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A review by lampsunnies
The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Collection by Jenny Han
3.0
The Summer I Turned Pretty: 3 stars
After loving Jenny Han's To All The Boys I Loved Before series I had high expectations for this and unfortunately I was let down. The main character, Belly, was unbelievably immature and whiny. The way that she viewed the boys, as though she relied on them for her own happiness and her reason for even being alive - I couldn't stand it. I did give her some slack considering her age and I'm sure there were some things that she did that I would've done too when I was 15. And as I continued on, I started to just accept that that was who she was, even though I would have loved to see some more character development.
Considering this book centered around a love triangle, I couldn't see any of the chemistry between Belly with either boys. They all seem tropeish and contrived. In fact, alot of the characters felt like tropes. They felt incredibly one dimensional, which is such a shame, because I was really expecting more from Jenny Han on that front.
While I enjoyed the pacing, it did feel like nothing was happening throughout the book. At times I had to ask myself what was the purpose of this book. I couldn't understand why this story and these characters had been stretched out into a trilogy. It definitely could've been condensed a lil'.
However, the reason why I bumped this book up to a 3 star rating, when I spent the majority of the book thinking it'd be a 2 star read at most, was because of the other relationships and dynamics in this book. What I love about Jenny Han, is her incorporation of family relationships and how she deals with them. The relationship between Susannah, the mother of the boys and Belly was probably one of my favourite teenager/adult relationships I've ever read in YA.
I also appreciated the way Jenny Han wrapped the story up. The things that seemed out of place finally made more sense. I didn't expect to feel as many things as I did considering how distant I felt from the characters throughout the book.
It's Not Summer Without You: 3.5 stars
Some of my issues with the first book were alleviated in the second. While Belly was still immature and whiny, it was a lot more bearable. I think because we got to know the characters more, they became more realistic, more fully fleshed out and less tropish. But this again brings me back to my feeling that had these books should've been condensed. The character development and overarching story would've flowed better.
What set this book apart from the previous one was the adult characters. They absolutely shined in this book. There were a couple of times where I actually gasped because I could not believe how badass they were, specifically Belly's mum.
Not only that, I think this book went a lil deeper in terms of themes and what it was about than the previous one. This book was a little bit more serious in tone, which I was definitely a fan of. I loved seeing how all the characters were dealing with grief. Overall, I just thought this book was better than the previous one both in terms of story and execution.
However, there were quite a few time jumps in this, which although I appreciated, I also felt were ruining the flow of the story and annoying to follow at times. We also got introduced to Jeremiah, one of the boy's, P.O.V. in this book, which again, I also appreciated and enjoyed because it offered a refreshing new perspective but the execution of them was a bit awkward.
And finally, my only other major issue with this book was all the over explaining. Everyone kept explaining their emotions, like please stop, we get it. I mean, I know that I'm probably on the older side of the target demographic but still, us, readers aren't that dumb.
We'll Always Have Summer: 2.5 stars
After I finished the previous books, each time, my initial reaction was how is there more? The story could end right here and that's okay - I'd be completely satisfied with it. So this final book, just reinforced all my issues with this series. It should've been condensed into one standalone, a duology at most because at the end of the day the outcome was always going to be the same. This is light, fun, YA contemporary fluff, so I knew I couldn't go into it expecting much but still. The ending was predictable (especially considering the way that the previous book ended - it basically explained how this was going to end) and the story was so cheesy at times (which I did tolerate and even enjoy at times), I couldn't count the amount of times I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I would've been okay with it all had it been condensed into the one book but stretching it out and going on this unnecessary journey, that just annoyed me.
Belly's immaturity, that I thought had been resolved in the previous book, popped up every now and then in this book. To be fair, there were some great moments of real maturity and growth that had me very hopeful, but every now and then she'd say something or think something and I'd have to roll my eyes.
The flashbacks were again an issue here. They messed with the flow of the story.
Overall, I spent the majority of the book slightly pissed off because this felt totally unnecessary. However, again, Jenny Han redeemed it a lil for me with the conclusion. I loved the last chapter. I thought it was a pretty solid way to wrap up the series and I'm glad that we got a glimpse into the future so at least I can leave this story satisfied that Belly did in fact grow up. And to be honest, I will miss these characters a little, but mainly because I felt like I spent so much time with them.
After loving Jenny Han's To All The Boys I Loved Before series I had high expectations for this and unfortunately I was let down. The main character, Belly, was unbelievably immature and whiny. The way that she viewed the boys, as though she relied on them for her own happiness and her reason for even being alive - I couldn't stand it. I did give her some slack considering her age and I'm sure there were some things that she did that I would've done too when I was 15. And as I continued on, I started to just accept that that was who she was, even though I would have loved to see some more character development.
Considering this book centered around a love triangle, I couldn't see any of the chemistry between Belly with either boys. They all seem tropeish and contrived. In fact, alot of the characters felt like tropes. They felt incredibly one dimensional, which is such a shame, because I was really expecting more from Jenny Han on that front.
While I enjoyed the pacing, it did feel like nothing was happening throughout the book. At times I had to ask myself what was the purpose of this book. I couldn't understand why this story and these characters had been stretched out into a trilogy. It definitely could've been condensed a lil'.
However, the reason why I bumped this book up to a 3 star rating, when I spent the majority of the book thinking it'd be a 2 star read at most, was because of the other relationships and dynamics in this book. What I love about Jenny Han, is her incorporation of family relationships and how she deals with them. The relationship between Susannah, the mother of the boys and Belly was probably one of my favourite teenager/adult relationships I've ever read in YA.
I also appreciated the way Jenny Han wrapped the story up. The things that seemed out of place finally made more sense. I didn't expect to feel as many things as I did considering how distant I felt from the characters throughout the book.
It's Not Summer Without You: 3.5 stars
Some of my issues with the first book were alleviated in the second. While Belly was still immature and whiny, it was a lot more bearable. I think because we got to know the characters more, they became more realistic, more fully fleshed out and less tropish. But this again brings me back to my feeling that had these books should've been condensed. The character development and overarching story would've flowed better.
What set this book apart from the previous one was the adult characters. They absolutely shined in this book. There were a couple of times where I actually gasped because I could not believe how badass they were, specifically Belly's mum.
Not only that, I think this book went a lil deeper in terms of themes and what it was about than the previous one. This book was a little bit more serious in tone, which I was definitely a fan of. I loved seeing how all the characters were dealing with grief. Overall, I just thought this book was better than the previous one both in terms of story and execution.
However, there were quite a few time jumps in this, which although I appreciated, I also felt were ruining the flow of the story and annoying to follow at times. We also got introduced to Jeremiah, one of the boy's, P.O.V. in this book, which again, I also appreciated and enjoyed because it offered a refreshing new perspective but the execution of them was a bit awkward.
And finally, my only other major issue with this book was all the over explaining. Everyone kept explaining their emotions, like please stop, we get it. I mean, I know that I'm probably on the older side of the target demographic but still, us, readers aren't that dumb.
We'll Always Have Summer: 2.5 stars
After I finished the previous books, each time, my initial reaction was how is there more? The story could end right here and that's okay - I'd be completely satisfied with it. So this final book, just reinforced all my issues with this series. It should've been condensed into one standalone, a duology at most because at the end of the day the outcome was always going to be the same. This is light, fun, YA contemporary fluff, so I knew I couldn't go into it expecting much but still. The ending was predictable (especially considering the way that the previous book ended - it basically explained how this was going to end) and the story was so cheesy at times (which I did tolerate and even enjoy at times), I couldn't count the amount of times I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I would've been okay with it all had it been condensed into the one book but stretching it out and going on this unnecessary journey, that just annoyed me.
Belly's immaturity, that I thought had been resolved in the previous book, popped up every now and then in this book. To be fair, there were some great moments of real maturity and growth that had me very hopeful, but every now and then she'd say something or think something and I'd have to roll my eyes.
The flashbacks were again an issue here. They messed with the flow of the story.
Overall, I spent the majority of the book slightly pissed off because this felt totally unnecessary. However, again, Jenny Han redeemed it a lil for me with the conclusion. I loved the last chapter. I thought it was a pretty solid way to wrap up the series and I'm glad that we got a glimpse into the future so at least I can leave this story satisfied that Belly did in fact grow up. And to be honest, I will miss these characters a little, but mainly because I felt like I spent so much time with them.