It's Not Summer Without You

Last summer, Belly's long-awaited dream came true: Conrad kissed her. Her summers at the summer house with her mom and brother and Susannah and Conrad and Jeremiah were the constant in her life, the thing she looked forward to most. Conrad noticing her and reciprocating her feelings for him was the ultimate moment of her life. But now Susannah is gone, and the families aren't meeting at the summer house. Belly struggles with her first summer at home, pining for the boys and the ocean. When Jeremiah calls her and tells her that Conrad's skipped out of summer school and can't be found, the two go off in search of him--and themselves.

Han's second book in the Summer trilogy is still a compulsively readable book, but it doesn't live up to its predecessor, The Summer I Turned Pretty. While the first book was evocative of the nostalgia of summer, this one flounders a bit. Instead of stretching the story over an entire summer, Han chose to set this novel over the course of about a week. Although this makes the story move at a much faster pace, it's lacking some of the stronger plot points of the previous novel.

There are good things about this novel. Han is an extremely good writer, and her technical skill is present here. She manages to get inside the head of both Belly and Jeremiah, adding dimension to the characters, delving deeper than even the first novel managed to get. Han is also skillful in demonstrating the process of grief for both of Susannah's boys: Jeremiah's sorrow and Conrad's shutting down are both present and palpable on the page. Indeed, the book's strongest moments are when Han deals with the complexities of family.

However, too much of the story gets bogged down by the love triangle. Belly's character is so malleable that in this book she waffles back and forth between the brothers so much that readers are in danger of getting whiplash. Her indecision over Conrad and Jeremiah begins to grate, especially because Conrad crosses over from bad-boy-with-layers to a complete jerk face loser. The fact that Belly is unswerving in her devotion to Conrad isn't believable, and it isn't fun to read. Her decisions were questionable at best but were more often a bit cringe-worthy.

This isn't to say that I won't pick up the conclusion to the trilogy when it comes out next May. It's possible that Han will figure it out and really deliver with the third novel. This book is still recommended to fans of the first, but consider yourself warned: it probably won't live up to the lovely first novel. ( )

Loved finding out more about the characters. ( )

Book review by Carlee S., posted by CA Library:

"It’s not summer without you by Jenny Han is a very good book. It is realistic fiction. The main character, Belly, shows and expresses a lot of different emotions throughout the book. Her best friend is always there for her , which is great.

I like this book a lot because it’s realistic fiction. It has real events that happen in real life that you can relate to. I enjoy realistic fiction books and if you do too, you would love this read.

I would recommend this book to many people between the ages of 12 and up . It is very interesting and has many fun details. It also makes you want to keep reading and never stop. This book is an easy read, there are not many challenging words. Some parts are really sad so watch out. SPOILER ALERT! For example at Bellys friends funeral it’s very sad. Belly and her boyfriend are fighting plus the sadness about her friend. I would rate this book a 4.5 stars out of 5 because it’s so good." ( )

This is the second book in the trilogy, which began with 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'. It is far superior than the first in terms of character and plot development. In this novel, it is clear that Jenny Han really hit her stride. In this instalment, Belly teams up with Jeremiah to find a missing Conrad and save the summer house from Mr Fisher. In between, Belly reminisces about Susannah's death and the aftermath- as well as her 'relationship' with Conrad. In between the in-betweens we are treated to Jeremiah's point of view- so it is definitely a multi-layerd story this time around.However, I wasn't too keen on Jeremiah's chapters, as they did not enlighten us in anyway. In fact, it stalled the flow every now and then. Also, I started to get annoyed with 'Belly' as I thought it was about time she stopped people calling her that! Isabel is one of my favourite names and whilst Belly might be cute for a toddler with a little paunch, Is is sufficient for a rising senior!Although, I did enjoy seeing Isabel mature a little. Her voice still sounded young and she still acted like a spoilt child on occasion (such as at Susannah's funeral) however this is how Jenny Han manages to wonderfully capture the push-and-pull of adolescence. Overall, a solid four stars for this sequel. ( )

OMG I absolutely devoured this book, again I went through a range of emotions whilst reading this, sad and tearful about the loss of Susannah, frustration at Conrad, despite this the book is also full of love and laughter and I loved every second. Since the first book I always rooted for Conrad, but as this book included some chapters from Jeremiah, I just don't know anymore. Throughout the book you're always find yourself asking who will Belly finally pick? But again were left with an annoying cliffhanger at the end! I don't know how I'll be able to wait more than a year for the last book in the series!!! ( )