Buy It’s Not Summer Without You
Special: $8.49(Regular price: $9.99)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Paperback
Reviewer: Melissa on July 12, 2011
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Last month, I reviewed the first book in Jenny Han‘s Summer series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, which I liked. However, I have to say that I enjoyed It’s Not Summer Without You even more. In the previous novel, Han needed to not only build up the reader’s concept of the past summers that lead up to the one in which Belly turns 16, but also to elucidate the changes in the present. It was a tall order, and Han did it well, but the younger voice might not always appeal to teens as some of the GoodReads reviews will attest (that said it didn’t bother me). In contrast, the second novel in this contemporary YA trilogy is firmly in the present or detailing events that took place only a year back at most. For those who took issue to the “whiny” voice of Belly at age 8 or 11, you won’t have any cause for complaint here.
If the first installment in this series detailed the summer Belly became pretty in the eyes of Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, then this is the one where summer doesn’t feel like summer. It’s the first year that Belly, Steven, and their mom aren’t planning to go to Cousins with the Fisher boys and Susannah. It’s the first summer of her entire life that Belly finds herself hot and sweaty beside a pool in the backyard of one of her classmate’s houses, and thus, it’s one of the first times that Belly plans to go along with the plans that Taylor arranges for them. In part, this change is caused by the death, two months earlier, of Susannah, which adds a darker and more poignant layer to the novel. Each of the characters is affected by the loss, and the novel demonstrates the myriad ways in which they deal with their own private grief. Or not as the case may be.
Whether it’s because Western tradition dictates that bad things happen in threes or it’s merely a coincidence, the loss of Susannah isn’t the only one this book discusses. In fact, her death is echoes not only by the devastating break up of Belly and Conrad, but also in the “loss” of Conrad, who disappears from summer school at Brown University, leaving Jeremiah and Belly to track him down. All of these circumstances show that Han deals with the theme of loss in all its forms in a way that is sure to resonate with her readers.
From the title to much of the plot, loss is prevalent in this novel, but you won’t be reaching for the kleenex the whole way through. That’s because even as Han takes some of the key characters and relationships, she adds something else in its place, something that I like to call the underdog effect. You see, as Belly is mourning the loss of both Susannah and her relationship with Conrad, Han adds the voice of the Fisher boy she’d rejected back in the first novel, Jeremiah. Through Jeremiah’s voice, we see some of the moments that were previously only captured Belly’s voice, brought to life in Jeremiah’s perspective. Similarly, we come to understand his feelings or rejection and how much he would do for her. It gets to the point where even those who were firmly on Team Conrad in book one might find themselves switching their affiliations. But will Belly’s heart be swayed? Read It’s Not Summer Without You to find out.
Whether you only liked or absolutely loved The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jenny Han’s It’s Not Summer Without You will make you a believer in the Summer series if it’s the last thing it does.
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Melissa has always been a voracious reader of fiction and has an M.A. in English Literature to prove it. Like many other adults, she got caught up in the young adult crossover fiction phenomenon. Now, one of her great joys comes from sharing her love of YA lit on this popular review site. Come with expectations of intellect, magic, and honest reviews, and you won’t be disappointed.
