A review by kdecker1
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

It read like a hallucinated fever dream, or maybe it was just the narrator from the audiobook. I honestly couldn’t stand how the narrator talked, specifically when she constantly added the tone that she was on the verge of a laugh even in serious situations that weren’t appropriate. 

The way it was written had a nostalgic vibe. It felt like any teenage girls summer where she constantly tries to receive the attention of her many crushes which often times does not work out, and she is often very awkward doing it. And she has very cringy thought processes, like we all did at that age when thinking back on it.

I just didn’t like how everything was about her. Belly was constantly talking about why the two brothers, her brother’s friends who she grew up knowing, wouldn’t see her the way she wanted but never once considered what was going on in their lives. She was always whining when they would go somewhere without her but not fully appreciate how much they DID include her. She only thought skin deep about anything outside herself at any given time. 

I couldn’t really stand the main character Belly or her love interests most of the time, and it was just kind of a boring read.