My Thoughts: It's Not Summer Without You (Jenny Han)

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come. But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started—at Cousins Beach. (GOODREADS LINK)












Cover: Kinda boring but fits in when the other 2.

My Thoughts:  Please note, this review WILL contain spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty.

In The Summer I Turned Pretty, I came to know all the characters and learned that Belly has always had strong feelings for Conrad. She likes Jeremiah too, but the connection she felt with Conrad was incredibly strong. At the end of book 1, we are lead to believe that Conrad and Belly will finally be together. And they were...for a while. Then things went terribly wrong, leaving Belly heart broken and confused.   Conrad becomes distant and doesn't act like himself. This is the first summer Belly will not be spending at Cousins Beach. When Susannah died it changed everything. Belly feels lost. Lost without the beach house, lost without Susannah and lost without Conrad and Jeremiah.

This book is just as good as the first. The characters are growing up and getting older, and with that comes the problems that go along with that.  I continued to be pulled in to the story and felt myself invested in these peoples lives. The tension between Conrad and Belly was heartbreaking. The author wrote them so well that I could feel what Belly was feeling.  Belly ends up spending the summer at the beach house after all and old feelings reemerge, along with some new. The end of this book gives the readers another twist that sets up the next book. To be honest, after reading this book I have no idea who Belly will end up being with in the end, Conrad or Jeremiah. Or maybe neither. OH THE SUSPENSE.

In this book, you get chapters written not only in Belly's point of view, but Conrad and Jeremiah's as well. This was very well done and helped add more depth to the characters that I already love.

Another PERFECT beach read. Those who loved the first book in this trilogy need to pick this one up asap.

Favorite Quotes:
"No matter what you do or how hard you try, you can't stop yourself from dreaming."

"I didn't want to make the same mistakes my parents made. I didn't want my love to fade away one day like an old scar. I wanted it to burn forever."

Bottom Line:  It's Not Summer Without You cemented my love for this story and these characters even more. Well done. 5/5