Review of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" by Jenny Han

I read "The Summer I Turned Pretty" by Jenny Han for a book club that my science class created. While the book is mostly a beach-read, it can also provoke really in-depth and spirited discussions about who the protagonist, Belly Conklin, should date. Belly’s mother Laurel has a best friend named Susannah. Susannah has two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, and they all spend each summer at a beach house.

After first reading the book, I was avidly rooting for Jeremiah to date Belly, but after reading the second two books, I realized how Jeremiah never liked Belly until she actually “turned pretty”, whereas Conrad, his brother, has liked Belly for years. And, more importantly, Belly has liked Conrad for years too. Cam, nicknamed “Cam Cameron”, is a character who Belly dates during the summer. Readers may dislike him because he casually enters Belly’s life when everything is complicated enough with the two other boys, Conrad and Jeremiah. Cam is by far the kindest of the three boys and would probably be the healthiest choice for Belly, if she did not have long-standing feelings for Conrad.

Throughout this entire book, Conrad is very sad, which is completely understandable because it is revealed that his mother has been diagnosed with cancer, but only his mother Susannah and Belly’s mother Laurel know this information. In addition, nobody knows that Conrad has found out about his mother’s diagnosis. Conrad has always loved Belly, and it just happens to be during the same summer when he is not emotionally available to date Belly that Jeremiah likes her (again, because this was the summer that she “turned pretty”).

Overall, I think that the whole trilogy is a perfect quick-read that is entertaining and a page-turner, but is also more relaxed and fun to make it a good summer book. The book has been turned into a TV series that now has released season two, focused on the second book in the trilogy, “It’s Not Summer Without You” and will release season three, focusing on the last book in the trilogy, “We’ll Always Have Summer” next year.