Belly lives her life for the summer. September to June are just months to wile away before the magic of summer begins.

Summer is when Belly goes to Cousins house, where her, her mom, and brother go to spend the summer with her mom’s best friend, Susannah Beck, and her sons. Belly has grown up on Cousins beach and can’t imagine being anywhere else, especially because she loves Beck’s boys, Jeremiah and Conrad.

But one summer, everything changes as Belly grows up and the boys start treating her differently, and she is forced to open her eyes to what is going on around her.

The Summer I Turned Pretty was such a fun and easy read! I devoured it in only a matter of 2 days, as the pages kept turning and I kept falling loving the way Han wove her story together with glimpses of the past interspersed with the present.

I know a lot of people found Belly to be annoying at times, and I was no different. She is only fifteen in this book, and her immaturity was definitely apparent, but I didn’t find it (too) jarring. Han’s writing, on the other hand, was jarring at times, in its lack of sophistication since the sentences were structured the same so I found myself bored a few times with the pace of the lines.

But the story had an easy flow, even though there wasn’t much plot development happening. But learning about Belly’s childhood and her relationship with Jeremiah and Conrad was fun, especially as the contrast between them becomes more apparent.

The climax isn’t exactly the type to make you hold your breath, but certain tidbits do start to come together as certain characters’ motivations become clear. The whole story is very easy to read; granted, its not the most deep stuff, but after a stressful day at work/school, this is perfect.

If you’re a fan of Sarah Dessen’s work, you will definitely enjoy this. Even though Han’s character and writing lacks the depth that Dessen’s stories have, falling in love with the characters is just as easy. Another good comparison is The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants series, if only for the fact that they also take place in the summer.

So for that: 3.5/5.

I’ve actually already gobbled up the second book in the sequel, and am eagerly awaiting the third book to come in at the library. But alas, I am number 33. -_-

Thanks for reading!

‘Till next time,

Ikhlas