Review of "We'll Always Have Summer"

We'll Always Have Summer

By Jenny Han 

Stars: 4 

Source: Purchased 

A lot has changed since we were first introduced Belly, she fell in love with Conrad, Conrad broke her heart, pushed her towards Jeremiah and she's been there ever since. 

Their relationship isn't perfect but they try, so when Belly discovers that Jeremiah cheated on her she starts to question the past two years she's spent with him. 

Things may have changed since her teen years at the beach house but somethings remain the same. Are her feelings for Conrad one of those things? Or is Jeremiah her past, present and future? 

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So the first two books in this trilogy I rated 5 stars, I liked them, they were super fast reads and I enjoyed losing myself in Belly's world. 

However with each book I kept overlooking Belly's immaturity, thinking to myself 'It'll get better in the next book'. 

So imagine my surprise when I picked up the third and last book and realized Belly is just as immature as she has been for the past 5 years! 

It got so old, her pining away for Conrad all the while sleeping next to his brother (and cuddling with Junior Mints). 

I can see where she gets her immaturity from, her mothers temper tantrum about her and J getting married was one for the books (excuse my awful pun). 

I understand (and fully agreed) that Belly and Jeremiah were to young and (I really need another word here) IMMATURE to be getting married but her mother really didn't handle the situation with the grace that I thought she would. 

I did like (read: LOVE) the chapters from Conrad's point of view, even if Belly got on my nerves Conrad helped me get over it so I could enjoy at least some of the book. 

On the other side of the spectrum we have Jeremiah. Jeremiah whose solution to their trust issues, cheating and constant bickering is to propose... 

I hated how much I hated Jeremiah in this book. I wish he hadn't of been turned into such a whiny, jealous, controlling person.

I wanted him to be that little kid, smiling and making jokes, I wanted him to put Belly's happiness (and Conrad's) ahead of his own. I know that sounds awful but I feel like that's the kind of person he was in the first two books and in the third one he morphed into this stranger I didn't recognize. 

All in all it was an okay end to the series, I can't say it was my favorite (out of the trilogy or all around) but I did enjoy the first two so it's hard to recommend the those and not this one.  

Until next time, 

Ginger 

Review of "The Summer I Turned Pretty"

The Summer I Turned Pretty

By Jenny Han 

Stars: 5 

Source: Purchased 

Belly spends the better half of the year counting down the days until summer vacation. Fall, winter, spring, they don't matter. It's summer when she comes alive, when she can let loose and live freely. 

She's never missed a summer at the beach house and she never plans to. 

Spending the weeks lounging around by the pool with Jeremiah and Conrad, watching old movies with her mom and Susannah, going into town to get ice cream with Steven. 

All her best memories happen at the beach house, all her firsts, everything important starts and ends in Cousins. 

But this summer things start to change, people start to grow apart, lines are drawn in the sand and somehow the magic of summer starts to fade right before Belly's very eyes. 

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I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would. When I first started it I was a little put off by how immature Belly was and frankly how annoying her character was but the more I read the more the book as a whole outweighed my dislike of her. 

Yes she did have her moments and her tempter tantrums but I just had to keep reminding myself that she was only 15 and sadly some 15 year old's I know do act like that. 

What I did like about the book were the other characters, obviously Conrad and Jeremiah and even Steven and Belly's mom but it was Susannah that kept me reading. Susannah and her beach house are what made me fall in love with this book. 

The second I opened it up I would find myself smelling the faint scent of sunblock, chlorine and salt air.  

I found myself turning the pages and longing for sand between my toes and slight sunburn on my forehead. 

If you're looking for a fast, beach read that makes you nostalgic for your childhood summers I highly recommend picking this up. 

Until next time, 

Ginger