- Overall: ⭐⭐
- Characters: 👍👍
- Spicy: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️.5
- Writing: 🖊️🖊️
- Narration: 🗣️🗣️
Please click here to buy this book because you want to have a summer that you will never forget.
WTF Just Happened: Book Breakdown
Okay, so imagine you’re fifteen, awkward-cute, and suddenly every guy at your family’s beach house realizes you’re hot. Your boobs got that awkward kind of big that every girl wishes for until the catch unwanted (or wanted) attention. That’s Belly (yes, her name is Belly… go with it- its cute).
Every summer, she spends her break in Cousins Beach with her mom’s best friend Susannah and Susannah’s hot AF sons — Conrad and Jeremiah. But this summer? Something has shifted in the teenage drama filed sand shifter of Belly’s life.
Cue the coastal chaos: teen-age love triangle commence! Growing pains and secrets buried under SPF 50 soaked skin lapping on each page. The story is told by going back and forth throughout the summers from a young pre-teen to the age of learning to drive. Yikes.
Belly goes through her view of learning how to juggle feelings along with watching her mother and her mother’s best friend demonstrate different parenting styles. There is divorce, Cancer, first kisses, and bonfire parties in this book that makes you crave a good s’more.
Jenny Han didn’t just give us a beach read — she gave us feelings and teen drama with a sun-kissed aesthetic. The Summer I Turned Pretty is a soft, sun-soaked dive into first love, loss, and finding your voice through all the hormones — even when it trembles and causes stress acne. It’s here to remind you what it felt like to be a teen and totally, recklessly, heartbreakingly alive.
Would I force my friends to read this book?
It depends. For my younger readers… YES. However, being a slightly older queen, I would recommend recommend this book to those who still romanticize their teenage summers, love a bit of angst, understand what it is like to be a parent, and can handle some teenage drama without throwing the book. It’s nostalgic, dramatic, and lowkey therapeutic. However, if your patience for moody boys is on thin ice or currently in an heated debate with your bestie? Maybe put this on your TBR list.
Tropes, Tea, and Twists
- Love triangle (classic!)
- Friends-to-lovers (or almost-lovers?)
- Summer nostalgia
- Coming of age with emotional whiplash
- The Tea: Belly is navigating new hormones and crushes while everyone around her pretends things aren’t emotionally crumbling like the ocean taking away a well built sandcastle. Susannah has a secret that she is trying to be an adult and not ruin everyone’s summer, Conrad is brooding extra hard as usual, and Jeremiah is so obviously crushing. Friendship tension? Oh def.
- The Twists: No spoilers, but let’s just say… beneath the summer flings and crumbling sandcastles, there are real-life situations that are hitting harder than a rogue ocean wave.
- Coastal nostalgia, soft angst, and endless summer coastal granddaughter energy
Author Vibes: Was the writing GIVINGGGG?
It was giving YA soft angst meets early 2000’s Tumblr-core. Jenny Han writes like she’s whispering secrets into your ear that make you giggle softly not to wake the parents at 2am after crying over a boy who didn’t text back. There is laughter and joy but it is also smooth…emotional… and relatable teenage hormone crashing like waves off the page. Not so much overly poetic, but it gets the moment. If you were once a teenager with a crush, you will feel this in your bones. I love ending of the book leaving us slightly with a hanger as well. This was my first book that I have read of hers so I really was surprised and completely get why people went head over heels for this book. Running to the shelves so fast that sand was kicked in our eyes trying to gather our thoughts and figure out why everyone went crazy for this book.
Voices in My Head, Book Edition
As you know, I try not to know what the narrator look like when I listen to audiobooks because I do not want to see them. I want to see the character that they are narrating through their voice. This book is narrated by Lola Tung. According to Audible-she only has this book series under her belt and I think that if she was curious if she had a career in the voice acting, book narrating industry-the answer is a HELL YES. I later found out that she is actually in the film adaptation of this book…which I have not seen…yet. However, the audiobook is sweet and simple — nothing revolutionary, but definitely charming. Belly’s voice comes across youthful, reflective, and easy to listen to. It is the soft laugh that got me. The slight chuckles when Belly was happy and the gaspy way of talking when close to a boy. So. Good.
Books Fictional Coordinates
Cousins Beach is fictional, but it feels real. The boardwalks, bonfires, swims in the ocean, late-night drives with your crush? You can smell the saltwater and hear the flip-flops slapping on pavement. I felt like it was a mix of Myrtle Beach meets Jersey Shore.
Expectations, Stereotypes, & Other Fun Lies
- She took off her glasses and got hot…come on. We all grow up. You just decided to finally notice
- How a girl physically looks creates value in her time
- Brooding bad boy is loved more then the good guy who wishes she would look at him
- Passive girl who always overlooked until she “acts out” which means uses her voice
- Good guys finish last
- A girl’s romantic arc must include a competition — like she’s the prize…Twilight all over again without skin sparkles in the sun but lots of suntan lotion.
- Rich families with summer homes = perfect life.
- Moms bringing depth, sadness, and grown-woman energy to the story.
- Male emotional walls are romantic; female emotions are excessive.
- The “bad girl bestie” vs. “good girl main character” and causes friction between the two as they try to salvage their friendship.
- I love him and therefore I can “change him” trope.
- Just because your a smart dude—doesn’t make you the one she wants
This might be ‘a lot’ for some…
This is the part where we talk about possible triggers or debatable happenings in the book. As always, I will do my best to not have any spoilers.
Death/grief (handled gently, but it’s there)
Parental illness
Emotional neglect/miscommunication
Divorce
Teenage angst on level 100
The Plot’s Favorite Children
- Isabelle “Belly” Cocklin– Belly is the emotional core of this whole series — and yes, she’s messy as her sloppy bun on top of her head. But that’s what makes her so real. I am hoping as you read this book that you remember all those hormones that hit you like a Mac truck. If you are currently getting hit with said Mac truck-Godspeed and good vibes are being sent your way. She is stuck in that weird limbo where she wants to be seen as grown, but she’s still clinging to enjoying doing the same activities as she did when was a kid. Overall, she is just like the rest of us. She wants to be loved. To be noticed and seen for who she is. And to be chosen. Belly also romanticizes everything just like every teenage girl does. But this also includes people who don’t exactly treat her well. She also has unrealistic expectations of what is to be expected from relationships and that could be due to her home life and examples given in the book.
- Conrad Fisher– He is the “bad boy” of the story. Beautiful. Strong. Plays football. Older brother and emotionally shut off and tends to use acting out as ways to communicate what he needs. He is quiet, mysterious, and honestly…kind of a jerk but in a teenage boy way where they do not know how much their words and actions affect those around them. He bottles up his feelings for Belly. He bottles up his feelings about his mother. He bottles up feelings of his father. He is overall a two liter of cola with a Mento about to be put in it. Really he needs to learn how to communicate his feelings and treat those in his life better so he doesn’t have so much guilt about his actions.
- Jeremiah Fisher– Younger brother to Conrad and the exact opposite of his brother. He is open-hearted, kind, loyal, and really funny. Also, he is always up for an adventure! He is the epitome of what you want in a best friend. He communicates his feelings in kind ways and with a smile on his face. However, he is the good guys finish last stereotype.
Backup Dancers of the Plot
- Steven Conklin– Belly’s older brother and secretly best friend but she would never admit that. He annoys her, embarrasses her, and reminds her that boys are stupid and so is she in the best older brother way. He grapples with his parents divorce more than Belly does, but that is also normal as a boy who is looking for a father figure. He goes off to Princeton and doesn’t even realize how much Belly is going to miss him because he is ready to strut his stuff and show he becoming an adult. He normalizes what it is like to have a supportive-yet-annoying sibling in your life. He cares, but like any teenage boy, he’s not gonna say it nicely.
- Laurel Conklin– Belly and Steven’s mother. She is caring and tries her best to meet them where they are. She overall let’s her kids be who they want to be and go where they want to go. Of course she has feelings about how much makeup is worn or if her son is smoking or not-but she really wants them to never grow up and have to deal with adult problems. Her best friend is Susannah and they spend every summer at Cousin’s beach together. Together they become the dynamic duo with a glass of red wine on the side. Yes they squabble now and then but only because you can see that she wishes that she can give her kids more financially. To make up for it, she just really pushes for them to grow as good people.
- Susannah– I love her so much. She brings to much life and love to the book. She is Jeremy and Conrads mother. She is married but her husband is a huge disappointment (in my opinion). As she struggles with her health and marriage, she thrives at supporting Belly as she grows into herself. This support, understanding, and being able to say the words that Belly really wants to hear causes a bit of jelousy within their friendship group.
- Taylor Jewel– Belly’s bestie and certified chaos maker. She. Is. A. CHARACTER. Also going through her own hormonal debacle. Belly describes her as the pretty one when Belly is the funny one but I think she is pretty funny. A bit of a scene-stealer and a crush catcher but all with good intentions. She never aims to make Belly feel bad or hurt her feelings. However, there is a little twist with her story line and honestly, she needs her own spinoff.
- “Cam” Cameron– Cute, tall, and awkward. He would rather be studying whales then consume an unhealthy beverages at a bonfire. Technically Cam and Belly met in Latin, but they had both grown so much that when they meet again-they do not quite even recognize each other. Cam is of above average intelligence but still just a dude. He doesn’t always understand why Belly does what she does but he does his best to meet her needs. He has very little time for hormonal fits and unnecessary conversations. I have such a soft spot for him that almost is annoying only because he plays it safe to the hundredth degree to where it is almost annoying.
Highlighter Worthy Moments
” My whole life was measured in summers. Like I don’t really begin living until June, until I’m at that beach, in that house.” Belly, Chapter 1, Page 5
“Sometimes it’s like people are a million times more beautiful to you in your mind. It’s like you see them through a special lens-but maybe if it’s how you see them, that’s how they really are. It’s like the whole tree falling in the forest thing.”- Belly, Chapter 12, Page 47
“Winning was always important, and doubly so because I was a girl and was never expected to win anything. Victory is a thousand times sweeter when you’re the underdog.” Belly, Chapter23, Page 132
“This moment between us, fragile and tenuous, snapped in half. It was over. It would do no good to wonder what he was going to say. Moments, when lost, can’t be found again. They’re just gone.” Belly, Chapter 23, Page 152
“For me there was-is-nothing better than walking on the beach late at night. It feels like you could walk forever, like the whole night is yours and so is the ocean. When you walk on the beach at night, you can say things you can’t say in real life. In the dark you can feel really close to a person. You can say whatever you want.” Belly, Chapter 27, Page 171
“Best friends are important. They’re the closest thing to a sister you’ll ever have.” Laurel, Chapter 28, Page 180
“It’s hard to throw away history. It was like you were throwing away a part of yourself.” Belly, Chapter 28, Page 186
“I wondered if this was the way old crushes died, with a whimper, slowly, and then, just lie that-gone.” Belly, Chapter 31, Page 199
“The old pull, the tide drawing me back in. I kept getting caught in this current-first love, I mean. First love kept making me come back to this, to him. He still took my breath away, just being near him. I had been lying to myself the night before, thinking I was free, thinking I had let him go. It didn’t matter what he said or did, I’d never let him go.” Belly, Chapter 43, Page 262
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) / it’s always ourselves we find in the sea” The group, Chapter 45, Page 272
Let me know in the comments: Are you Team Conrad, Team Jeremiah, or Team “Belly needs therapy first”? 👀👇
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