The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

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Hello, everybody. And welcome to the very first episode of Such a Fun Read, a podcast

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where we come together to read a book and chat about it like a book club. I am your

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resident reader, Cherie Lampley, and I'm very excited to be here with you today.

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But before we dive into this week's read, I wanted to give a background into why I decided

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to start this podcast, who I am, and what you can expect each week. We'll start off

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with why I started this podcast. I've wanted to create a podcast for years, many, many

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years, but for some reason, I just never got around to doing it. I did start a YouTube

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channel a few years back where I talked about books, a booktube channel, I guess you could

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call it. But life got busy. And whenever I thought about getting the camera out and making

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a new video, something else would just come up. Podcasting has always been in the back

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of my mind, though. I have a lot more free time nowadays. And instead of getting out

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the camera, I decided to grab a microphone. As to who I am, like I said earlier, my name

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is Cherie Lampley, and I'm your resident reader around here. I'm from Ohio. I'm also a huge

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sports fan. I have a lot of love for Ohio State and the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati

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Bengals are a step below those two, but I'm still a fan. For some reason, I had to distinguish

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that, but I guess that's just what I had to do. And if it isn't obvious with me creating

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this podcast, I am a big fan of reading. I love discovering different worlds when I open

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a book, I love meeting new characters, and I love the drama. I grew up a fan of soap

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operas, so drama isn't anything new to me. I was a huge fan of All My Children growing

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up, and I continue to watch General Hospital every once in a while. I read young adults,

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middle grade, adult books, contemporary fantasy, romance, science fiction, thrillers, pretty

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much all the genres. And if a book is popular, I want to read it and discover what the hype

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is about. So what can you expect from this podcast? Every week, a new book will be discussed.

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We'll dive into the characters, the drama, the plot, we will get into it. I want to find

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a fun in any of the books I choose to read. Oh, and the drama, of course. Another thing

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to expect are spoilers. I'm going to be talking about each book I read, which means that I

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will be spoiling the book. Just want to give a heads up on that. You've been warned. Also,

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if you'd like to know ahead of time what the next book will be for the next episode, you

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can check out our website at suchafunread.com or follow us on Twitter and Instagram at suchafunread.

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Alright, I think it's time we actually get into this episode. So the first book for this

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very first episode of such a fun read is The Summer I Turn Pretty by Jenny Han. So I decided

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on this book because honestly, I thought it would be a fun, quick read. It is summertime

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after all, which is usually when my reading picks up. And that is mostly because I decide

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on reading cute books like this one. And if you're by a beach or a pool, this might be

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a fun book for you to read there. Now, another reason I chose this book was because of the

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TV show. If you aren't aware, The Summer I Turn Pretty is becoming a TV show. In fact,

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the premiere episode will be this Friday, June 17 on Amazon Prime. I do my best to read

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books before their adaptations. Well, I haven't always though, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games,

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Twilight, A Song of Ice and Fire to name a few, but that was the past. Now I try to do

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my best to read before I watch. Let's get into a bit of backstory on The Summer I Turn

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Pretty. The author, Jenny Han is a librarian, was a librarian? Is she still a librarian?

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I guess I probably should look that up. But The Summer I Turn Pretty is her second published

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novel. It is a coming of age young adult novel that was published on May 5 2009 in hardcover

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and has 288 pages. It is a New York Times bestseller and I was really excited to dive

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into it and figure out what happened. The Summer Belly Turn Pretty. Jenny Han is also

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the author of the To All the Boys I Love Before series. I had read the first two books in

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that series as well as watched the movies. Never got to the third book was a bit annoyed

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at the end of the second one. Maybe I'll read it one day though. But this podcast isn't

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about To All the Boys I Love Before. Let's get into talking about The Summer I Turn Pretty

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with the book summary. Some summers are just destined to be pretty. When each summer begins,

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Belly leaves her school life behind and escapes to Cousins Beach, the place she has spent

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every summer of her life. Not only does the beach house mean home away from home, but

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her favorite people are there. Susanna, her mother's best friend and her sons Conrad

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and Jeremiah. Belly has been chasing Conrad for as long as she can remember. And more

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than anything, she hopes this summer will be different. Despite distractions from a

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new guy named Cam and lingering looks from Conrad's brother Jeremiah, Belly's heart

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belongs to Conrad. Will he offer his to her? Will this be the summer that changes everything?

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That is the summary that is on the back of my copy of this book. And now let's talk

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about it. And as I mentioned before, there will be spoilers. The first thing I want to

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say is that I do not like the name Belly. I spent a lot of time while reading this book

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hoping this was just a nickname and not the name that was on her birth certificate. Luckily

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for me, finally on page 111, I learned her name is Isabelle. Then I thought, why not

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Izzy? Why even go with Belly as a nickname? Then I remember from reading that her dad

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gave her the nickname Belly. Parents just know how to give great nicknames, don't they?

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And also Belly doesn't like the nickname Izzy, but she does like Bell. So maybe we could

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have changed it to Bell. Anyway, let's do a run through of the characters. We have our

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main character Belly or Isabelle, her mother Laurel, her brother Stephen, her mother's

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best friend Susanna, Beck is her nickname, her maiden name. I like that one. Conrad,

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Susanna's older son, Jeremiah, Susanna's younger son, Cam, a guy from the beach and

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Taylor, Belly's best friend. There are some other characters that show up throughout the

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story, but I say these are the main players. I think I'll do a ranking of these characters

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after we talk about what happened in this book. So you'll see how I feel about each

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of them. All right, so the story begins with Belly. I've given up and I've just decided

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I'm going to use that nickname she was given throughout this episode, whatever. I figure

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this is the name she was given for this story and everyone calls her that anyway. So I will

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resign and call her that for this episode. As I was saying, the story begins with Belly

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on her way to the beach. Her brother Stephen is driving with their mother in the back.

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They're singing in the car and Belly is excited to get back to the beach house. This is a

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beach house that she and her family go to every summer. They meet up with Susanna and

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her two boys there. While they're driving, her brother decides to ask her if she is thinking

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about Conrad. Then her mother chimes in because she thought there might be something going

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on with her and Jeremiah from what happened this summer before we are kind of getting

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set up for which boy will Belly choose. So we go into a bit of backstory about Laurel

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and Susanna's friendship. They've been friends since they were nine. Then Belly tells us

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that Susanna told her that she knew that Belly was destined for one of her boys. Continuing

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on with who will Belly choose? They get to the house and the boys come out to greet them.

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There are moments with Belly between each of the boys. Both boys notice that Belly isn't

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the same Belly she had always been. Conrad tells Belly that he liked her better with

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her glasses and teased her about her freckles. Jeremiah gave her a big bear hug and told

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her, you just look different. I will say we don't get much description on these characters

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and their looks or at least how Belly has actually changed. That's an author's choice.

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Some do it, some don't. Throughout the story, we do get some minor things like puberty happening

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or the glasses comment that Conrad made. I don't think it has much effect on the story

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for not including it. I just ended up using my imagination while reading it. So Belly

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is back in the beach house, her favorite place with Conrad, her crush and Jeremiah, who is

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just her friend. And these boys had seemed to finally look at Belly like she was a real

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girl and not just someone's sister. Throughout this book, we do get some backstory on what's

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been going on. There are chapters that start telling us Belly's age at the time. These

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are dispersed throughout the book, not in chronological order, but I'm going to do

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chronological order today. Age nine, Belly is playing card games with everyone. She's

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playing hearts with Conrad as a partner because he was good at winning. There was a secret

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look between Laurel and Susanna when Laurel said that Belly is her father's daughter.

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Age 10, the moment Belly fell in love with Conrad, she wanted to go with the boys to

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the beach. They were taking sleeping bags and going to build a fire. Stephen was mean

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to her. Jeremiah, he joined in on the teasing of her with Stephen, but Conrad was different.

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He stood up for her. He told them to cut it out and he said goodbye to her as they left

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without her. Age 11, Belly and Stephen have a sibling bickering in front of Conrad and

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Jeremiah. Belly and Conrad share dance. Belly wished for Conrad when she blew out her birthday

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candles. Age 12, this age gave us the first backstory as well as the last backstory in

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the book. We first see Conrad asked Belly to go to the boardwalk, but she gets heartbroken

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when she realizes he went to the boardwalk to see another girl. He only invited her because

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he didn't want to go alone. Then Jeremiah tells Belly that he knows she likes Conrad.

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Age 13, more is talked about Susanna's breast cancer and Belly and Jeremiah get closer.

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Age 14, Belly brings her best friend Taylor to the beach with her. Taylor was flirting

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with both Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly was jealous over it, especially with Jeremiah since he

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was the one reciprocating the flirting with Taylor. Belly has our first kiss with Jeremiah

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during Truth or Dare. Belly catches Taylor making out with Stephen. So that is a backstory

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on Belly and her relationship with the boys. Now let's get back to the present day. Belly

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is now 15 and back at the beach having these boys. She's known forever, looking her differently,

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as well as a new boy to add to the mix. She also ends up being at the beach there with

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them without her brother because he leaves early to go look at colleges with their dad.

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We'll get back to the boys in a moment. Let's talk about Susanna. There is a mention of

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Susanna not doing certain things like she normally did before, like her being outside

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to greet everyone when they show up. She was taking a nap. At that moment, I figured something

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was going on. Then we find out she has breast cancer and the way her and Laurel were acting

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that summer, I had a feeling things weren't going well. I was definitely preparing myself

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for the worst. We did that, get that though. We do get glimpses of Belly seeing there is

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an issue when she comes home to find that her mother Laurel and Susanna are fighting.

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They say it is nothing, but Belly doesn't believe it. Okay, back to the boys. I want

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to add a quote from the book here. A quote that I think Belly needs to think about a

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lot. She was talking about Mr. Fisher and Susanna. Mr. Fisher is Susanna's husband

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and the boy's father. He only shows up in this book for a phone call. And it was mentioned

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that he would only come on the occasional weekend in August. Belly thought Mr. Fisher

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was good looking, but she didn't know if Mr. Fisher was as good looking as Susanna was

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as beautiful. She does mention that maybe it is because she loves Susanna so much and

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didn't know who can measure up to her in her mind. So the quote is sometimes it's like

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people are a million times more beautiful to you in your mind. It's like you see them

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through a special lens, but maybe if it's how you see them, that's how they really are.

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This is what I think Belly has done with Conrad. I don't think she really knows who he is.

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She's created a version of him that she wants him to be in her head and decided that this

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is who he is. As I was reading the book, I could not understand why Belly actually liked

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Conrad. I know we get some back story on how she fell in love with him, which was when

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he stood up for her, but that still didn't feel like enough. Conrad felt like an elusive

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character that Belly herself could not describe. Her description of him was that he was dark,

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dark, dark, unattainable and unavailable. Maybe it is her teenage ways of trying to

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get a guy that she has no business trying to get. Some of us go through those phases.

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I get it. It's like she decided one day that this is a guy she wanted and that was it.

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Susanna says she was going to end up with one of her boys and that one was going to

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be Conrad. We do know that Conrad had been going through a lot that summer. There is

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Susanna's cancer and then also a mention of their parents getting divorced because of

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his father's cheating. Maybe I'm being biased because I didn't really like Conrad's character.

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I didn't like any of the scenes with Belly and Conrad. He came off a little bit creepy

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for me. No offense to anyone who likes him. He was just way too protective of her. Jeremiah

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was someone I felt like Belly had a connection with. I'm not saying Belly should end up

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with him. I'm good with by the end of the trilogy, she doesn't end up with either. She

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described Jeremiah as being her friend. He was nice to her and he was the kind of boy

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that still hugged his mother. He also never got embarrassed apparently. I felt like Belly

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felt more comfortable being around him, possibly because she thought they were just friends.

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But the jealousy that Belly had whenever Jeremiah talked to another girl, she was jealous of

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her friend Taylor when Jeremiah would return the attention. She didn't want to admit to

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those feelings, but the jealousy was definitely there. I think Belly did have feelings for

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Jeremiah, but she didn't want to admit to those feelings. But the jealousy was definitely

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there. Then we have Cam, the guy she meets that summer. Well, meets again. She finally

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went to a party and she saw him. She very much liked his eyelashes. They started talking

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and they both realized they had known each other from before. They had met at the Latin

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Convention in Washington DC in the eighth grade. He also called her Isabel, so he got

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some points for me. They chatted for a bit and then there was this weird moment with

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Conrad. Again, I'm not a fan of their interactions. Cam did give her his hitty by the end of the

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night and that was cute. Now Belly has a love interest, a new one, one that is actually

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interested in her back or will at least admit to be interested in her. She talks to him

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on the phone, they go on dates, he comes over, they have a good time. But he also has to

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deal with the brothers though. That isn't fun. Then another weird thing happens when

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Belly goes to a party with Cam. And of course, this weird thing involved Conrad. So Belly

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was being teased by Conrad and Jeremiah before going to the party with Cam. They even decided

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to show up, which I don't think they were going to do that before Belly mentioned the

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party. So at the party, Belly and Cam spot the boys. Belly has jealous moments over both

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of them. Jeremiah doing karaoke and having the girls watching while googly eyed as she

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narrates. Then Conrad being with a girl he was with earlier. Her name is Nicole and she

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may or may not like the Boston Red Sox. She wears a Boston Red Sox hat. So Cam introduces

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himself. He says his name is Cam, then adds Cameron. So of course, Jeremiah the jokester

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decides his name is Cam Cameron. They laugh and Belly kind of pisses me off here. She

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says she was embarrassed, not for Cam, but of him. Really Belly? This is a guy that you

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seem to like and now you're embarrassed of him because Jeremiah and Conrad are laughing

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at him? Like what's up with that? This is a moment I really knew that Cam didn't stand

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a chance with her. I didn't necessarily think his chance was that high earlier, but definitely

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higher than what it was in that moment. She continues to talk to him throughout the rest

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of the summer, but then pretty much ghost him at one point after he realized she was

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only cozying up to him on the couch one night just to make Conrad jealous. But back to the

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party. It seems Conrad is drunk and trying to get in a fight. Not with Cam, but with

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some other guy, some random guy. Of course, Belly has to intervene and then Jeremiah does

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as well. Belly ends up going home with Jeremiah and Conrad leaving Cam at the party. Then

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Belly seemed to get upset. She believes that Conrad had ruined her first real date. No

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Belly, that was you. You didn't have to intervene. Conrad is a big boy. I believe he's 18. Yes,

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yes, he was drunk. Should he have tried to get in a fight when he was drunk? No, but

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guess what? There really wasn't nothing for you to do. Okay, you didn't have to intervene.

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You could have continued on your date, but you know what? That's just my two cents. I

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mean, if you want to be upset, be upset, but Belly, you need to look in the mirror because

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your first date being ruined kind of on you. Then of course there was this moment when

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Conrad started playing with Belly's hair in the car. He was about to say something, but

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Jeremiah returned. So the next day Belly wasn't happy. Conrad had acted like nothing happened.

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It was like he didn't play with her hair the night before and about to say something that

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would change everything. He treated her the same. He didn't ignore her. He just treated

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her the same. Then she narrates, the thing was whether he was pushing me away or pulling

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me toward him. I was still going in the same direction toward Conrad. Reading this quote

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again makes me want to go meditate. I might need a moment. Okay. Anyway, Belly ended up

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going on another date with Cam to the drive-in for some reason. She did worry that going

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to the drive-in meant that they were going to make out. Nothing happened though. Also

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for Belly, Cam didn't look over her and laugh with her to the funny parts like Jeremiah

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did when they watched movies together. Belly, can you please go a couple hours without thinking

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about one of the brothers, especially when you're on a date? After the movie, Cam takes

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her home. Belly seemed disappointed. He does tell her when he drops her off that the reason

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why he remembered her at the party was because she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

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That is sweet Cam, but your chance is less and less by the day. Speaking of Jeremiah,

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he remembered to get Belly a birthday gift, unlike someone else. I know, I know Conrad,

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he's going through things and people go through things differently. I'll leave him alone

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for now. Belly also didn't tell Cam about her birthday for some reason. Jeremiah ended

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up getting her a charm to add to her charm bracelet. Very sweet, but let's skip to the

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part where Jeremiah finally professed his feelings. I was wondering when it would happen

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while I was reading, but it finally does. He was going to say something I didn't want

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to hear. He was going to go and change everything. He does in fact say it. He wants her to want

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to, but it is always going to be Conrad. He accepts it, but isn't happy about it. Makes

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a comment about why is it always Conrad before walking away, which okay. I mean, the next

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chapter is a backstory where he talks about how his father likes Conrad better. So maybe

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that has something to do with it. As I mentioned earlier, her thing with Cam is over. He called

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the house a few times and she didn't answer. Jeremiah had complained about her feelings

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and Belly thinks it's time for her to do the same to Conrad. Tell Conrad how she feels.

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It's going to go great, right? Right? So she tells him how she feels in his response. Well,

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you shouldn't. I'm not the one. Sorry. I believed him when he said it too. Belly doesn't though.

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She goes in on him telling him she doesn't believe him and he's lying. He was jealous

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of her and Cam. Then somehow he turns it on her. One minute you like me, then Cam and

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then Jeremiah. You want to have your cake and eat it too, he says. Telling her that

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she's the one who has been playing games. I had to flip back through the book and try

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to figure out what he was talking about. Now, do I think she had feelings for all three

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boys at some point? Yes. However, I don't think she was playing games with any of them.

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Well, maybe Cam a little bit. I mean, the whole trying to make Conrad jealous on the

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couch, but I really don't think she was playing games. And I definitely don't think she was

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playing games with Conrad. So they continue to argue and then he shook her. I repeat,

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he shook her. What? I forgot about that for a moment when I started making the notes for

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this episode. Again, Conrad, not my faith. He does stop himself when he realizes he did

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that. But still, Jeremiah ends up coming out and seeing Bella crying. Him and Conrad end

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up getting into a fight over Conrad not dealing with things. Nothing to do with belly. Maybe

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a slight punch from Jeremiah had to do with belly, but it mostly was over family stuff

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like their mother's cancer and their father's actions. The fight gets broken up by Laurel

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and everyone goes their separate ways. We end up getting a touching scene with belly

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and Susanna. Well touching enough until Susanna tells belly, he needs you. She asked belly

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to look after him. Belly didn't need for Susanna to tell her who she meant, but I needed for

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Susanna to stop. Conrad has some issues he needs to figure out. And I don't think belly

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should be the one that holds his hand. This boy needs to do it himself. So belly ends

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up going out to find Conrad. She would take care of him like Susanna wanted. I think I

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internally screamed at that point. That brought me back to belly partly wanting Conrad only

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because of Susanna wanting it. And I'm still not happy with Susanna for putting that on

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her. Belly finds him, Conrad opens up and they kiss. Then there are a couple more chapters

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after that. There's a goodbye scene with belly Conrad and Jeremiah out in the pool playing

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around like they would any other summer. I like that scene. Then the last chapter is

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during the wintertime when Conrad calls her and wonders if she is still coming with him.

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Where in the world are you going belly? I guess I'll have to find out whenever I read

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book two. I only had a few issues with this book. One Conrad is shaking belly. Not cool.

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Not cool at all. And then to chapter 28 was a bit problematic. They are teens but a bit

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problematic. Taylor says to Conrad, don't be so gay. Jeremiah does call her out on it

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and Taylor responds with the I didn't mean anything by a response. So Taylor, yeah, whatever.

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Then later in the chapter when belly fights with Taylor over her catching her with her

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brother, she calls her slutty. Not the best move belly. Okay, let's get to the ranking

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of these characters. I'm only going to rank the main players the ones I listed earlier,

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especially since a lot of them that come in and out are just minor players like Boston

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Red Sox girl or Mr. Fisher or belly and Stevens father who I don't really remember what his

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name was. But anyway, I'm just going to rank the main players. And I guess I'll start with

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my least favorite. I'm pretty sure you all know who that is. So at the bottom is Conrad.

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Maybe I'll start to like them more in the other books whenever I get around to reading

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them. But now this is where he will stay right above him is his mother Susanna. I really

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don't like how she put Conrad on belly. I get that she wants her son to be looked after.

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But don't make that belly's responsibility. Next, I guess I'll put Steven here. He wasn't

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there a lot in this book with him leaving early. But when he was there, he was picking

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on his sister and as a younger sister with brothers, he deserves to be here. Next is

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Taylor. I didn't necessarily like how she was going after the boys when she knew how

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belly felt. Then again, it isn't like belly own them. Also, her common chapter 28 is still

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not cool. Above her. I'll put cam. He didn't really do anything wrong here. He just likes

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someone that was already hung up on someone else. He was sweet. Not sure if he'll show

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back up in the rest of the series though. And above cam I'll put Laurel. She seemed

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like a good mom. I know her and belly but it heads every once in a while. But that can

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happen with mothers and daughters sometimes. I like when belly learned that the dress she

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wanted was bought by her mother and that Susanna like she thought. Then we have Jeremiah. What

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can I say? I liked him. Again, I don't think she needs to end up with him. But she should

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stop being jealous when other girls speak to him. And at last belly. I was kind of surprised

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I have her at the top. She didn't annoy me but I was rooting for her a lot. I definitely

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did like her as a main character. Alright, that's all I have for this summer turned pretty.

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Belly is awesome and I hope that she just has an amazing time throughout the rest of

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the series. I hope Jeremiah find someone and also belly doesn't get jealous over that person

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because belly please stop. Also with Conrad. I hope he gets help. I really do. I really

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hope he gets help. I'm curious if we'll see Taylor again. I know there was some bad blood

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between belly and Taylor. But I'm all about girlfriendships. So please let's let's have

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that. As for Susanna. Yeah, I was mad the character but I mean, breast cancer sucks.

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I'm not sure how much more we'll get to see of her throughout the rest of the series as

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this book felt like the characters were saying goodbye to her. And Laurel there wasn't really

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a lot with belly's mother. But I'd like to see more. I'd like to see belly and her mother

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interact more in the future. Well, that'll do it. I want to thank you so much for listening

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to the very first episode of such a fun read. I really hope you enjoyed today's episode

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on the summer I turned pretty. I'd love to know your thoughts. You can find me on our

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website such a fun read.com or on Twitter and Instagram at such a fun read. You can

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also if you like send me an email to hello at such a fun read.com. Don't forget to make

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sure to read us everywhere you listen to podcasts, including Spotify. So thanks again, and I

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will see you guys next week.