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A review by alycass
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I read this book every summer, it's how I kick off my summer reading, but the past two-ish years I had skipped out on it for various reasons. This was my first time coming back to it after a while and I just got to say that for the most part it still holds up.
I just absolutely love the opening and can't help it I want to share some quotes, because these remind me a lot of my journey to Port Aransas, which is like my version of Cousins Beach and is my home away from home. And I think these quotes capture that perfectly:
"One of my favorite things about going to the beach was the radio stations. I was as familiar with them as with the ones back home and listening to Q94 made me just really know inside that I was there, at the beach."
"We drove through town slowly...I didn't really mind...I loved this drive, this moment, Seeing the town again...it was like coming home again after you'd been gone a long, long time. It held a million promises of Summer and what just might be."
"I rolled down the window and took it all in. The air tasted just the same, smelled just the same. The wind making my hair feel sticky, the salty sea breeze, all of it felt just right. Like it had been waiting for me to get there."
I fell in love with all of these characters all over again and had such a great time doing so- except Taylor, fuck her, she can die in a ditch. Speaking of women in this book, you can definitely this is a product of 2010- when it was published. Women in this book exist for two purposes, so that Belly can hate herself more and throw herself a pity party, or so that she can be jealous and act like a petulant child.
Don't get me wrong, but Belly was frustrating at times because she did act like the child that Jeramiah, Conrad, and Steven often accused her of being. I tried not to be too annoyed by it though because for the majority of the book she is between the ages of 11 and 14. (The book jumps back and forth in time.)
BRIEF MENTION OF HOMOPHOBIA:
There are off-handed homophobic remarks made throughout the book. There's a part of the book where Belly asks Cam if he wants to go skinny dipping and he changes his mind, citing a fear of getting caught as his reasoning and within the narration we get the line:
"Are you serious?" What I really wanted to ask is, are you gay?
That's not the only time either of all three- or four-times comments like this has been made either verbally by the characters or within the narration it's only been challenged once. I know it's one of those things where at the time that this book came out just saying the word "gay" was enough to constitute a joke in and of itself, but it's still getting on my nerves, because at the end of the day it's still homophobic.
Other than these things I overall enjoyed the book pretty well. And I think a lot of it still holds a place near and dear to my heart, though that could just be the nostalgia talking since I started reading this series when I was about 11 or 12 myself and have read it every summer since.
I just absolutely love the opening and can't help it I want to share some quotes, because these remind me a lot of my journey to Port Aransas, which is like my version of Cousins Beach and is my home away from home. And I think these quotes capture that perfectly:
"One of my favorite things about going to the beach was the radio stations. I was as familiar with them as with the ones back home and listening to Q94 made me just really know inside that I was there, at the beach."
"We drove through town slowly...I didn't really mind...I loved this drive, this moment, Seeing the town again...it was like coming home again after you'd been gone a long, long time. It held a million promises of Summer and what just might be."
"I rolled down the window and took it all in. The air tasted just the same, smelled just the same. The wind making my hair feel sticky, the salty sea breeze, all of it felt just right. Like it had been waiting for me to get there."
I fell in love with all of these characters all over again and had such a great time doing so- except Taylor, fuck her, she can die in a ditch. Speaking of women in this book, you can definitely this is a product of 2010- when it was published. Women in this book exist for two purposes, so that Belly can hate herself more and throw herself a pity party, or so that she can be jealous and act like a petulant child.
Don't get me wrong, but Belly was frustrating at times because she did act like the child that Jeramiah, Conrad, and Steven often accused her of being. I tried not to be too annoyed by it though because for the majority of the book she is between the ages of 11 and 14. (The book jumps back and forth in time.)
BRIEF MENTION OF HOMOPHOBIA:
There are off-handed homophobic remarks made throughout the book. There's a part of the book where Belly asks Cam if he wants to go skinny dipping and he changes his mind, citing a fear of getting caught as his reasoning and within the narration we get the line:
"Are you serious?" What I really wanted to ask is, are you gay?
That's not the only time either of all three- or four-times comments like this has been made either verbally by the characters or within the narration it's only been challenged once. I know it's one of those things where at the time that this book came out just saying the word "gay" was enough to constitute a joke in and of itself, but it's still getting on my nerves, because at the end of the day it's still homophobic.
Other than these things I overall enjoyed the book pretty well. And I think a lot of it still holds a place near and dear to my heart, though that could just be the nostalgia talking since I started reading this series when I was about 11 or 12 myself and have read it every summer since.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia