Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Like the previous Jenny Han book I read, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , this was really quite sweet and lovely. It’s really a bit of a coming of age story. Belly (nickname for Isabel) is on the verge of turning sixteen when she makes the yearly trip to the summer house with her mom and brother. They’ve gone every year and stayed with Susannah Beck and her two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly is the baby of the group and over the years she has often felt left out from the fun had by the three boys. This year she intends for that all the change. She’s all grown up and she wants to be seen as more than the baby. It’s obvious the boys see that she really has changed when they first see her upon arrival. This is the first year that she feels pretty and feels like she is actually being noticed in a new way by the guys, aside from her brother.

During the summer she has her first summer romance of sorts with a boy she meets at a bonfire. Her brother leaves early in the summer to do college shopping with their dad and so he’s MIA for much of the story. Conrad is different this year and she can’t understand why. Jeremiah is mostly the same but not all. Susannah is napping when they arrive which is totally out of character. For this relatively short YA story, there’s a fair bit of drama here and lots of love in various ways. 

I really like this and look forward to reading the next part of the story after what could be a long wait from the library.