The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

0:00 Hello, everybody. And welcome to the very first episode of Such a Fun Read, a podcast where we come together to read a book and chat about it like a book club. I am your resident reader, Cherie Lampley, and I'm very excited to be here with you today. But before we dive into this week's read, I wanted to give a background into why I decided to start this podcast, who I am, and what you can expect each week. We'll start off with why I started this podcast. I've wanted to create a podcast for years, many, many years, but for some reason, I just never got around to doing it. I did start a YouTube channel a few years back where I talked about books, a booktube channel, I guess you could call it. But life got busy. And whenever I thought about getting the camera out and making a new video, something else would just come up. Podcasting has always been in the back of my mind, though. I have a lot more free time nowadays. And instead of getting out the camera, I decided to grab a microphone. As to who I am, like I said earlier, my name is Cherie Lampley, and I'm your resident reader around here. I'm from Ohio. I'm also a huge sports fan. I have a lot of love for Ohio State and the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati

1:31 Bengals are a step below those two, but I'm still a fan. For some reason, I had to distinguish that, but I guess that's just what I had to do. And if it isn't obvious with me creating this podcast, I am a big fan of reading. I love discovering different worlds when I open a book, I love meeting new characters, and I love the drama. I grew up a fan of soap operas, so drama isn't anything new to me. I was a huge fan of All My Children growing up, and I continue to watch General Hospital every once in a while. I read young adults, middle grade, adult books, contemporary fantasy, romance, science fiction, thrillers, pretty much all the genres. And if a book is popular, I want to read it and discover what the hype is about. So what can you expect from this podcast? Every week, a new book will be discussed.

2:23 We'll dive into the characters, the drama, the plot, we will get into it. I want to find a fun in any of the books I choose to read. Oh, and the drama, of course. Another thing to expect are spoilers. I'm going to be talking about each book I read, which means that I will be spoiling the book. Just want to give a heads up on that. You've been warned. Also, if you'd like to know ahead of time what the next book will be for the next episode, you can check out our website at suchafunread.com or follow us on Twitter and Instagram at suchafunread. Alright, I think it's time we actually get into this episode. So the first book for this very first episode of such a fun read is The Summer I Turn Pretty by Jenny Han. So I decided on this book because honestly, I thought it would be a fun, quick read. It is summertime after all, which is usually when my reading picks up. And that is mostly because I decide on reading cute books like this one. And if you're by a beach or a pool, this might be a fun book for you to read there. Now, another reason I chose this book was because of the TV show. If you aren't aware, The Summer I Turn Pretty is becoming a TV show. In fact, the premiere episode will be this Friday, June 17 on Amazon Prime. I do my best to read books before their adaptations. Well, I haven't always though, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, A Song of Ice and Fire to name a few, but that was the past. Now I try to do

3:55 my best to read before I watch. Let's get into a bit of backstory on The Summer I Turn Pretty. The author, Jenny Han is a librarian, was a librarian? Is she still a librarian? I guess I probably should look that up. But The Summer I Turn Pretty is her second published novel. It is a coming of age young adult novel that was published on May 5 2009 in hardcover and has 288 pages. It is a New York Times bestseller and I was really excited to dive into it and figure out what happened. The Summer Belly Turn Pretty. Jenny Han is also the author of the To All the Boys I Love Before series. I had read the first two books in that series as well as watched the movies. Never got to the third book was a bit annoyed at the end of the second one. Maybe I'll read it one day though. But this podcast isn't about To All the Boys I Love Before. Let's get into talking about The Summer I Turn Pretty with the book summary. Some summers are just destined to be pretty. When each summer begins, Belly leaves her school life behind and escapes to Cousins Beach, the place she has spent every summer of her life. Not only does the beach house mean home away from home, but her favorite people are there. Susanna, her mother's best friend and her sons Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has been chasing Conrad for as long as she can remember. And more

5:27 than anything, she hopes this summer will be different. Despite distractions from a new guy named Cam and lingering looks from Conrad's brother Jeremiah, Belly's heart belongs to Conrad. Will he offer his to her? Will this be the summer that changes everything? That is the summary that is on the back of my copy of this book. And now let's talk about it. And as I mentioned before, there will be spoilers. The first thing I want to say is that I do not like the name Belly. I spent a lot of time while reading this book hoping this was just a nickname and not the name that was on her birth certificate. Luckily for me, finally on page 111, I learned her name is Isabelle. Then I thought, why not Izzy? Why even go with Belly as a nickname? Then I remember from reading that her dad gave her the nickname Belly. Parents just know how to give great nicknames, don't they?

6:25 And also Belly doesn't like the nickname Izzy, but she does like Bell. So maybe we could have changed it to Bell. Anyway, let's do a run through of the characters. We have our main character Belly or Isabelle, her mother Laurel, her brother Stephen, her mother's best friend Susanna, Beck is her nickname, her maiden name. I like that one. Conrad, Susanna's older son, Jeremiah, Susanna's younger son, Cam, a guy from the beach and Taylor, Belly's best friend. There are some other characters that show up throughout the story, but I say these are the main players. I think I'll do a ranking of these characters after we talk about what happened in this book. So you'll see how I feel about each of them. All right, so the story begins with Belly. I've given up and I've just decided I'm going to use that nickname she was given throughout this episode, whatever. I figure this is the name she was given for this story and everyone calls her that anyway. So I will resign and call her that for this episode. As I was saying, the story begins with Belly on her way to the beach. Her brother Stephen is driving with their mother in the back.

7:40 They're singing in the car and Belly is excited to get back to the beach house. This is a beach house that she and her family go to every summer. They meet up with Susanna and her two boys there. While they're driving, her brother decides to ask her if she is thinking about Conrad. Then her mother chimes in because she thought there might be something going on with her and Jeremiah from what happened this summer before we are kind of getting set up for which boy will Belly choose. So we go into a bit of backstory about Laurel and Susanna's friendship. They've been friends since they were nine. Then Belly tells us that Susanna told her that she knew that Belly was destined for one of her boys. Continuing on with who will Belly choose? They get to the house and the boys come out to greet them.

8:25 There are moments with Belly between each of the boys. Both boys notice that Belly isn't the same Belly she had always been. Conrad tells Belly that he liked her better with her glasses and teased her about her freckles. Jeremiah gave her a big bear hug and told her, you just look different. I will say we don't get much description on these characters and their looks or at least how Belly has actually changed. That's an author's choice. Some do it, some don't. Throughout the story, we do get some minor things like puberty happening or the glasses comment that Conrad made. I don't think it has much effect on the story for not including it. I just ended up using my imagination while reading it. So Belly is back in the beach house, her favorite place with Conrad, her crush and Jeremiah, who is just her friend. And these boys had seemed to finally look at Belly like she was a real girl and not just someone's sister. Throughout this book, we do get some backstory on what's been going on. There are chapters that start telling us Belly's age at the time. These are dispersed throughout the book, not in chronological order, but I'm going to do chronological order today. Age nine, Belly is playing card games with everyone. She's playing hearts with Conrad as a partner because he was good at winning. There was a secret look between Laurel and Susanna when Laurel said that Belly is her father's daughter.

9:52 Age 10, the moment Belly fell in love with Conrad, she wanted to go with the boys to the beach. They were taking sleeping bags and going to build a fire. Stephen was mean to her. Jeremiah, he joined in on the teasing of her with Stephen, but Conrad was different. He stood up for her. He told them to cut it out and he said goodbye to her as they left without her. Age 11, Belly and Stephen have a sibling bickering in front of Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly and Conrad share dance. Belly wished for Conrad when she blew out her birthday candles. Age 12, this age gave us the first backstory as well as the last backstory in the book. We first see Conrad asked Belly to go to the boardwalk, but she gets heartbroken when she realizes he went to the boardwalk to see another girl. He only invited her because he didn't want to go alone. Then Jeremiah tells Belly that he knows she likes Conrad.

10:50 Age 13, more is talked about Susanna's breast cancer and Belly and Jeremiah get closer. Age 14, Belly brings her best friend Taylor to the beach with her. Taylor was flirting with both Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly was jealous over it, especially with Jeremiah since he was the one reciprocating the flirting with Taylor. Belly has our first kiss with Jeremiah during Truth or Dare. Belly catches Taylor making out with Stephen. So that is a backstory on Belly and her relationship with the boys. Now let's get back to the present day. Belly is now 15 and back at the beach having these boys. She's known forever, looking her differently, as well as a new boy to add to the mix. She also ends up being at the beach there with them without her brother because he leaves early to go look at colleges with their dad.

11:40 We'll get back to the boys in a moment. Let's talk about Susanna. There is a mention of Susanna not doing certain things like she normally did before, like her being outside to greet everyone when they show up. She was taking a nap. At that moment, I figured something was going on. Then we find out she has breast cancer and the way her and Laurel were acting that summer, I had a feeling things weren't going well. I was definitely preparing myself for the worst. We did that, get that though. We do get glimpses of Belly seeing there is an issue when she comes home to find that her mother Laurel and Susanna are fighting. They say it is nothing, but Belly doesn't believe it. Okay, back to the boys. I want to add a quote from the book here. A quote that I think Belly needs to think about a lot. She was talking about Mr. Fisher and Susanna. Mr. Fisher is Susanna's husband and the boy's father. He only shows up in this book for a phone call. And it was mentioned that he would only come on the occasional weekend in August. Belly thought Mr. Fisher was good looking, but she didn't know if Mr. Fisher was as good looking as Susanna was as beautiful. She does mention that maybe it is because she loves Susanna so much and didn't know who can measure up to her in her mind. So the quote is sometimes it's like people are a million times more beautiful to you in your mind. It's like you see them through a special lens, but maybe if it's how you see them, that's how they really are.

13:12 This is what I think Belly has done with Conrad. I don't think she really knows who he is. She's created a version of him that she wants him to be in her head and decided that this is who he is. As I was reading the book, I could not understand why Belly actually liked Conrad. I know we get some back story on how she fell in love with him, which was when he stood up for her, but that still didn't feel like enough. Conrad felt like an elusive character that Belly herself could not describe. Her description of him was that he was dark, dark, dark, unattainable and unavailable. Maybe it is her teenage ways of trying to get a guy that she has no business trying to get. Some of us go through those phases.

13:58 I get it. It's like she decided one day that this is a guy she wanted and that was it. Susanna says she was going to end up with one of her boys and that one was going to be Conrad. We do know that Conrad had been going through a lot that summer. There is Susanna's cancer and then also a mention of their parents getting divorced because of his father's cheating. Maybe I'm being biased because I didn't really like Conrad's character. I didn't like any of the scenes with Belly and Conrad. He came off a little bit creepy for me. No offense to anyone who likes him. He was just way too protective of her. Jeremiah was someone I felt like Belly had a connection with. I'm not saying Belly should end up with him. I'm good with by the end of the trilogy, she doesn't end up with either. She described Jeremiah as being her friend. He was nice to her and he was the kind of boy that still hugged his mother. He also never got embarrassed apparently. I felt like Belly felt more comfortable being around him, possibly because she thought they were just friends.

15:03 But the jealousy that Belly had whenever Jeremiah talked to another girl, she was jealous of her friend Taylor when Jeremiah would return the attention. She didn't want to admit to those feelings, but the jealousy was definitely there. I think Belly did have feelings for Jeremiah, but she didn't want to admit to those feelings. But the jealousy was definitely there. Then we have Cam, the guy she meets that summer. Well, meets again. She finally went to a party and she saw him. She very much liked his eyelashes. They started talking and they both realized they had known each other from before. They had met at the Latin Convention in Washington DC in the eighth grade. He also called her Isabel, so he got some points for me. They chatted for a bit and then there was this weird moment with Conrad. Again, I'm not a fan of their interactions. Cam did give her his hitty by the end of the night and that was cute. Now Belly has a love interest, a new one, one that is actually interested in her back or will at least admit to be interested in her. She talks to him on the phone, they go on dates, he comes over, they have a good time. But he also has to deal with the brothers though. That isn't fun. Then another weird thing happens when Belly goes to a party with Cam. And of course, this weird thing involved Conrad. So Belly was being teased by Conrad and Jeremiah before going to the party with Cam. They even decided

16:37 to show up, which I don't think they were going to do that before Belly mentioned the party. So at the party, Belly and Cam spot the boys. Belly has jealous moments over both of them. Jeremiah doing karaoke and having the girls watching while googly eyed as she narrates. Then Conrad being with a girl he was with earlier. Her name is Nicole and she may or may not like the Boston Red Sox. She wears a Boston Red Sox hat. So Cam introduces himself. He says his name is Cam, then adds Cameron. So of course, Jeremiah the jokester decides his name is Cam Cameron. They laugh and Belly kind of pisses me off here. She says she was embarrassed, not for Cam, but of him. Really Belly? This is a guy that you seem to like and now you're embarrassed of him because Jeremiah and Conrad are laughing at him? Like what's up with that? This is a moment I really knew that Cam didn't stand a chance with her. I didn't necessarily think his chance was that high earlier, but definitely higher than what it was in that moment. She continues to talk to him throughout the rest of the summer, but then pretty much ghost him at one point after he realized she was only cozying up to him on the couch one night just to make Conrad jealous. But back to the party. It seems Conrad is drunk and trying to get in a fight. Not with Cam, but with some other guy, some random guy. Of course, Belly has to intervene and then Jeremiah does

18:09 as well. Belly ends up going home with Jeremiah and Conrad leaving Cam at the party. Then Belly seemed to get upset. She believes that Conrad had ruined her first real date. No Belly, that was you. You didn't have to intervene. Conrad is a big boy. I believe he's 18. Yes, yes, he was drunk. Should he have tried to get in a fight when he was drunk? No, but guess what? There really wasn't nothing for you to do. Okay, you didn't have to intervene. You could have continued on your date, but you know what? That's just my two cents. I mean, if you want to be upset, be upset, but Belly, you need to look in the mirror because your first date being ruined kind of on you. Then of course there was this moment when Conrad started playing with Belly's hair in the car. He was about to say something, but Jeremiah returned. So the next day Belly wasn't happy. Conrad had acted like nothing happened.

19:08 It was like he didn't play with her hair the night before and about to say something that would change everything. He treated her the same. He didn't ignore her. He just treated her the same. Then she narrates, the thing was whether he was pushing me away or pulling me toward him. I was still going in the same direction toward Conrad. Reading this quote again makes me want to go meditate. I might need a moment. Okay. Anyway, Belly ended up going on another date with Cam to the drive-in for some reason. She did worry that going to the drive-in meant that they were going to make out. Nothing happened though. Also for Belly, Cam didn't look over her and laugh with her to the funny parts like Jeremiah did when they watched movies together. Belly, can you please go a couple hours without thinking about one of the brothers, especially when you're on a date? After the movie, Cam takes her home. Belly seemed disappointed. He does tell her when he drops her off that the reason why he remembered her at the party was because she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

20:18 That is sweet Cam, but your chance is less and less by the day. Speaking of Jeremiah, he remembered to get Belly a birthday gift, unlike someone else. I know, I know Conrad, he's going through things and people go through things differently. I'll leave him alone for now. Belly also didn't tell Cam about her birthday for some reason. Jeremiah ended up getting her a charm to add to her charm bracelet. Very sweet, but let's skip to the part where Jeremiah finally professed his feelings. I was wondering when it would happen while I was reading, but it finally does. He was going to say something I didn't want to hear. He was going to go and change everything. He does in fact say it. He wants her to want to, but it is always going to be Conrad. He accepts it, but isn't happy about it. Makes a comment about why is it always Conrad before walking away, which okay. I mean, the next chapter is a backstory where he talks about how his father likes Conrad better. So maybe that has something to do with it. As I mentioned earlier, her thing with Cam is over. He called the house a few times and she didn't answer. Jeremiah had complained about her feelings and Belly thinks it's time for her to do the same to Conrad. Tell Conrad how she feels.

21:39 It's going to go great, right? Right? So she tells him how she feels in his response. Well, you shouldn't. I'm not the one. Sorry. I believed him when he said it too. Belly doesn't though. She goes in on him telling him she doesn't believe him and he's lying. He was jealous of her and Cam. Then somehow he turns it on her. One minute you like me, then Cam and then Jeremiah. You want to have your cake and eat it too, he says. Telling her that she's the one who has been playing games. I had to flip back through the book and try to figure out what he was talking about. Now, do I think she had feelings for all three boys at some point? Yes. However, I don't think she was playing games with any of them.

22:25 Well, maybe Cam a little bit. I mean, the whole trying to make Conrad jealous on the couch, but I really don't think she was playing games. And I definitely don't think she was playing games with Conrad. So they continue to argue and then he shook her. I repeat, he shook her. What? I forgot about that for a moment when I started making the notes for this episode. Again, Conrad, not my faith. He does stop himself when he realizes he did that. But still, Jeremiah ends up coming out and seeing Bella crying. Him and Conrad end up getting into a fight over Conrad not dealing with things. Nothing to do with belly. Maybe a slight punch from Jeremiah had to do with belly, but it mostly was over family stuff like their mother's cancer and their father's actions. The fight gets broken up by Laurel and everyone goes their separate ways. We end up getting a touching scene with belly and Susanna. Well touching enough until Susanna tells belly, he needs you. She asked belly to look after him. Belly didn't need for Susanna to tell her who she meant, but I needed for Susanna to stop. Conrad has some issues he needs to figure out. And I don't think belly should be the one that holds his hand. This boy needs to do it himself. So belly ends up going out to find Conrad. She would take care of him like Susanna wanted. I think I internally screamed at that point. That brought me back to belly partly wanting Conrad only

24:01 because of Susanna wanting it. And I'm still not happy with Susanna for putting that on her. Belly finds him, Conrad opens up and they kiss. Then there are a couple more chapters after that. There's a goodbye scene with belly Conrad and Jeremiah out in the pool playing around like they would any other summer. I like that scene. Then the last chapter is during the wintertime when Conrad calls her and wonders if she is still coming with him. Where in the world are you going belly? I guess I'll have to find out whenever I read book two. I only had a few issues with this book. One Conrad is shaking belly. Not cool. Not cool at all. And then to chapter 28 was a bit problematic. They are teens but a bit problematic. Taylor says to Conrad, don't be so gay. Jeremiah does call her out on it and Taylor responds with the I didn't mean anything by a response. So Taylor, yeah, whatever.

25:02 Then later in the chapter when belly fights with Taylor over her catching her with her brother, she calls her slutty. Not the best move belly. Okay, let's get to the ranking of these characters. I'm only going to rank the main players the ones I listed earlier, especially since a lot of them that come in and out are just minor players like Boston Red Sox girl or Mr. Fisher or belly and Stevens father who I don't really remember what his name was. But anyway, I'm just going to rank the main players. And I guess I'll start with my least favorite. I'm pretty sure you all know who that is. So at the bottom is Conrad.

25:46 Maybe I'll start to like them more in the other books whenever I get around to reading them. But now this is where he will stay right above him is his mother Susanna. I really don't like how she put Conrad on belly. I get that she wants her son to be looked after. But don't make that belly's responsibility. Next, I guess I'll put Steven here. He wasn't there a lot in this book with him leaving early. But when he was there, he was picking on his sister and as a younger sister with brothers, he deserves to be here. Next is Taylor. I didn't necessarily like how she was going after the boys when she knew how belly felt. Then again, it isn't like belly own them. Also, her common chapter 28 is still not cool. Above her. I'll put cam. He didn't really do anything wrong here. He just likes someone that was already hung up on someone else. He was sweet. Not sure if he'll show back up in the rest of the series though. And above cam I'll put Laurel. She seemed like a good mom. I know her and belly but it heads every once in a while. But that can happen with mothers and daughters sometimes. I like when belly learned that the dress she wanted was bought by her mother and that Susanna like she thought. Then we have Jeremiah. What can I say? I liked him. Again, I don't think she needs to end up with him. But she should stop being jealous when other girls speak to him. And at last belly. I was kind of surprised I have her at the top. She didn't annoy me but I was rooting for her a lot. I definitely

27:21 did like her as a main character. Alright, that's all I have for this summer turned pretty. Belly is awesome and I hope that she just has an amazing time throughout the rest of the series. I hope Jeremiah find someone and also belly doesn't get jealous over that person because belly please stop. Also with Conrad. I hope he gets help. I really do. I really hope he gets help. I'm curious if we'll see Taylor again. I know there was some bad blood between belly and Taylor. But I'm all about girlfriendships. So please let's let's have that. As for Susanna. Yeah, I was mad the character but I mean, breast cancer sucks.

28:08 I'm not sure how much more we'll get to see of her throughout the rest of the series as this book felt like the characters were saying goodbye to her. And Laurel there wasn't really a lot with belly's mother. But I'd like to see more. I'd like to see belly and her mother interact more in the future. Well, that'll do it. I want to thank you so much for listening to the very first episode of such a fun read. I really hope you enjoyed today's episode on the summer I turned pretty. I'd love to know your thoughts. You can find me on our website such a fun read.com or on Twitter and Instagram at such a fun read. You can also if you like send me an email to hello at such a fun read.com. Don't forget to make sure to read us everywhere you listen to podcasts, including Spotify. So thanks again, and I will see you guys next week.