Roaring Reviews: It's Not Summer Without You, by Jenny Han

Title: It's Not Summer Without You
Author: Jenny Han
Publication Date: April 27, 2010 by Simon & Schuster
Format: Trade Paperback

Plot Synopsis:

Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.

But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started--at Cousins Beach.

The Actual Review:

It's Not Summer Without You is the second book to the Summer series, A review of the first book, The Summer I Turned Pretty, could be seen here.

I found myself liking the second book way more than the first one in the series. The pacing was better; the circumstances were more jarring; the main protagonist was more tolerable compared to the first book.  In other words, It’s Not Summer Without You will keep you glued to your seat, not knowing that you’ve gone through already a hundred or so pages.

The book, in contrast to the first one, was told in two perspectives. We had Belly’s traditional PoV, and we have a new one, Jeremiah’s – which I actually found to my liking. The PoV’s of Jeremiah gave me a deeper understanding to his personality, how he feels, and his sibling bond with Conrad, and especially about his father. The characters are also a lot more angstier, the collateral of the reason why they didn’t go to the beach house that summer. 

I also loved the fact that Jenny Han revealed to us the vulnerable side of all characters, especially Jeremiah’s. We saw that while Conrad and Belly had others to rely, Jeremiah had none. But even though all these kind of shit is happening all around him, he still kept that Jeremiah attitude that we all learned to love. 

Belly became a little more mature in this book; though she could still annoy the hell out of me from time to time, it made the entire reading experience more bearable, than to have her whining complaining about being ostracized from the boys’ group. She does whine still; she acts immature but on a completely less extent that the first time we’ve met her.

Conrad is the most angst driven, not to mention the most enigmatic character. It’s already the second book, and I still don’t know what makes him tick! Throughout the book he would be really nice to Belly and show that he still likes her, and then suddenly hide behind the cold hard exterior he’s made.

Another character that I didn’t expect to suddenly love was Belly’s mom, Lauren. We know she has this calm, cool under pressure personality, but we get to see her become a total badass in one part of the book. 

Another thing I liked in the book was the romance. The romance was well timed, got better and even more complex. We see this whole love triangle growing around these three that were planted in the first book. 

Overall, It’s Not Summer Without You is a really good read, and although I lacks that certain je ne sais quoi that constitutes an amazingly perfect book, it’s still a quickly paced, light read that you might enjoy while waiting for the rain to pour itself out while you’re stuck in the house, bored out of one’s mind.

My Rating: 

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