Title: It's Not Summer Without You
Author: Jenny Han                       
Publication Date: April 5 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: ₱349 (Philippines) - $8.80 (Amazon)


Plot Synopsis:




It's Not Summer Without You is the second book of Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy, with The Summer I Turned Pretty as it's first installment which can be found here.

Is it really summer without the beach? Or the boys?

This is the first summer in Belly and her family's lives where they won't be going to Cousin's Beach for summer. Which is crazy! I know, but you'll find out later rather than sooner.

Well, Belly's still a tad bit naggy and whiny as always and Conrad's still as distant and somewhat a dick as ever. I mean, I sometimes feel that he doesn't give too much effort for their relationships. I sometimes don't understand him, him and his personality.
All throughout the book I can't quite figure out his overall mood/personality, one minute he's a romantic Casanova, and then the next he's a shy recluse.
What does Belly see in him? Jeremiah and Belly? Perfect!
But you'll know why he ran away from their house and school by the latter half of the book. He didn't do it to surf. He didn't do it for the sake of running away. He (Data Expunged). (Sorry for that! But that could've spoiled everything)

It wasn't like how it was with Conrad and Aubrey. He'd loved her. once upon a time, he'd been crazy about her. He had never been that way with me. Never. But I had loved him. I loved him longer and truer than I had anyone in my whole life and I would probably never love anyone that way again. Which, to be honest, was almost a relief.

Plot Synopsis:

Some summers are just destined to be pretty

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.


You can probably imagine what kind of looks a 16y manly man reading a book called "The Summer I Turned Pretty" in public will get. So, now I know what looks I'll get when I go and read "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"? XD

I was a bit reluctant to read this because A.) The title. I mean, The Summer I turned Pretty, honestly? and B.) People will judge me if I read this in Public. But I didn't regret reading this at ALL!

This books seems perfect for a casual day in the sun at the beach, with a Margarita/coke beside you as you try to get a thorough tan. It would've felt more real and it would've been the perfect read for a day of relaxation.

I really liked Jeremiah better than his brother, Conrad. Jeremiah's like the court jester at their beach house and Conrad's technically a total grumpy dick who used to be super fun and cool--he still is, but lesser so--but is now this recluse who isn't as awesome as when he was
last summer. He's now somewhat moody and distant to Belly's affections, like
he's friend-zoning her either subconsciously or not. You can almost feel the tension between him and Belly, how much she want them together.

I have to agree when my mate Godwin told me that I might get annoyed--well, slightly annoyed anyway--with Belly, what with her constant complaining and whinging (whining) at a lot of things, like why can't Conrad reciprocate her affections and whatnot. She seems to me to be a bit immature, with her sticking out her tongue when she's annoyed and her tantrums wand whatnot. But in general, she's a very nice character.

Plot-wise, imagine you're a girl and you had a crush with both of your mum's friend's sons since you were like 12. It'd be incredibly awkward and hard to date either of them because they treat her like their little sister, always being overprotective of her and looking after her like she's an irresponsible 8 year old.

Conrad and Jeremiah's mum, Susannah was an incredibly-likable character, she was this quirky and fun and very mother-like. She was like a second--and in my opinion, better--mother to Belly. I keep picturing her as Rachelle from the tv series F.R.I.E.N.D.S for some reason. Maybe because she makes such a great mother despite her sickness, which I won't say what it is because it's a spoiler! :)

There were a lot of times where I grinned like a pillock because of the romantic parts and Jeremiah's wisecracks. Conrad and Jeremiah's like her brothers--alongside Steven, her legit brother-- because of their somewhat casualness between each other at the start and in a few parts in the book. You can tell they have had a long--and somewhat complicated-- history between them, the only kind of history spending every summer with each other brings. The way Jenny Han wrote this book makes you want to know more about their history together, which she gives in teaspoon portions through flashback-chapters.

"You're the only boy I've ever thought about. My whole life,  it's always been you. You thought me how to dance, you came out out and got me that time I swam too far. Do you remember that? You stayed with me and pushed me back to shore, and the whole time you kept saying 'we're almost there' and I believed It. I believed it because you were the one who was saying it, and I believed everything you've ever said. Compared to you, everyone is saltines, even Cam. And I hate saltines, you know that. you know everything about me, even this, which is that I really love you."