The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han
Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty series is her first trilogy she published solo, and it is certainly the YA summer beach read you have been looking for: a love triangle, tender lifelong friendships, and family drama—all that will have you laughing and crying on cue.
Belly Conklin has spent every summer in a beach house at Cousins with her mother and brother, Steven, as well as her mom’s bestie, Susannah, and her sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has also always loved Conrad. It has always been him. However, he doesn’t take note of her in a romantic way until much later, when he is away at college and their relationship is distant, like his personality, and their relationship falls away.
Months later, Conrad is missing. Jeremiah reaches out to Belly for help, though she has no idea where to find Conrad. They go to the one place they both know best. When the beach house is threatened, Conrad wants to save it. It’s the only thing he feels he has left. At least, Jeremiah and Belly have each other, and soon, they’re the ones in love.
Every step of the way, the kids have always had the support of their mothers, but with Susannah out of the picture, the fathers in the picture, and Belly’s mom not on her side, everything is complicated and way too overwhelming. Everything had always seemed like too much before, but together, the Conklin’s and the Fisher’s have always powered through. Now that the families are torn apart and relationships are at stake, all seems hopeless.
Jenny Han’s trilogy is cute and beachy and great for relaxation in the summertime. For me, I’ve been piling on the heavy-duty reads, so this has been a breath of fresh air. It was nice to not have too much emotional turmoil but still have an investment in each of the characters by the end of the first book. However, I do wish there was more between Belly and her best friend from home, Taylor, since there are scenes with Taylor and Belly does go back home and spends time away from Cousins. I’m still not sure why they’re even friends. The central characters are so well-developed and likable while still being flawed, which pushes the story forward and makes you focus on the two families in this coming-of-age series.
While each book can stand alone, the series as a whole covers the entirety of the love triangle and the family’s dramatic twists and turns, especially the relationships between Belly and her mother, which is really relatable. The plot in each book is different. The first focuses on the two families and one summer in particular. It shows the dynamic between these families and how they have grown up together, so there’s that tropey romance of “that boy you’ve known since you were in diapers, but now you’re both all grown up”. The second book is the twist. NO SPOILERS! Well, minimal spoilers: there’s a love triangle, and here is where the plot begins to shift more toward romance and away from the other aspects the first book also had. In the third book, those other aspects come back in regards to Belly’s romance, as does the love triangle in full force. While the characters themselves and the plot itself wasn’t very YA, the emotions definitely were, and the book still very much read like YA. Teens can still relate to Belly and the other characters just as much as they did in the first two books.
Overall, I thought this was a nice step outside my usual reads. It was a comfort and fast flip, and frankly, it was kind of nice to not feel so strongly for fictional characters for once. So if you are a fan of Jenny Han or a fan of sentimental or easy yet substantial and meaningful reads, I highly recommend The Summer I Turned Pretty series and also check out Jenny Han’s other trilogy, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Find The Summer I Turned Pretty series here.
Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
Mary H. K. Choi’s YA debut novel Emergency Contact starts with Penny Lee going away to college, making this book perfect for older readers of the genre. We are no longer in high school but get a taste of freshman year in a completely different context. Penny’s roommate, Judy, is the pinnacle of a spoiled rich girl. Judy’s best friend, Mallory, is by association, a roommate, as the two friends are basically attached at the hip.
Much of the emotional and romantic inclinations are similar to those of younger people. I mean, college freshmen were just high schoolers four months ago. Penny is a sci-fi/fantasy writer and still feels like the “goth kid.” Penny is regimented, waking up early to write while Judy is asleep, attending all her classes, and of course avoiding her really vicarious mother Chloe.
However, when Judy invites Penny to the coffee shop, she meets Judy’s uncle, Sam, a young twenty-something taking film classes to become a director. Sam has tattoos. Sam is older. Sam wears the same shoes as Penny. Penny is in awe. But none of Judy’s friends can date her uncle (though he is no longer, as that divorce happened a while back)! That’d be weird.
When Penny finds Sam in deep distress one night, she takes care of him and brings him to the coffee shop, which, unbeknownst to Penny, is his home. From then on, they become each other’s emergency contact. They talk about what they’re working on and their lives, especially when one needs an ear to listen (or read—most of their communication is via text, which does sometimes get a tad confusing).
It’s sweet how they rely on one another and we see their relationship blossom into one of dependency, though it fosters reliance as the foundation of their romance, which made me wonder how healthy this whole thing is. But I fell for it anyway! They’re each other’s rocks, and once they meet again in person, their relationship becomes more real rather a strange Internet-type of romance. This novel is definitely character-driven, though there are plaguing obstacles the two deal with together and separately. If you’re into a book with a witty voice that makes you laugh at the seriousness of life’s woes and love artistic quirk, you’d be totally hooked by Emergency Contact. Escape from your own worries, and dive into theirs. At least for 400 pages.
Find Emergency Contact here.