lovers trope (character development on my part <3)

“Steven, my big brother, the bane of my existence. He was like our old flannel blanket that smelled like wet dog--smelly, comforting, a part of the infrastructure that made up my world.”

she got better towards the middle. i thought she definitely improved but she proved me wrong once she called taylor a slu*t. she has the AUDACITY to label taylor as the “slu*ttier” friend and call her names just to say she wanted to be her and take her place?? no way. she can’t just switch up and hurt her just to say she wants to be like taylor. she wanted to hurt everyone in her way and i have no idea how people put up with her. she recognized conrad was grieving yet still chose to lash out? she said she understood but it shows she doesn’t bc she was still willing to snap at him. she was the type of person that made digs in your face with no shame.

she was such a sh*tty friend for going after everyone and switching up, from conrad, to jeremiah, and even to steven! despite the fact that she knew belly liked conrad, she went for him which shows that she prioritized boys over how own “best friend”. she never even felt guilty for going after conrad! she even went after jeremiah after finding out conrad was boring and hung out with the boys rather than her own “best friend,” who invited her in the first place. they were constantly on her mind, and it’s clear she’s only there for show instead of personality bc hers is so sh*tty. she was evidently jealous of belly and vise versa. it felt as though she was clingy and obsessive, and she was so full of herself but also gave off pick me vibes! i can pick apart these characters all day long. it’s clear that taylor was in it for the attention and male validation and she had no manners whatsoever.

“Sometimes it's like people are a million times more beautiful to you in your mind. It's like you see them through a special lens—but maybe if it's how you see them, that's how they really are.”

“I felt like I had won the lottery from that one smile.”

the ending was better than i expected. still not exactly good but it did improve compared to the rest of this book. when belly and conrad kissed, it was like they were using each other and the mention of susanna having cancer bothered me bc it ruined their moment. even if it led up to that because conrad was coping, i feel like i was aware her intentions weren’t bad yet she wasn’t willing to back down despite him telling her that he didn’t like her.

she was also so persistent it was like she couldn’t handle being rejected even though it’s her first experience with boys. she acted like knew everything and yelled at him which made it all become confusing. it all felt rushed with everything that happened in the end. it was like the author wanted to add in so many things last minute. the way everyone switched up in this book was crazy. i hate how conrad continuously called her a kid but then all of a sudden it’s revealed he likes her and they see each other ?? they never even confirmed anything. i don’t know what to think

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
the summer i turned pretty - 2.25 stars
it’s not summer without you - 3.5 stars
we’ll always have summer - tbr

pre-review

update: soo.. it was way worse than the show! atp it’s carrying the book. rtc much later bc i’ve got so many notes on this book

pre-read review

i don’t usually watch the show before reading the books but i couldn’t help myself with this one

hoping it’s at least half as good as the show 🤞