Friday, May 6, 2011

Summer Lovin' II

It’s Not Summer Without You


Written by: Jenny Han

Released: April 27, 2010 by Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing

Summary: Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?

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.


Yeah, so best thing that I could have done was write this review BEFORE reading the next in the trilogy... but I didn’t so I’ll just have to do my best.

I love Jenny Han’s writing and from her Summer novels she’s made a life-time fan of me. She’s so easily able to capture the raw human emotions and take the reader on a rollercoaster with her writing. I fell so easily into the drama of Belly and her relationships and I completely felt what she was feeling throughout the novel.

But, oh Belly, you need to take a step back from your relationship woes and try something different. Of course, since you’re completely unable to do that, the next best thing would be to make a final decision. Or just grow a backbone and stop being so pathetic over Conrad. Live a little and let him fully realize what he’s missing!

I loved how the reader was able to see just how deep Conrad was with this novel. Of course, it wasn’t right out there in full sight, but at the end of the novel I wanted to shake him as well and tell him to get a grip; that Belly was slipping away. If anything, his performance in this novel made it very clear that I’m team Conrad and not a fan of Jeremiah.

I absolutely adore this series and it will be one that I recommend to everyone who wants a great trilogy that’s already completed (don’t you just hate the wait between books?). So I’m giving this novel an 8/10. Go read it (but read the first before this one). And as an added bonus, it’s already in paperback!

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