The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Quick Cut: A teen girl looks forward to her usual summer with her mom, brother, and her mom's best friend's family. Chaos ensues as she starts dating a boy. A Real Review: Summer is a favorite season for teens everywhere because it typically comes with school breaks and beach trips. What if your typical summer plans got rocked by emotions and new feelings emerging? This is the case for Belly. Belly looks forward to every summer because they always come with a season long trip to Cousins beach. Living for those summer months in her best friend's beach house, she spends the time with her mom, brother, and the two sons of her mom's best friend, Jeremiah and Conrad. They've been doing this for as long as they can remember. Belly has also had romantic feelings for Conrad almost as long, although unrequited. Will this be the summer that Conrad sees Belly as a romantic possibility? Or will she continue to get ignored? Yes, I'm reading this series before the upcoming show gets released. However, I also love Jenny Han books because they're great for a mental vacation from reality. The possibilities and happiness always have a way to putting a smile on my face. That was also the case with the first book in this series. I relate so much to Belly. Growing up, I always had mostly guy friends who only saw me as a friend and not a girlfriend possibility. It can get to a girl, especially as a teenager who wants to feel wanted. Seeing how she deals with that and continues to try to be true to yourself is inspiring. I wish I had that level of ownership over who I was then. Admittedly though, the ending ticked me off. I hoped that it would be more unpredictable and ended up disappointed. Enjoyable nonetheless, but I hoped for something more exciting. An enjoyable summer vacation book that will take you on an emotional journey. My rating: 4 out of 5