Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - It's Not Summer Without You

A little better than the first book. Still, I am baffled about the choice she made in the end. I would not really recommend the series to you if you want a lot of plot and deep character insights. This book is a fast and easy read, just like the first one. Again, nothing special.

Content Warnings

grace33's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

spill_the_tea's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Playlist:
Mama NF
HAPPY NF
Riptide Vance Joy
I Got You Leona Lewis
The Moment I Knew Taylor Swift
Clean Taylor Swift
Snow on the Beach Taylor Swift

Content Warnings

elspethmigliore's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

okay what was that

belly was so self-centered this whole book. (why would she take the necklace ?!) conrad was a jerk. taylor was fine at some points but also was definitely not fine. and jere was actually great but i was frustrated at how he admitted that he only liked belly when she turned pretty, but i guess that’s the point of the series anyways.

the whole beginning of the story i was extremely confused because i wanted to know what happened with conrad, but hardly any context was given. i don’t understand why belly denied they were a thing when they were and why he suddenly got so cold, it just felt so weird to me. after they got together at the beach house in december, what happened ? like when did it turn cold and why did conrad start pulling away? i can definitely make assumptions that i’m pretty sure are correct, but i wish there was more context given on that because it was confusing and it seemed like one day they were together and then they weren’t. it was hard to keep up with conrad and belly and their awkward feelings. like i feel like belly got mad at the most random things and the thing that would actually help them is communication, but they avoided that completely. conrad was so on and off and it was so confusing, like why was he so rude about prom but still showed he had feelings for her at the house? like i said i understand, but it’s frustrating that wasn’t explained. also, the ending was so rushed and random. like conrad switched up so fast and was better (which i get was because of laurel saving the house), but he got upset at belly for being with someone else when he had already showed he didn’t want her. i understand why jere and belly got together and i’m happy bc i think they both deserve it, but then it skipped to a few years later and it felt so rushed and random ?! idk. i was proud of belly for kinda making herself be done with conrad and understanding his lack of intention, but i’m still team conrad.

i feel like everyone leaves belly in the dark and it makes me sad bc she deserves to know (and so does the reader or else it’s confusing)

this book felt like a filler to just get to the ending of their story. it just explained susannah’s death and gave lots teenage angst. so idk i hope the next one is better and gives more context.

not a reread unless i reread the trilogy ☑️

Content Warnings

i_love_b00ks's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

finesilkflower's review against another edition

Go to review page

sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

If "The Summer I Turned Pretty" is the perfect summer book, this is a perfect bummer book. (Has anyone else made that witty pun?) Much of the book is devoted to the characters' grief in the immediate aftermath of the death of a beloved family member. While it's realistic that the characters would be devastated by this, it's an awfully heavy topic for a summer beach read, without the redeeming qualities of being profound and life-affirming that you would want or expect in a book about death. Rather, family member death is used mainly as an excuse for teens to be angsty. The light romance elements that defined the first book not only take a backseat, but also feel unsatisfying and unappealing to me.

I think this wants to be a series with two viable main love interests so that readers can align as either #TeamConrad or #TeamJeremiah, but it just doesn't work because the author has stacked the deck for the guy she's interested in and the other guy never has a chance. This should be the book that makes a clear case for #TeamJeremiah, but it does a worse job than the first book did. While the first book showcased Jeremiah's emotional intelligence and sense of fun - qualities that were never going to win against a complicated bad-boy but which were at least enjoyable - this book simply casts him as a toxically conflict-avoidant doormat. Also, the fact that he continues to pine after Belly despite being clearly rebuffed in the first book gives him a "nice guy" sex pest feel that totally destroys what appeal he had built. Meanwhile, the book invests a lot more in Conrad, but only by having people talk about how great he is - all his actions continue to be repellent.

Belly is also not developed in this book, as her main role is to stand around and watch boys do things.

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I wanted to read this book because I loved Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I Loved Before series and with this being picked up by Amazon Prime, I was interested to see what was going to happen in the next series. I didn’t enjoy the first book and didn’t have a lot of hope for this book and I'm glad I didn’t because this book was disappointing and made me want to gouge my eyes out.

This book is still based on Belly, who we met in the first book. She is now sixteen years old. She used to count the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But this year, she isn’t looking forward to it. Her and Conrad have broken up and not talking anymore and Susannah, the boy’s mum has recently passed out. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing that summer would never come. However, one night, Jeremiah rings Belly to tell her that Conrad has disappeared. Belly knows what she must do to make things right and it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this is the last summer, it should end the way it started – at Cousins Beach.

You know when you rely on a minor character to bring the comedic effect or just save the book – this book didn’t have any of them. I didn’t realise how much Susannah saved the first book until you read this book and there is no Susannah. Every single one of these characters absolutely annoyed the shit out of me. Belly didn’t learn her lesson from the last book and life in general of “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” - she spends half of the book being unjustifiable mean and then the other half just feeling guilty and trying to apologies. Jeremiah and Conrad both need a slap in the face for letting a girl get in between especially when it’s Belly. Like I love a love triangle in tv shows, but they never seem to work in books, and this was one example of one. Steven was just jealous and was only needed to move the story along. Taylor was right to be upset but didn’t need to dismiss Belly’s feelings about Conrad so much. “Badass” Laurie lives up to her name in the last 2 out of 5 chapters and then again, she’s hiding for most of the book. Belly and Steven’s dad whose name I can’t remember isn’t even in this and Mr Fisher just shows up again to stop us listening to how Belly is feeling guilty or wanting to be in the centre of attention.

The only reason I didn’t DNF this book or give it a one star because there was an additional POV from Jeremiah, I would have preferred it to be Conrad but oh well. I don’t know if I should or would pick up the last book in the series and let’s hope the TV show is better.

Content Warnings

emey_reading07's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

More...