The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han


Publication Date: May 5, 2009


Plot: 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.





MY THOUGHTS:

When I heard that this book series was being made into an Amazon Prime show, I had to FINALLY read it! As an avid pop culture fan, I love having the background knowledge of the book when I watch a tv or movie adaptation. I personally feel like it just makes it that much better. (I am one of those people who can look at them as two separate things though, so no hating either way!)


I adored the To All the Boys I Loved Before trilogy written by Jenny Han after reading them a few years ago, so I have wanted to get to this series for a while, and the show finally made me do it. I have NO IDEA why it took me this long to read them, because I am absolutely obsessed.


The Summer I Turned Pretty is a lighthearted book with drama, tension, and slow burn. It’s something my high school self would have reread over and over again just to feel that good old burn of angst. A cute, summer read that definitely cures reading slumps. The love triangle (square?) and constant back and forth of feelings made me want to keep reading.

Also, can we talk about Conrad Fisher?! Dear LORD, I cannot handle how my 29-year-old self was in love with this kid. Whoooo my high school self would have been a puddle! We also need to talk about the casting for the Amazon prime series. They are EXACTLY as I imagined them. I sooo love the fact that Jenny Han not only wrote the book series, but she wrote the script for the show and was the showrunner for the show as well. So, it was just that much better for the fans of the books.

 This was SUCH a good read, and I have no doubt that I’m about to fly through this trilogy. 10/10 recommend!


☆ Rating: 4.5/5 stars 

FAVORITE QUOTES


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

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


“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.”


“For me, it was almost like winter didn’t count. Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers.”


“I love Conrad, and I probably always would. I would spend my whole life loving him one way or another. Maybe I would get married, maybe I would have a family, but it wouldn’t matter, because a piece of my heart, the piece where summer lived, would always be Conrad’s.”


“It was a summer I would never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it. Pretty, I mean. Every summer up to this one, I believed it’d be different. Life would be different. And that summer, it finally was.”

FAVORITE QUOTES


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

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


“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.”


“For me, it was almost like winter didn’t count. Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers.”


“I love Conrad, and I probably always would. I would spend my whole life loving him one way or another. Maybe I would get married, maybe I would have a family, but it wouldn’t matter, because a piece of my heart, the piece where summer lived, would always be Conrad’s.”


“It was a summer I would never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it. Pretty, I mean. Every summer up to this one, I believed it’d be different. Life would be different. And that summer, it finally was.”