Author: Jenny Han
Total Pages: 291
Personal Rating: 2/5
Review:
Here we are! The end of The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and I’ll be giving my review on the last novel of the series, It’s Not Summer Without You. This novel follows both Belly and Conrad leading up to Belly’s marriage with Jeremiah. Belly and Jeremiah have been in a relationship for around two years and after a big fight, they spontaneously get engaged. Conrad’s love still wavers for Belly but all he can do is be a supportive figure for the newlyweds. With the wedding comes many struggles: low-cut budgets, parent disapproval, and Belly’s love for both of the Fisher brothers.
It’s Not Summer Without You almost has the same format as its preceding book: it goes absolutely nowhere. Maybe you might be saying to yourself, “Gosh, this girl is a harsh critic!”, but let me justify myself over here.
Before starting this novel, I wrote down on a sheet of paper what I thought the main plot would be and if any characters would have a development. After finishing the book, I revised my notes from earlier and realized that I basically had the whole plot of the book written word-for-word, just going to show that this book is so predictable. There was a little part of me that hoped that our main character, Belly, was finally going to mature, but shocker, she doesn’t. After receiving a sob story apology for Jeremiah’s actions in Cabo (where he cheated on her), she doesn’t even think twice when he asks for her forgiveness and two seconds later, proposes to her. Yeah, I wish I was lying to you but I’m not. The two most immature people in this book series are getting married in the early stages of college. And to their surprise, they find it “oh-so shocking” when they don’t get parental approval or have enough money to throw a large-scale wedding. To really dig this book into a deeper hole, the reader gets to see Conrad’s point of view when he realizes that the love of his life is getting married to his brother. Yes, Jenny Han has not let go of the “I love two people at the same time” plot (which I predicted). Although Conrad narrates for some parts of the book, he’s barely present within the storyline so I kind of just forgot about him until the night before Belly’s wedding. Conrad confesses his feelings for Belly and states “Don’t marry him. Don’t be with him. Be with me.” (238), which just leads into a fiasco that almost anyone can expect. But if you didn’t pick up on it, Belly realizes that she has always loved Conrad in a way she can’t love Jeremiah, and he knows that too. In the end, we get a flash-forward to the marriage of Conrad and Belly (can you see me rolling my eyes yet?)
So my final thoughts: I averaged all the ratings I gave this series and it came out to 2.33/5, not impressive. I would describe The Summer I Turned Pretty Series as a book that just never takes off, plotwise and character-wise. But I must admit, the cover art is pretty amazing, which I’ll give points for.
At least we’ll have your reviews, Gwenyth! Thanks!!