Title: The Summer I Turned PrettyAuthor: Jenny Han
Publication Date:May 5, 2009 by Simon & Schuster
Format: Trade Paperback
Plot 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.
The Actual Review:
I never had any plans reading this book, but since it became official that Jenny Han is going to the Philippines this upcoming June 21, I tried to insert all of her books into my Summer Reading List, and one of those happens to be The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Let me start off by saying: I never expected myself to actually like this book! When this was on my mandatory reading pile, I already had 2 meters worth of bandage beside me, ready to apply to my head for those times I wanted to hit my head at the wall. Because seriously, The Summer I Turned Pretty? The title itself makes your eyes want to barf, instead of making of making it go through the book.
I loved the romance parts of the book; everything was so fluffy and cute, I sometimes catch myself grinning while I’m in a public place. And nothing – I mean nothing – is more awkward than to have some stranger look at the sight of you goofily grinning at a book, when the title says The Summer I Turned Pretty!
Character wise, I also enjoyed the book, there are just some characters of this book you can’t help but simply adore. I liked how Jeremiah cracked his jokes; the brooding detachment of Conrad, even though sometimes you can’t help but hate him for being such a total dick; how Susannah was more than a second mother to Belly; Cam Cameron’s adorkable temperament; I even found Steven likable even though I don’t know how he fits in the entire picture.
However, as likable most of the characters of this book are, I really hated the main protagonist. Belly I just found throughout the book to be incredibly whiny. She goes on and on how things doesn’t go the way she likes them to, and how often she was ostracized from the guys. I also found her character very immature. She believes that a person’s maturity is the effect of how that person looks physically. Belly kept pressing the buttons of my patience throughout the totality of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and it’s the side characters that kept me from chucking this book at a wall.
The romance was decent; the characters were likable – albeit some will constantly irk you to death –; the plot was mediocre. Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty is your average light read, filled with a dash of humor.
My Rating:
I never had any plans reading this book, but since it became official that Jenny Han is going to the Philippines this upcoming June 21, I tried to insert all of her books into my Summer Reading List, and one of those happens to be The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Let me start off by saying: I never expected myself to actually like this book! When this was on my mandatory reading pile, I already had 2 meters worth of bandage beside me, ready to apply to my head for those times I wanted to hit my head at the wall. Because seriously, The Summer I Turned Pretty? The title itself makes your eyes want to barf, instead of making of making it go through the book.
I loved the romance parts of the book; everything was so fluffy and cute, I sometimes catch myself grinning while I’m in a public place. And nothing – I mean nothing – is more awkward than to have some stranger look at the sight of you goofily grinning at a book, when the title says The Summer I Turned Pretty!
Character wise, I also enjoyed the book, there are just some characters of this book you can’t help but simply adore. I liked how Jeremiah cracked his jokes; the brooding detachment of Conrad, even though sometimes you can’t help but hate him for being such a total dick; how Susannah was more than a second mother to Belly; Cam Cameron’s adorkable temperament; I even found Steven likable even though I don’t know how he fits in the entire picture.
However, as likable most of the characters of this book are, I really hated the main protagonist. Belly I just found throughout the book to be incredibly whiny. She goes on and on how things doesn’t go the way she likes them to, and how often she was ostracized from the guys. I also found her character very immature. She believes that a person’s maturity is the effect of how that person looks physically. Belly kept pressing the buttons of my patience throughout the totality of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and it’s the side characters that kept me from chucking this book at a wall.
The romance was decent; the characters were likable – albeit some will constantly irk you to death –; the plot was mediocre. Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty is your average light read, filled with a dash of humor.
My Rating:
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Same goes for TATBILB!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat job in writing a review that's "feels-unbiased"!!!!!
ReplyDeletegreat review!
ReplyDeleteI was in the right mood to read this in May so I think it was the perfect summer reading for me despite Belly's annoyance I found Han's writing style to my taste. Great review I've been meaning to check ur blog since u started it but I was distracted so now I've added u to my google+ something so I will get an alert of ur latest post :)
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