Late to the Game: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Since I’ve started blogging my TBR list has been growing by the day. So in honor of that I'm doing a feature called Late to the Game. This will feature books that just about everyone [but me] has read. Hey like they say...better late than never...right?

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Published: May 2009

Format: Kindle purchased

Publisher: Simon and Schuster BYR

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

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

I was a little nervous when I first decided to read this novel. I had never read a Jenny Han book before and I’m always nervous when it comes to reading a book or series that so many people love and adore. I’m always scared that I won’t like it or even worse it won’t live to the hype, not so much the hype from others but the one I’ve built up in my head. Well I’m glad to say this has lived up to it and more.

I quickly feel in love with Belly, Jeremiah and Conrad. The summer world that Jenny Han built was near perfection. I totally envisioned myself at the beach right along with them. I loved the tale of these friends who were more like family who grew up together every summer. I also loved the flashbacks of the summers past; it gave us some insight on how everyone grew over time. Like any girl coming of age, Belly is dealing with the pains of growing up and figuring out who she is and her growing feelings for the boys in her life. While she has always loved more than the other she still feels torn and is trying to figure out if what she ever feels is even real.

In reading this it can’t help but bring back those memories of that first crush and trying to figure out if its love or not. That summer has been the hardest for Belly, dealing with her parents divorce, coming to terms with who she really wants to give her heart to and deciding wither or not just to declare her true feelings and let the chips fall where they may.

This novel is the perfect contemporary YA beach read. It has characters you won’t be able to forget and a storyline that captures you from the very first sentence. I honestly don’t know why I’ve waited so long to read it, and now that I have I can’t wait to find out how the rest of the series plays out.

Quotable moments…

*Moments when lost can’t be found again. They’re just gone.

*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 seen them, that’s how they really are.

THE BOTTOM LINE... IT'S...