“The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han centers around the main character, Belly. Belly is completely obsessed with summer, so when her mom’s friend, Susannah, invites Belly and her family to their beach house each year, she is ecstatic. Belly is accompanied by her mom, brother (Steven), Susannah, and Susannah’s children, Jeremiah and Conrad. Isabel (Belly) Concklin has loved Conrad since she was a little kid, and although Conrad, Jere, and Steven treat her like a sister, she loves each one of them in a different way.

From the beginning, readers are hooked. The descriptive setting of their shared beach house makes readers want to be there with the 4 “siblings.” The apparent love triangle between Belly, Jere, and Conrad always leaves you wanting to know what happens next between the three of them.

The new world presented in the book is called “Cousins.” This is where the beach house that the two families reside in for the summer is located. The author makes you want to be able to visit Cousins as it’s portrayed as a beautiful stretch of land with beaches, whales, boardwalks, and so much other stuff to do! Overall the book has been really interesting and fun to read so far.