Review : It’s not Summer without You

Posted by on June 20, 2010 2:00 am in 4 stars reads | 11 comments

It’s not Summer without You by Jenny Han
Pages : 277
Genre : YA, Fiction
Series : Book 2
My Rating :

From the author’s website :

Last year, all of Belly’s dreams came true and the thought of missing a summer in Cousins Beach was inconceivable. But like the rise and fall of the ocean tide, things can change–  just like that. Suddenly the time she’s always looked forward to most is something she dreads. And when Jeremiah calls to say Conrad has disappeared, Belly must decide how she will spend this summer: chasing after the boy she loves, or finally letting him go.

I borrowed The Summer I Turned Pretty from the library last year and absolutely fell in love with it – so much so that I went and bought my own copy of it. Of course, after enjoying it so much, I was happy when I learned the author was planning a sequel, which is It’s not Summer without You.

While I did enjoy the book, it didn’t have as strong an impact as its predecessor had – although the book has one of the saddest beginnings I have read. I was happy to reunite with the characters and to follow Belly once more, but I wasn’t as taken by the story.

For me, part of what worked less in this book is the introduction of Jeremiah as a narrator. He’s not that much present and Belly still narrates the biggest part of the story, but his brief interventions seemed a bit unnecessary. Most of what he said was either already understood between the lines of Bella’s narration, or could have been introduced by it. His chapters, even though they were small, broke the pace of the story. That’s just me though; many of the reviews I’ve seen were highly positive on this aspect!

I thought the storyline was strong though, and definitely presented different aspects of the characters personalities. Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah and their parents are everything but unidimensional. I can easily relate to them, which makes their joy and their hurting even more real. I’m still not sure what I think of the conclusion; I think Bella still has much more thinking to do before going further, but who knows, right?

I absolutely can’t wait for the third book; it feels good to find a series that can captivate me so much without the use of paranormal creatures!

Series Reading Order :

  1. The Summer I Turned Pretty
  2. It’s not Summer without You
  3. We’ll always Have Summer (coming 2011)

11 Comments

  1. I’m so glad to see this series is good. I saw Jenny Han on a panel when I was in New York and I thought she was adorable and have wanted to read her books ever since.

  2. I checked out Summer I turned Pretty..can’t wait to read that one!

  3. yesterday I bought The Summer I tuned pretty 🙂

    I just gave you a stylish award:

    http://emilyandherlittlepinknotes.com/2010/06/21/stylish-and-versatile%C2%A0blogger%C2%A0awards/

  4. i remember reading your review of ‘the summer i turned pretty’ and immediately adding that book to my tbr. sadly, i haven’t had the time to actually getting around to reading the book. hopefully i’ll be able to start on this series soon.

  5. Hmmm.. I haven’t read THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY yet, but I’m thinking I need to now, you recommendation sold me.

  6. I haven’t read the first book but I have seen it around. I will definitely look out for this series in the library.

  7. Kathy : Oh you’re so lucky! She does sounds like a great person, and her writing is amazing. I hope you’ll enjoy the books.

    Staci : Hope you’ll enjoy it! 😀

    Emily : Thank you so much!

    Toothy : I really hope you’ll like it. I think Han’s writing carries emotions so well. I highly recommend book 2 if you like book 1.

    Michelle : It’s a great read! One of my favorite from last year, so I hope you’ll enjoy it.

    Violet : I’ve seen some other good reviews of them, so I really hope you’ll find them, read them and enjoy them! 🙂

  8. Is there any sexual contact in this book?

  9. hahah im sorrry but her name is ‘belly’ not bella.
    but GREAT review i love this booook soo much!

    • Oh gosh, you’re so right. It’s quite funny considering I copied the summary with “Belly” in it, not Bella! Thanks for that, I’ll correct it 🙂

  10. This looks like a good series! The perfect kind of summer read.

    Margaret

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Book Catch-Up | Dog-eared and Well-read - [...] to The Summer I Turned Pretty.  I did like the first book more, but I look forward to the…
  2. Review : We’ll Always Have Summer « The Infinite Shelf – A Book Blog - [...] It’s Not Summer Without You [...]

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