Latest Read: The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy

Here are the basics ...
Books: The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy (The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, We'll Always Have Summer) 
Author: Jenny Han
Site: http://dearjennyhan.com/
Category: Young Adult 




My thoughts...
Summary: Belly has always lived for the summertime because it means all her favorite things: swimming, the beach and the Fischer boys, Conrad and Jeremiah. She has spent every summer with them at Cousins Beach for as long as she can remember. She has always been in love with Conrad and finally, one summer, it seems like he might have feelings for her too. But it turns out, so does Jeremiah. As the summers go on, Belly has to choose between two brothers who love her as she comes to the realization that she will have to break one of their hearts.  (Taken from Goodreads)

The good:  The beauty of this book is in its simplicity.  Straight-forward dialogue, real characters and a story that has been told a thousand times (the love triangle!) and yet somehow.. there was something refreshing about it.  Reading through Belly's eyes really brought me back to my own childhood days. When I was the only girl hanging out with three brothers almost every day and how much I liked the eldest one (he was my age).  And even though I'm definitely different from Belly, I still related to her and enjoyed reading about how her character grew up with each book.  Her choice was definitely a hard one but I liked that.   That there was all this history between them, their families (the friendship between their mothers was my other favorite part about the book!), the magic of their summers together.  I mean, I didn't even know who I wanted her to choose until the last book.

The bad: There were times when Belly would be a little bratty but then I'd quickly remind myself of her age.  I mean when you're that young and sure that you're in love with this boy who continues to push you away - it seems like the end of the world at 14, 15 or 16.  I think she was just a normal girl and that's what appealed to me despite those moments.  My other little gripe has to do with one of the guys.  He was totally my guy (I mean the guy for Belly) until the last book when he did something that seemed so out of character.  Although in retrospect, I think it made sense and the book ended exactly the way it should have.

Do I recommend?: I do! I read all three books in one weekend and I feel like that's how they should be read.  They're all fairly short and each book flows so well into one another.  Plus I was impatient and needed to know who Belly would choose.  As you can tell, I was happy with her choice.

Happy reading!