REVIEW - Summer Series by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty – Goodreads Description

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.

I was going to review all of these individually, but I couldn’t put them down and read them all in one shot. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting from this series. I think part of me imagined it to be just a nice light beach read, hence the word summer. I was dead wrong; these books were so much more. I should have known though, Ginger recommended them to me and she tends to be partial to the emotional contemporary books. Don’t be discouraged though, they were far from being dark and depressing.

Every once and a while, you come across a book, or series that holds a special something. That magical feeling when you read it for the first time. You know it won’t the same when you re-read it, so you try and pace yourself… but its’ impossible because you eat, sleep, breathe the story. These books were that for me. The Summer Series is everything a contemporary should be. I felt everything all at once. I was overwhelmed with feeling, in a good way. It’s a beautiful coming of age story.

Belly, oh gosh, I loved her. I loved her for her faults. So many times I saw myself in her. Her flaws are so realistic. Han takes you through multiple trips during this series, back to when they were all little, spending summers at this beach house. You truly get a sense for who Belly is deep down. You literally grow up with her on paper. Her innocence is captured so well. I was nervous about her name being Belly, because that’s just weird, but have no fear! It’s a nick name and how she acquired it is adorable.

There is a love Triangle between Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad. This is not really a spoiler.  I’m not always a fan of love triangles, but most are acceptable. I find it hard to even lump this series into the cliché (Love Triangle) group, because it felt more real than that. This isn’t the love triangle you normally see. “Oh he’s so cute and nice, but this other guy is so sexy and bad.” Nope, nothing like that. You don’t have a good or a bad guy. They all grew up together. They love each other like family, and naturally as they get older, some feelings change. I adored each and every one of them for different reasons. These Characters are so real, their problems are real, and their decisions are as well.

If you can’t tell already, I’m in love with this series.  Madly in love. I look forward to my daughter reading it someday. I cannot stress enough, how great these books are. If you have them, READ THEM! Don’t put it off for too long. They are perfect to get you in the mood for summer. If you don’t have them yet, I assure you they are worth purchasing. These are now on my pedestal of favorite books ever, next to all the others. :o)


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