Series Review | Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy by Jenny Han

Wondering if you should spend the time to read the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han? This review has all the details to help you decide!

There are three books in the Summer I Turned Pretty series: The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You and We'll Always Have Summer. The books are published in chronological order and should be read as such.

My Thoughts on the Summer I Turned Pretty Books Individually

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Belly Conklin loves summer. Every year, the Fishers and the Conklins spend the summer at Cousins Beach. And Belly has had a massive crush on Conrad Fisher for as long as she can remember. Now that she's had her glow-up, she feels that this summer will be special. But little does she know, it'll also be the summer that'll change everything, both for the better and for worse.

To be honest, the first novel started out bad. Belly was an insufferable main character, the writing was irritating to read and there was practically nothing happening throughout the 300 pages. That being said, the only reason I continued onto the second book was because I already purchased the second novel in advance.

Click here for my in-depth review of The Summer I Turned Pretty!

It's Not Summer Without You

When Jeremiah calls Belly up one day to let her know that his brother is missing, the duo packs their things in search of Conrad. All signs show that he had travelled back to Cousins Beach. What follows is an adventure filled with grief, confusion but most important of all, love.

The second novel was slightly better than the first one. Belly developed some brain cells, the love triangle was beautifully executed and the writing was tolerable enough for me to want to continue reading. And that cliffhanger of an ending was the push I needed to continue onto the last book.

Click here for my in-depth review of It's Not Summer Without You!

We'll Always Have Summer

Belly's finally over the boy who has consumed her teenage years, she has a boyfriend she loves and who loves her, and she's in the same school as her best friend; It's everything she's ever wanted. But what she doesn't know is her boyfriend is keeping a secret from her. And so is her ex-lover, who also happens to be her boyfriend's brother. Belly has to make a difficult choice; Which brother will it be?

Oh, the angst and the pining and the love triangle were everything in this one. There was a particular plot line in this one (it's a spoiler so I won't say what it is but if you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking about) that felt a little rushed and random. Other than that, everything was wonderfully executed.

Me at the end of We'll Always Have Summer.

Click here for my in-depth review of We'll Always Have Summer!

My Thoughts on the Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy as a Whole

It's obvious that the books individually went through their own journey. The series got better over time but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was worth going through the initial turmoil just to get a glimpse of a fairytale ending.

The characters had their ups and downs throughout the series. Some were positive, some not so much. There are times when you'd want to knock these characters in the head and when that happens, you'll have to push through because it can only get better from there. After three books, I've grown to adore these characters and their silly personalities.

One thing that never changed throughout is the world-building. The world-building in the trilogy is fantastic. I don't know how Jenny Han does it but Cousins Beach is the embodiment of a perfect summer. You wished you could be transported into this world of sunny, perfect pool days while you live in a beach house for a whole summer.

When you go from one book to another, it's just like reading another chapter. The story flowed smoothly from one book to the next. I appreciated that the writing got better as the books went on, which I think was a cool way to show how Belly matured over the books.

Should you spend time on this series?

I think I would have enjoyed the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy more if I was a teenager. But reading it as an adult, the series feels mediocre. There wasn't much depth to the characters or plot and their problems seem like trivial problems (like seriously? Choosing between two brothers? Isn't the obvious answer to choose the older one?) when you compare it to what you have to endure as an adult.

If you really want to read it but don't want to spend so much time on it, you can make do by watching the series on Amazon Prime Video. The book wasn't very memorable and there's nothing in the book that you can't already get from the show.

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

About Jenny Han

Jenny Han is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series, now a Netflix movie. She is also the author of the Summer I Turned Pretty series, Shug, and Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream. Her books have been published in more than thirty languages. A former librarian, Han earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.