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It's Not Summer Without You

By Jenny Han

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Ratings:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5 (491 ratings)

Length: 297 pages3 hours

Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Released:: Apr 27, 2010
ISBN:: 9781442413856
Format:: Book

Description

Belly thought her romance with Conrad was picture-perfect: She was all grown up and dating the boy of her dreams. But things with Conrad were never exactly as she had dreamed (obsessed) about. He keeps getting more distant and distracted, and Belly wishes she could walk away. But when Jeremiah calls her to tell her Conrad has seemingly gone missing, it takes her only seconds to start packing her things. Belly embarks on a journey to find him … no matter how much what she discovers will hurt her.

Book Actions

Start Reading

Book Information

It's Not Summer Without You

By Jenny Han

Ratings:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5 (491 ratings)

Length: 297 pages3 hours

Description

Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Released:: Apr 27, 2010
ISBN:: 9781442413856
Format:: Book

About the author

Jenny Han

Jenny Han is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series, now Netflix movies. She is also the author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series, Shug, and Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream. She is the coauthor of the Burn for Burn trilogy, with Siobhan Vivian. Her books have been published in more than thirty languages. A former librarian, Jenny earned her MFA in creative writing at the New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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It's Not Summer Without You - Jenny Han

all.

chapter one

JULY 2

It was a hot summer day in Cousins. I was lying by the pool with a magazine on my face. My mother was playing solitaire on the front porch, Susannah was inside puttering around the kitchen. She’d probably come out soon with a glass of sun tea and a book I should read. Something romantic.

Conrad and Jeremiah and Steven had been surfing all morning. There’d been a storm the night before. Conrad and Jeremiah came back to the house first. I heard them before I saw them. They walked up the steps, cracking up over how Steven had lost his shorts after a particularly ferocious wave. Conrad strode over to me, lifted the sweaty magazine from my face, and grinned. He said, You have words on your cheeks.

I squinted up at him. What do they say?

He squatted next to me and said, I can’t tell. Let me see. And then he peered at my face in his serious Conrad way. He leaned in, and he kissed me, and his lips were cold and salty from the ocean.

Then Jeremiah said, You guys need to get a room, but I knew he was joking. He winked at me as he came from behind, lifted Conrad up, and launched him into the pool.

Jeremiah jumped in too, and he yelled, Come on, Belly!

So of course I jumped too. The water felt fine. Better than fine. Just like always, Cousins was the only place I wanted to be.

Hello? Did you hear anything I just said?

I opened my eyes. Taylor was snapping her fingers in my face. Sorry, I said. What were you saying?

I wasn’t in Cousins. Conrad and I weren’t together, and Susannah was dead. Nothing would ever be the same again. It had been—How many days had it been? How many days exactly?—two months since Susannah had died and I still couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t let myself believe it. When a person you love dies, it doesn’t feel real. It’s like it’s happening to someone else. It’s someone else’s life. I’ve never been good with the abstract. What does it mean when someone is really and truly gone?

Sometimes I closed my eyes and in my head, I said over and over again, It isn’t true, it isn’t true, this isn’t real. This wasn’t my life. But it was my life; it was my life now. After.

I was in Marcy Yoo’s backyard. The boys were messing around in the pool and us girls were lying on beach towels, all lined up in a row. I was friends with Marcy, but the rest, Katie and Evelyn and those girls, they were more Taylor’s friends.

It was eighty-seven degrees already, and it was just after noon. It was going to be a hot one. I was on my stomach, and I could feel sweat pooling in the small of my back. I was starting to feel sun-sick. It was only the second day of July, and already, I was counting the days until summer was over.

"I said, what are you going to wear to Justin’s party?" Taylor repeated. She’d lined our towels up close, so it was like we were on one big towel.

I don’t know, I said, turning my head so we were face-to-face.

She had tiny sweat beads on her nose. Taylor always sweated first on her nose. She said, I’m going to wear that new sundress I bought with my mom at the outlet mall.

I closed my eyes again. I was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or not anyway. Which one?

You know, the one with the little polka dots that ties around the neck. I showed it to you, like, two days ago. Taylor let out an impatient little sigh.

Oh, yeah, I said, but I still didn’t remember and I knew Taylor could tell.

I started to say something else, something nice about the dress, but suddenly I felt ice-cold aluminum sticking to the back of my neck. I shrieked and there was Cory Wheeler, crouched down next to me with a dripping Coke can in his hand, laughing his head off.

I sat up and glared at him, wiping off my neck. I was so sick of today. I just wanted to go home. "What the crap, Cory!"

He was still laughing, which made me madder.

I said, God, you’re so immature.

But you looked really hot, he protested. I was trying to cool you off.

I didn’t answer him, I just kept my hand on the back of my neck. My jaw felt really tight, and I could feel all the other girls staring at me. And then Cory’s smile sort of slipped away and he said, Sorry. You want this Coke?

I shook my head, and he shrugged and retreated back over to the pool. I looked over and saw Katie and Evelyn making what’s-her-problem faces, and I felt embarrassed. Being mean to Cory was like being mean to a German shepherd puppy. There was just no sense in it. Too late, I tried to catch Cory’s eye, but he didn’t look back at me.

In a low voice Taylor said, It was just a joke, Belly.

I lay back down on my towel, this time faceup. I took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. The music from Marcy’s iPod deck was giving me a headache. It was too loud. And I actually was thirsty. I should have taken that Coke from Cory.

Taylor leaned over and pushed up my sunglasses so she could see my eyes. She peered at me. Are you mad?

No. It’s just too hot out here. I wiped sweat off my forehead with the back of my arm.

Don’t be mad. Cory can’t help being an idiot around you. He likes you.

Cory doesn’t like me, I said, looking away from her. But he sort of did like me, and I knew it. I just wished he didn’t.

Whatever, he’s totally into you. I still think you should give him a chance. It’ll take your mind off of you-know-who.

I turned my head away from her and she said, How about I French braid your hair for the party tonight? I can do the front section and pin it to the side like I did last time.

Okay.

What are you going to wear?

I’m not sure.

Well, you have to look cute because everybody’s gonna be there, Taylor said. I’ll come over early and we can get ready together.

Justin Ettelbrick had thrown a big blowout birthday party every July first since the eighth grade. By July, I was already at Cousins Beach, and home and school and school friends were a million miles away. I’d never once minded missing out, not even when Taylor told me about the cotton candy machine his parents had rented one year, or the fancy fireworks they shot off over the lake at midnight.

It was the first summer I would be at home for Justin’s party and it was the first summer I wasn’t going back to Cousins. And that, I minded. That, I mourned. I’d thought I’d be in Cousins every summer of my life. The summer house was the only place I wanted to be. It was the only place I ever wanted to be.

You’re still coming, right? Taylor asked me.

Yeah. I told you I was.

Her nose wrinkled. I know, but— Taylor’s voice broke off. Never mind.

I knew Taylor was waiting for things to go back to normal again, to be like before. But they could never be like before. I was never going to be like before.

I used to believe. I used to think that if I wanted it bad enough, wished hard enough, everything would work out the way it was supposed to. Destiny, like Susannah said. I wished for Conrad on every birthday, every shooting star, every lost eyelash, every penny in a fountain was dedicated to the one I loved. I thought it would always be that way.

Taylor wanted me to forget about Conrad, to just erase him from my mind and memory. She kept saying things like, Everybody has to get over a first love, it’s a rite of passage. But Conrad wasn’t just my first love. He wasn’t some rite of passage. He was so much more than that. He and Jeremiah and Susannah were my family. In my memory, the three of them would always be entwined, forever linked. There couldn’t be one without the others.

If I forgot Conrad, if I evicted him from my heart, pretended like he was never there, it would be like doing those things to Susannah. And that, I couldn’t do.

chapter two

It used to be that the week school let out in June, we’d pack up the car and head straight to Cousins. My mother would go to Costco the day before and buy jugs of apple juice and economy-size boxes of granola bars, sunscreen, and whole grain cereal. When I begged for Lucky Charms or Cap’n Crunch, my mother would say, Beck will have plenty of cereal that’ll rot your teeth out, don’t you worry. Of course she’d be right. Susannah—Beck to my mother—loved her kid cereal, just like me. We went through a lot of cereal at the summer house. It never even had a chance to go stale. There was one summer when the boys ate cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My brother, Steven, was Frosted Flakes, Jeremiah was Cap’n Crunch, and Conrad was Corn Pops. Jeremiah and Conrad were Beck’s boys, and they loved their cereal. Me, I ate whatever was left over with sugar on top.

I’d been going to Cousins my whole life. We’d never skipped a summer, not once. Almost seventeen years of me playing catch-up to the boys, of hoping and wishing that one day I would be old enough to be a part of their crew. The summer boys crew. I finally made it, and now it was too late. In the pool, on the last night of the last summer, we said we’d always come back. It’s scary how easy promises were broken. Just like that.

When I got home last summer, I waited. August turned into September, school started, and still I waited. It wasn’t like Conrad and I had made any declarations. It wasn’t like he was my boyfriend. All we’d done was kiss. He was going to college, where there would be a million other girls. Girls without curfews, girls on his hall, all smarter and prettier than me, all mysterious and brand-new in a way that I could never be.

I thought about him constantly—what it all meant, what we were to each other now. Because we couldn’t go back. I knew I couldn’t. What happened between us—between me and Conrad, between me and Jeremiah—it changed everything. And so when August and September began and still the phone didn’t ring, all I had to do was think back to the way he’d looked at me that last night, and I knew there was still hope. I knew that I hadn’t imagined it all. I couldn’t have.

According to my mother, Conrad was all moved into his dorm room, he had an annoying roommate from New Jersey, and Susannah worried he wasn’t getting enough to eat. My mother told me these things casually, offhandedly, so as not to injure my pride. I never pressed her for more information. The thing is, I knew he’d call. I knew it. All I had to do was wait.

The call came the second week of September, three weeks since the last time I’d seen him. I was eating strawberry ice cream in the living room, and Steven and I were fighting over the remote control. It was a Monday night, nine p.m., prime TV-watching time. The phone rang, and neither Steven nor I made a move to grab it. Whoever got up would lose the battle for the TV.

My mother picked it up in her office. She brought the phone into the living room and she said, Belly, it’s for you. It’s Conrad. Then she winked.

Everything in me went abuzz. I could hear the ocean in my ears. The rush, the roar in my eardrums. It was like a high. It was golden. I had waited, and this was my reward! Being right, being patient, never felt so good.

Steven was the one to break me out of my reverie. Frowning, he said, "Why would Conrad be calling you?"

I ignored him and took the phone from my mother. I walked away from Steven, from the remote, from my melting dish of ice cream. None of it mattered.

I made Conrad wait until I was on the staircase before I said anything. I sat down on the steps and I said, Hey. I tried to keep the smile off my face; I knew he would hear it over the phone.

Hey, he said. What’s up?

Nothing much.

So guess what, he said. My roommate snores even louder than you do.

He called again the next night, and the night after. We talked for hours at a time. When the phone rang, and it was for me and not Steven, he’d been confused at first. Why does Conrad keep calling you? he’d demanded.

Why do you think? He likes me. We like each other.

Steven had nearly gagged. He’s lost his mind, he said, shaking his head.

Is it so impossible that Conrad Fisher would like me? I asked him, crossing my arms defiantly.

He didn’t even have to think about his answer. Yes, he said. It is so impossible.

And honestly, it was.

It was like a dream. Unreal. After all that pining and longing and wishing, years and years of it, whole summers’ worth, he was calling me. He liked talking to me. I made him laugh even when he didn’t want to. I understood what he was going through, because I was sort of going through it too. There were only a few people in the world who loved Susannah the way we did. I thought that would be enough.

We became something. Something that was never exactly defined, but it was something. It was really something.

A few times, he drove the three and a half hours from school to my house. Once, he spent the night because it got so late my mother didn’t want him to drive back. Conrad stayed in the guest room, and I lay in my bed awake for hours, thinking about how he was asleep just a few feet away, in my house of all places.

If Steven hadn’t hung around us like some kind of disease, I know Conrad would have at least tried to kiss me. But with my brother around it was pretty much impossible. Conrad and I would be watching TV, and Steven would plop right down between us. He’d talk to Conrad about stuff I didn’t know or care about, like football. One time, after dinner, I asked Conrad if he wanted to go get frozen custard at Brusters, and Steven chimed right in and said, Sounds good to me. I glared at him, but he just grinned back at me. And then Conrad took my hand, right in front of Steven, and he said, Let’s all go. So we all went, my mother too. I couldn’t believe I was going on dates with my mother and my brother in the backseat.

But really, it all just made that one amazing night in December all the sweeter. Conrad and I went back to Cousins, just the two of us. Perfect nights come so rarely, but that one was. Perfect, I mean. It was the kind of night worth waiting for.

I’m glad we had that night.

Because by May, it was all over.

chapter three

I left Marcy’s house early. I told Taylor it was so I could rest up for Justin’s party that night. It was partly true. I did want to rest, but I didn’t care about the party. As soon as I got home, I put on my big Cousins T-shirt, filled a water bottle with grape soda and crushed ice, and I watched TV until my head hurt.

It was peacefully, blissfully silent. Just the sounds of the TV and the air conditioning kicking off and on. I had the house to myself. Steven had a summer job at Best Buy. He was saving up for a fifty-inch flat screen he’d take to college with him in the fall. My mother was home, but she spent all day locked away in her office, catching up on work, she said.

I understood. If I were her, I’d want to be alone too.

Taylor came over around six, armed with her hot pink Victoria’s Secret makeup bag. She walked into the living room and saw me lying on the couch in my Cousins T-shirt and frowned. Belly, you haven’t even showered yet?

I took a shower this morning, I said, not getting up.

Yeah, and you laid out in the sun all day. She grabbed my arms and I let her lift me into a sitting position. Hurry up and get into the shower.

I followed her upstairs and she went to my bedroom while I went to the hall bathroom. I took the fastest shower of my life. Left to her own devices, Taylor was a big snoop and would poke around my room like it was hers.

When I came out Taylor was sitting on my floor in front of my mirror. Briskly, she blended bronzer onto her cheeks. Want me to do your makeup too?

No thanks, I told her. Close your eyes while I put on my clothes, okay?

She rolled her eyes and then closed them. Belly, you’re such a prude.

I don’t care if I am, I said, putting on my underwear and my bra. Then I put my Cousins T-shirt on again. Okay, you can look.

Taylor opened her eyes up superwide and she applied her mascara. I could do your nails, she offered. I have three new colors.

Nah, there’s no point. I held up my hands. My nails were bitten down to the quick.

Taylor grimaced. Well, what are you wearing?

This, I said, hiding my smile. I pointed down at my Cousins T-shirt. I’d worn it so many times it had tiny holes around the neck and it was soft as a blankie. I wished I could wear it to the party.

Very funny, she said, shimmying over to my closet on her knees. She stood up and started rifling around, pushing hangers over to the side, like she didn’t already know every article of clothing I owned by heart. Usually I didn’t mind, but today I felt sort of itchy and bothered by everything.

I told her, Don’t worry about it. I’m just going to wear my cutoffs and a tank top.

Belly, people get dressed up for Justin’s parties. You’ve never been so you wouldn’t know, but you can’t just wear your old cutoffs. Taylor pulled out my white sundress. The last time I’d worn it had been last summer, at that party with Cam. Susannah had told me the dress set me off like a picture frame.

I got up and took the dress from Taylor and put it back into my closet. That’s stained, I said. I’ll find something else.

Taylor sat back down in front of the mirror and said, Well, then wear that black dress with the little flowers. It makes your boobs look amazing.

It’s uncomfortable; it’s too tight, I told her.

Pretty please?

Sighing, I took it off the hanger and put it on. Sometimes it was easier to just give in with Taylor. We’d been friends, best friends, since we were little kids. We’d been best friends so long it was more like a habit, the kind of thing you didn’t really have a say in anymore.

See, that looks hot. She came over and zipped me up. Now, let’s talk about our plan of action.

What plan of action?

I think you and Cory Wheeler should make out at the party.

Taylor—

She lifted her hand. "Just hear me out. Cory’s super-nice and he’s supercute. If he worked on his body and got a little definition, he could be, like, Abercrombie hot."

I snorted. Please.

Well, he’s at least as cute as C-word. She never called him by his name anymore. Now he was just you-know-who, or C-word.

Taylor, quit pushing me. I can’t be over him just because you want me to.

Can’t you at least try? she wheedled. Cory could be your rebound. He wouldn’t mind.

"If you bring

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Reviews

This picks up several months after book one in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy. If you are expecting to go into this seeing the romance between Belly and Conrad, you will be disappointed. This is focusing on how their relationship ended more so than getting to see any of their time together.This is really dealing with loss and grief. It was emotional, but I was left a little disappointed. I did cry once, but I felt the emotional parts could have been done better.Belly is still annoying at times. I did not really buy into the romance between her and Jeremiah either.Overall, I did not love this as much as I thought I would. I still enjoyed it and plan to finish the series.

Rating: 3

I like Belly - but sometimes she really is just stupid. In the followup to the first book in the series, Belly and gang are mourning the loss of Suzanne and Belly's romance with Conrad seems to finally be moving out of the realm of girlish daydreams and into reality. But who does Belly really love? the boy or the dream? and is the real Conrad someone who loves her back. I sort of just wanted both boys to drop her hard! But teen angst and attraction are real and that is the saving grace of this character.

Rating: 4

We follow up with Belly the next summer. And she's not going to Cousins beach anymore. I was really sad to find this out. I really didn't want to read about Belly's summer with her best friend, Taylor. But thankfully, Conrad has to be all moody and run away, creating a goose hunt to find him, which leads us to Cousins Beach. And we get the lovely struggle of Belly's decision between Conrad and Jeremiah. Well, actually. It's not really Belly's decision, it's all Conrad's decision.I have to say that Belly's mom, Laurel, is awesome and sometimes I can't stand how Belly treats her. It seems that Belly would much rather have Susannah as her mom. Which is really sad. It's obvious that Belly does not 'get' her mother.Conrad was his usual crabby, jerk-y self. I mean, really, what does Belly see in him? He's such a jerk to her. And then you have Jeremiah, who is as sweet as he can be, and is desperate for Belly to start looking at him instead of Conrad.I liked this story, though not as much as The Summer I Turned Pretty. The story focused more on Belly's relationship between Jeremiah and Conrad. There is more to the story, I just don't want to spoil anything. It was an easy read and the pages seemed to flip themselves. Just like The Summer I Turned Pretty, I was surprised to see that I read through 100 pages without even realizing.Overall I really enjoyed the story and was happy to see the way it went in the end.

Rating: 4

Second book in trilogy. Light but satisfying read. Y9+ girls

Rating: 3

I am so glad that I started this series. I wasn't sure what I would think about it when I started the first book. But, I loved The Summer I Turned Pretty so much, that I ordered the second (It's Not Summer Without You) and third (We'll Always Have Summer) books before I even finished the first one. When I was finally able to settle down enough to read and finish this one, I whizzed through it quickly. I read the last 100 pages or so in one night.

This will probably one of my favorite series this year. And I am not a big contemporary (romance) fiction type of person. But the way Jenny Han writes, she makes it easy to get into the books and stay into them. For me personally though, the first couple of chapters get my attention, but a tad bit slow for me...Not a drag but just kind of meh....but once I get through the meh part, it breezes by kind of quickly. I am more willing to look into similar type of books on the contemporary romance genre. Hopefully that will help me branch out a little more in this genre.

Rating: 5

This is the sequel of The Summer I Turned Pretty and the second book from the trilogy. You know what, I really like this book more than the first one, I don’t know why but in this book it feels like everything was done neatly, and it feels like it has much more story than the first book.Though at some points, I get irritated by Belly. She always thinks about herself and forgets that the whole world doesn’t revolve around her, and her ridiculous fantasy to Conrad (Just get over with it!) why can’t she notice that Jere is there for her.And speaking of Jere, he has a point of view on this one! So when I read his chapter I was like “Whaaa” “wha!” Okay. I just love reading his point of view, I love how he is this cheerful person outside but in reality he’s one of those broken persons out there. I really wish for more of his POV in the last book.And the love triangle in the first book became more intense here, but after reading this book, I know who I want Belly to end up with. I mean between the two brothers, I’m on Jere side because she treats Belly right not like Conrad who just keep on being a jerk.Let’s go to Susannah’s death, wow just wow. I thought she would survive her cancer but she didn’t. I surely miss her presence in the book, because she’s like Belly’s second mom and maybe a best friend. And that few lines in the first chapter really broke me, Jenny Han! How can you do that? Don’t ever do such thing again. *insert sad emoticon*There’s one more thing I’m annoyed about this book, it’s Taylor. Belly’s best friend. I don’t know if she’s a best friend or not because in the first book, Belly stated that she’s only a friend anymore, and now this. I’m so confused, and she really likes to talk and talk and talk of absurd things. To sum it all up, her sequel gotten more good and better, I am really hooked in this one! Looking forward to the last book!

Rating: 4

This is the second book in the trilogy, which began with 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'. It is far superior than the first in terms of character and plot development. In this novel, it is clear that Jenny Han really hit her stride. In this instalment, Belly teams up with Jeremiah to find a missing Conrad and save the summer house from Mr Fisher. In between, Belly reminisces about Susannah's death and the aftermath- as well as her 'relationship' with Conrad. In between the in-betweens we are treated to Jeremiah's point of view- so it is definitely a multi-layerd story this time around.However, I wasn't too keen on Jeremiah's chapters, as they did not enlighten us in anyway. In fact, it stalled the flow every now and then. Also, I started to get annoyed with 'Belly' as I thought it was about time she stopped people calling her that! Isabel is one of my favourite names and whilst Belly might be cute for a toddler with a little paunch, Is is sufficient for a rising senior!Although, I did enjoy seeing Isabel mature a little. Her voice still sounded young and she still acted like a spoilt child on occasion (such as at Susannah's funeral) however this is how Jenny Han manages to wonderfully capture the push-and-pull of adolescence. Overall, a solid four stars for this sequel.

Rating: 4

Book review by Carlee S., posted by CA Library:"It’s not summer without you by Jenny Han is a very good book. It is realistic fiction. The main character, Belly, shows and expresses a lot of different emotions throughout the book. Her best friend is always there for her , which is great. I like this book a lot because it’s realistic fiction. It has real events that happen in real life that you can relate to. I enjoy realistic fiction books and if you do too, you would love this read. I would recommend this book to many people between the ages of 12 and up . It is very interesting and has many fun details. It also makes you want to keep reading and never stop. This book is an easy read, there are not many challenging words. Some parts are really sad so watch out. SPOILER ALERT! For example at Bellys friends funeral it’s very sad. Belly and her boyfriend are fighting plus the sadness about her friend. I would rate this book a 4.5 stars out of 5 because it’s so good."

Rating: 4

Like the first book, every chapter is a snippet of memories that weaves the whole story. Though in the first book, it was just Belly's perspective, while in here, Jeremiah & Conrad also partake in the story.

Here, I would describe Belly as a brat. She has mood swings, tantrums, and being childish. But I guess because she is still one. She is a young lady that copes on hard situation that is new to her. Like Conrad who is brooding, and keeping his problems, feelings and thoughts to himself. Jeremiah, however, is too jolly and kind. He is your mr. sunshine that is always there for you especially when you need him.

I know Conrad will be her partner but I like Jere. I feel bad for him. I think Jere is whom she needs & deserves, but Jere do not deserve her. On the other hand, I see Conrad as not showy of affection, that is why people misunderstand him--that is where Belly can somehow help him.

a little
I thought Laure will offer to buy the house. The story was too predictable and simple; it needed some spice when she just won by glares, words and cuss to their father (well for me).

Rating: 3

It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han picks up at Belly’s next summer. Since the events of last summer Belly has been on one wild emotional ride. She thinks she has her summer plans all figured out, but when you involve the Fisher boys nothing is set in stone. Since the death of Susannah nothing has been the same. Not her, her mother, not Jeremiah, and certainly not Conrad. Dealing with the grief from their loss has been difficult for Belly. Conrad keeps sending her mixed messages, her mother is distant, Jeremiah isn’t there, and Taylor just doesn’t understand. Planning for her first summer away from Cousins Beach doesn’t exactly have Belly jumping for joy, because that’s where she wants to be the most. Then out of the blue Jeremiah calls her with the news that Conrad is missing. It’s off to Cousins Beach once again. This summer will be the one to change Belly’s life forever.I just can’t get enough of this series. Jenny Han has me reading them over and over. Every time I read them it sends me on a girly, emotional, crying, and heartbreaking ride. I liked this this installment, it follows the flashback format of the previous book, but still stays unique by showing insights into Jeremiah’s point of view. I have to admit I found myself crying in this one too. At the end of this book I found myself heartbroken and hopeful all at the same time.

Rating: 4

Ever since she can remember, Belly has counted her life in summers, but this year may be her last year at the summer house. Susanne is sick again and Belly's relationships with Jeremiah and Conrad seem to be changing. I enjoyed the chapters where the boys told the story from their point of view. I also enjoyed seeing Belly mature.

Rating: 4

OMG I absolutely devoured this book, again I went through a range of emotions whilst reading this, sad and tearful about the loss of Susannah, frustration at Conrad, despite this the book is also full of love and laughter and I loved every second. Since the first book I always rooted for Conrad, but as this book included some chapters from Jeremiah, I just don't know anymore. Throughout the book you're always find yourself asking who will Belly finally pick? But again were left with an annoying cliffhanger at the end! I don't know how I'll be able to wait more than a year for the last book in the series!!!

Rating: 5

Bella's relationship with Conrad end badly, and two months after Susannah’s death, everyone is still broken. Jeremiah calls for help when Conrad goes missing, and the three of them end up back at the beach, but without the comfortable buffers of summer and family. I love that this series isn't just about a teen romance, but about families and deep, deep friendships. Susannah’s death has almost broken the bonds that hold together her sons, as well as Belly and Steve and their mother.Jeremiah's point of view is welcome, and almost all the characters become more knowable in this book. Conrad is still a big black hole of unknown, I have no idea what's going on in his head, but the little we see of him I do not like. Whiny, snotty boy. Steve, alas, is absent.

Rating: 4

I am just enjoying this series - easy YA read that makes a great beach read.

Rating: 4

This book was a really great sequel to The Summer I Turned Pretty, and I devoured it just like I did the first one – in one big gulp. This book takes place the summer after the first, and Susannah – the boys’ mother- has just died. Isabel has spent most of the last year in as much of a relationship with Conrad as he will allow, but after his mother’s death he has totally shut down. Then he disappears from school, and his brother Jeremiah and Belly go to find him. This is a painful follow-up because it is not all romance and roses – it is the pain of not understanding someone and not being able to ask for the real truth. And Belly is also seeing her only friendship in counterpoint to her mother and her best friend, and realizing that her own friendship isn’t so great. Even though it is full of the pain of losing someone, and growing up, the book is still sweet and loving. And it ends with a look towards the next book – something Han did in the last book, and incorporated into this one. Really good.

Rating: 4

I still liked this book very much it was just that it still had the same gist to it. I know that it is the same book duo but there really wasn't anything new in it.

Rating: 4

Belly is back after The Summer I Turned Pretty. Things have really changed. She misses her time in Cousins (the place she's spent every summer) after Suzannah has died from Cancer. Conrad has gone missing and Jeremiah has called her up to help find him. This is one you just want to sit and read in one sitting. But what's up with the cryptic epilogue? Ahh, summer time.

Rating: 4

The second book about Belly, following The Summer I Turned Pretty, picks up a year after she finally got Conrad to notice her the way she wanted him to, but everything is not so great. Susannah died two months before the summer, Conrad sort-of broke up with her before that at her prom, and Belly hasn't moved on from any of it, despite her friend Taylor's attempts. And when Jeremiah calls to say that Conrad took off from summer school without a word to anyone and asks her to help him look for his brother, Belly finds herself back at Cousins Beach again. Here, at the beach house, maybe things can turn out right.I like the second book a lot better than the first, and I really liked the first book! I think this one has more to the plot, and the characters get more fully fleshed out. The technique of going back and forth in time is still here, and it's executed more skillfully in It's Not Summer Without You, also including some chapters from Jeremiah's point of view. It's great how seamlessly it all fits together and every bit adds to the complexity of the story.Now here's a part that I like that's hard to explain why without giving away the ending, but I'll try. Throughout the first book and most of the second book, I felt like Belly had no reason to love Conrad. I never got a full picture of his character, though it didn't bother me because the focus was on Belly's feelings, not on the person she had those feelings for. By the middle of the second book, though, I started getting annoyed at Belly for not getting over him. He did seem to be a bit of a jerk at that point. But the ending of the book clears all of that up and ends it just the way I was hoping for!

Rating: 5

Conrad and Belly left things badly. Or should I say Belly did. At his mother's funeral, she found him with his head in another girl's lap, the girl who broke his heart, and Belly told him she hated him. Yes it was childish, but that's what love does sometimes, makes you act childish. She spends the next few months pining over Conrad but also mourning the loss of Susannah. She misses the attention she got from her, how she treated Belly and mostly she misses their summer at Cousins. It just doesn't feel like summer. Her best friend thinks she's carried on long enough, but she just doesn't understand. For sixteen years, almost seventeen she'd lived at Cousins trying to fit in with the boys and this year, there was no Cousins, no Susannah.But that all changes when Jeremiah calls and asks for her help in finding Conrad. He's gone missing at school and missed two classes and has some exams coming up on Monday. Jeremiah picks her up and she lies to her mom about where she'll be. They take off for Brown, where Conrad is attending school. His room mate is no help. A quick hello to the RA gives them the information they need when he tells them he said something about going to the beach. They find him at Cousins, his usual brooding, surly self. He gives them no reason why he's there and they can't talk him into going back.It's only when the boy's dad shows up that they understand why he's there. Belly still loves him, but he is still aloof and she takes no chances on being hurt again until she gets drunk on their last night there. Then she runs to the beach to swim and Conrad comes after her because she's too drunk to swim. She taunts him and he tells her he won't follow her in. She gets distracted and he picks her up and drops her on the beach. By this time she's crying and apologizes for the way she acted the day of the funeral. Conrad acts like it was nothing while Belly has carried the shame and guilt of it around for months. She runs crying from the beach and crawls up to her room where she drunk dials her mom. She spills her guts, then passes out with the phone off the hook.The next morning, when Belly's mom shows up, everyone is surprised and they relay the events of the past few days. She says she'll try to help. After she leaves, Belly and the Jeremiah have to help Conrad study for him exams. They study most of the night and then Jeremiah drives them to Brown while Conrad studies. Jeremiah has always been in love with Belly and knows he'd be good for her and during one of the times they are waiting for Conrad, they end up kissing. Conrad sees them and is jealous. Belly is confused all over again when he says he never loved her. It's and up and down ride and there will be another book coming out in May next year. Personally, I'd like to see Jeremiah punch Conrad in the face and Jeremiah and Belly live happily ever after, as much as you can. Conrad is really detestable. He strings her along, keeping her on the hook just enough to keep hope alive. But Belly is the most frustrating. She lets him treat her like dirt. He leaves her at the prom, to walk home. He didn't even bring her a corsage. He acted like he didn't want to be there the whole time. He doesn't call her. Then at the funeral when she wants to be with him, he's with his ex-girlfriend. But he still makes these flirty comments to her. So she lets him keep her hoping when even if he does love her, he's never going to be there for her and she's never going to be able to count on him.That was the frustrating part of this book. For two books now, she's been mooning over Conrad and though between book one and two he called her almost nightly, she didn't know if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Then there's Jeremiah who told her he liked her and who she can talk to and be with and laugh with. Hello, wake up Belly! First change your choice in boys and then change your nickname, you're not a toddler anymore.I still loved this book and can't believe I have to wait this long to read what I hope will be the last in the series. I only want it to be the last because I don't like waiting for sequels. I love the characters and they had the appropriate feelings as to the loss of Susannah in this book. Each character handled their grief differently, but they were all grieving. The visit to Cousins helped to heal that wound a little. If you liked the first novel, you'll love this second one and hate that you have to wait for the third one! Again, this is PG for underage drinking and a possible swear word or two.

Rating: 5

Great sequel! I love the characters in these books! Jeremiah and his earnest, puppy dog happiness, but also his sensitivity and emotional vulnerability. Conrad with his strong and silent, angsty, complicated but deeply passionate feelings about everything. And Belly (still hate that name), confused and kind of lost and ready to be utterly in love with a Fisher boy, if they could all only make up their minds and stick to it. I personally have an incredibly hard time choosing between Conrad and Jeremiah. Like, a harder time choosing between them than I have ever had. They are both so different and attractive in their own ways I sometimes can't imagine how Belly picked Conrad over Jeremiah in the first place. But regardless of how the two boys handled the death of their mother--one with open devastation and the other with stony distance and withdrawal--my heart was broken for both of them. Completely. On a negative note, Belly did some things in this book that I'm not sure I agree with. Most notably, I did not approve of Belly confronting Conrad AT HIS MOTHER'S FUNERAL at all. So insensitive and selfish! On the one hand, I too would have been confused by Conrad's back and forth, and, for that matter, by feeling pulled towards both brothers at the same time. So I can understand Belly's seeming to bounce back and forth between the two of them, and her being flustered with Conrad's distancing himself from her. But still, the one thing that always seemed constant with Belly was her implicit understanding of how the two brothers operated and the deep empathy that she felt for them always, even when the hard things they were dealing with were less traumatizing than the death of their mother, and so in that way, her losing it at the funeral seemed an odd departure for her. On the flip side, though, Belly does have a tendency to be a little immature and selfish at times, and so I guess it seemed both out of character and a little bit typical for her to freak out at Conrad that way. Still, really bad choice, Bells! You can't yell at someone at their mother's funeral!! It was nice to see Belly interact more with Jeremiah. Sometimes Conrad's broodiness is too intense, and Jeremiah's exuberance is warm and welcome. The beach house was still fantastic and I'm glad that Laurel swooped in to save it. I can't even imagine these people not having the beach house! It would be like the Kennedy's not having the compound in Hyannis! And in the end, despite Conrad's best efforts to steal away with my heart forever, I can't say that I'm unhappy that Belly seemed to wind up with Jeremiah for the time being because I love both of the boys so much that I can't really pick one over the other! Although, Conrad really does break my heart with how deeply and strongly and quietly he feels things. I can't wait to read the next book to see where things end up with these characters!

Rating: 4

Rating: 5

First posted on bellesbeautifulbooks.blogspot.comThe Short:I had tons of fun reading this book. I am loving the series, and cannot wait to get on to the next book. I am having fun exploring the characters and the beach setting is magnificent.The Long:Usually with second books in trilogies, it is weaker than the first book, but that was not at all the case with this book. It seemed to be on exactly the same level as the first book, and was a wonderful continuation. The characters were their same old self except that they were overcome with grief for losing someone (if you read the first book, you know exactly who died). They were all handling their grief in their way, and it may not have been the best way, but it seemed to work for them. The book was more focused on the family aspect which I really appreciate in young adult literature. The romance was put on the back burner, and did not really play a external part of the story. There was a lot of internal thoughts about their relationships, but it was not that central to the story.My main problem with the romance is that it is a love triangle, and I don't enjoy love triangles. Granted, this is a VERY well done love triangle, but it's not my cup of tea.There were snippets of past anecdotes that happened at the summer house. I really appreciated them because they made the characters seem more real, and like they are more than what was happening in the moment.The whole book takes place over about a week, and that worried me at first, but it was so well done that I couldn't complain. Everything was so fast moving, and wonderfully written that the book just worked well.In the first book, you only for Belly's point of view, but in this you got to see what Jeremiah was thinking during many scenes. His point of view was very well developed, and you could actually tell who way talking by the way that they described things. I have to give Jenny Han mad props because that is a very hard thing to do.

Rating: 4

Belly was caught in a love triangle. Should she go for the guy she had been always chasing after or the guy that was always there for her when she needed him. For the most part of September, I read Its Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han. The story was about Belly, a sixteen year old girl who was caught up in the middle of two boys. Belly had loved Conrad all her life even though he never loved her back. Even though Belly never knew it, Jeremiah had always been there for her and now he had stronger feelings for her. When she finally get’s with Jeremiah, Conrad reveals that he too loves her even though he had denied it until now. In the end which Fisher brother will she chose? The one of her dreams or the one that had always been at her side.Overall, I really liked all aspects of the book. I really liked the plot of the story and for the most part, I liked how it was an easy read. The plot of the story was very well done. The author really kept me engaged and the book really kept me on the edge of my seat. Most books can’t hold my attention at all. The plot and characters were very well developed and revealed through the story. Jenny Han’s writing style really makes it easy to get into the book. The book was definitely an easy read but almost to easy that it was one of the reasons I didn’t like the book. it was easy to really enjoy and get into the book. But I also didn’t like how easy it was because I felt like I was kind of wasting my time when I could be reading a more challenging book. This book was definitely a cheesy teenage love story that is directed towards teenage girls. If you're looking for a nice easy read this is the book for you!

Rating: 4

I almost didn’t read this book because I wasn’t a huge fan of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” but I am so glad that I read this one. I think the big difference is that the plot was noticeable in this one unlike the first book. And the plot was strong and had the ability to make a good book– which it did. When Conrad goes missing, Jeremiah calls Belly to try to find him. Once they find him, they have to figure out why he ran away.

Being back at the beach house was different for them this time because not everyone was there. It felt empty, but they all loved the house and felt better being at the house. The first book revolved around the house as a setting or place but this book revolved around the house as a symbol. A symbol of what was there but now is gone and trying to keep it around. A symbol of people missing but trying to keep them around for as long as possible. This book made the house more important than just “the house we spent every summer in” because now it’s the house that “Susannah wants us to be in” and I can easily get behind that.

In my review of Summer I Turned Pretty, I said “In the end, I hope she grows up throughout the series and learns that the world doesn’t revolve around her. I’ll end up reading the rest of the series because I started it so why not, but I just hope that she is more mature in the next book.” She truly did grow up and in this book I actually liked her. She wasn’t always talking about Conrad because she finally found out there are more important things.

The one thing that just doesn’t seem believable to me is that both boys would have a crush on Belly. They both treat her like a little sister but then they both also like her? It just seems weird to me. Fortunately this book focuses more on her relationship with Jeremiah than her’s with Conrad. Conrad was not the focal point of this book, which is why I said the plot was more noticeable.

It’s Not Summer Without You focuses more on Belly trying to find herself after losing Susannah than her trying to find Conrad. That’s not to say she didn’t have her bratty or annoying moments, but they were fewer and far between. She didn’t spend a whole chapter complaining about Taylor. She didn’t spend two whole chapters complaining about girls that Conrad was dating that weren’t her.

Belly still has some growing up to do, but she’s a likable character and I’m excited to read the third book of the series.

Rating: 4

Last summer we were introduced to Belly, her family and most importantly the Fisher's. While the last book was set in Cousins at the beach house this summer is much different. It's the first summer that Belly hasn't spent in Cousins and she doesn't quite know what to do with herself. Not being able to go the beach house is one thing but not being able to talk to Susannah is excruciating. But fate seems to be pulling her back to Cousins and perhaps back to her first love. Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository----------------------------------------Can I just say how upsetting the first two pages of this book were to me? It was like Jenny waived this perfect book in front of my face and then ripped it away before I could even enjoy it. I instantly missed Susannah, her wise words, her sage advice, her witty comments. It felt empty without her on the pages, like she was the glue that held together their perfect paradise and without her it all fell apart. I did enjoy the chapters from Jerimiah's point of view but I wished the parts including Susannah weren't told in flashbacks. I felt like we were robbed of her last days and merely got snippets of what happened. I mentioned in my review yesterday that Belly acted really immature and that didn't really change in this book, sadly I feel like she was even more immature than the previous book. I did still like this book but I'm hoping I like the next one a little more. Until next time, Ginger

Rating: 5

Belly’s last summer at Cousins Beach ended on a bittersweet note. On the one hand, the love of her life, Conrad, finally noticed her in a romantic way. On the other hand, they find out that Conrad and Jeremiah’s mother Susannah’s cancer has returned. Everyone takes Susannah’s passing hard, but perhaps none more so than Conrad, who disappears halfway into his summer college session. Jeremiah asks Belly to help him find Conrad, which Belly agrees to—with reservation, for she has no idea how he feels about him, whether or not they’ll ever work out.When they catch up to Conrad, however, they realize that something big is at stake, and it may require all of them to lay aside their turbulent feelings for one another in order to save summer as they know it.I find it very hard to describe why, exactly, I love this series so very much. The story’s not that unique, and the plot can drag at times. Nevertheless, I found myself effortlessly lured into Belly’s world in this second book in the series. IT’S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU made me laugh, tear up, and swoon, and it is every bit as good as the first book, if not better.It was impossible for me not to get emotionally invested in these characters. Jenny Han has created marvelously nuanced characters, flawed or troubled or just plain not nice…and yet all endearing. IT’S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU has a gorgeous blend of family/parental tensions, vivid flashbacks, and your plain old-fashioned love triangle done right. The book is dotted with quietly emotional scenes that made me cry or cringe or shout at these characters I love to start treating one another better, darn it. The emotions are agonizing, and thus addicting. You don’t want to look away even in the most painful of moments.Loving this book is an conscious act of devotion. I recognize that these books are not for everyone. Some might find the plot too slow and meandering to be engaging. Others will not feel much sympathy for Belly, who can come off as bland and immature. Those things, of course, did not bother me, for the sheer emotional resonance of this story quite justifiably overcame everything else.With IT’S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU, Jenny Han cements herself as a supremely talented writer who can avoid the second-in-a-trilogy book slump and make readers fall hard for the characters. Fans of the first book will adore this one, and if you haven’t yet read the first, you should definitely do so as soon as possible, preferably on a night when you want to feel emotionally alive.

Rating: 5

When I picked this up, I thought it was a sequel to The Summer I Turned Pretty, not the second book of a trilogy. Those things are completely different, and I might not have been as surprised as I was had I realized that going into the story. I know the first book was well-loved, and I’m curious to see what the response will be to this one.Belly is very light, and I mean that in the sense that she isn’t very grounded in who she is independent of the people around her. This is difficult to admit because I see a lot of my high school self in this character (not so much the torn between two brothers thing, but her personality), and I found myself disappointed in Belly throughout a lot of the book. She blames others for most of her problems, but if she were to examine them a little bit closer she’d see that she played a bigger role in the problem than she wants to admit. There are very few instances in life when one person is solely to blame for a problem in a relationship of any type, romantic or platonic or familial, but she usually only sees how the other person messed up. While I can easily argue that that’s how most people are when they think they’re right, it doesn’t change the fact that I kind of wanted to smack some sense into her. Conrad seriously upset me in this book, too, but I just can’t bring myself to hate him. This is partly because I’m still confused about him. There are moments when people explain his behavior as that of someone who is sensitive, who feels too deeply, but then other times he’s seen as cold and aloof. I want to believe that his aloofness stems from his anger about Susannah’s illness and his dad’s infidelity, but it’s possible it’s just who he is. The optimist in me wants it to be the former, something he needs time to work through, but I’m not sure if it is. Is he good for Belly? No. Could he be? Maybe. But I don’t think I could accept them as a couple until they both do a lot of maturing.Jeremiah, on the other hand, I love, I really, really do. But I just don’t buy him and Belly together. At least not yet. And this is because, as much as Belly’s in love with the idea of Conrad, Jeremiah seems to be in love with the idea of Belly. Is Jeremiah good for Belly? Yes. But I don’t think she’s good for him, not because she’s in love with Conrad, but because she seems too wrapped up in figuring out who she is whereas he seems to know himself quite well.The epilogue is rather ambiguous and extremely open to interpretation. I actually liked this, until I realized that there would, in fact, be a third book. Judging by the fact that this epilogue took place a few years after the events of this book, my guess is that the third book will as well. I hope so, because I don’t think any of the characters would be a good place for resolution without some time, distance, and life experience between what’s already happened and what is to come.

Rating: 3

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny HanGenre: YA, RomanceISBN:9781416995555Rating: 4Everything changed after Susannah died. Her two sons, both of whom Belly loves in different ways, have changed. Jeremiah is older. Conrad is empty. Belly's mother is different. And Belly is different, too. After her painful break-up with Conrad, she isn't expecting to enjoy summer, she just wants to get through it. But when Jeremiah calls her and tells her that Conrad has vanished from summer school, she goes with him to find him… and try to make things write. But Conrad has his own agenda, and his own idea of what is right. Belly has to decide if she's willing to let her heart get torn and healed by Conrad's ever-changing emotions in relation to her—as changing as the sea at her summer house—or if she's ready to let go.After having just finished It's Not Summer Without You, I'm not sure if I feel like smiling, or if I feel smug, or if I want to kill Conrad—or at least hit him—or maybe I want to kill Jeremiah, or maybe I want to cry. I think I feel like Belly. I feel sorry for her, that's for sure.It's Not Summer Without You is beautiful in a painful kind of way. I loved the way the story was woven, but I'm not sure I liked the way it turned out. It's the kind of story that starts looking scary, because you know that in the end everyone is going to get hurt, and that someone is going to have to choose between two good things, and you'll never be completely satisfied with the choice. But then, maybe that's the way it is in the real world. That's what makes this story good: it's real.I read it in one sitting, on the same day I got it, and I couldn't put it down. Just like The Summer I Turned Pretty, the main aspect of the book is the characters. They are what keep you reading, they are what makes you care about the book. I care about Belly, I care about Conrad, I care about Jeremiah. I just don't care about them in the same ways I used to.The writing felt smooth, poetic, and lyric, but the entire book had a negative energy to it. It felt depressing to read. I don't feel like I just read a summer romance, I feel like I just read a sad book and I need a light summer romance to cheer me up. That's not to say I didn't like it, but it was rather depressing to read.The whole thing, from start to finish, felt like a lost cause with a possible hopeful end—meaning Belly and Conrad would never be together again, everything is falling apart after Susannah's death, and nothing will ever be good again…unless, unless, unless—and I'm not quite sure if it had that end. It wasn't enough of an ending for me. There wasn't enough closure between the characters, I'm still not exactly sure what happened and where everyone stands, and the epilogue wasn't enough to decode what was being said. Hopefully, more was added to the epilogue in the finished copy of the book. That's the only reason I gave it four stars and not five: I didn't enjoy it enough. It was good, it was just hard to read and hard to enjoy.All in all, I did like it, I liked most of what happened, and I liked how real it was. It's Not Summer Without You evokes real emotions because it plays out in the real world.Content: Some languageRecommendation: Ages 16+

Rating: 4

This book was soooo amazing!! I love the whole series!!!!

Rating: 5

More of a 3,5 stars.
The writing was great but Belly kind of ruined this book for me. I felt like she was too childish and spoiled. I still love the Beck boys, especially Conrad (and if she ends up with Jeremiah I will be utterly disappointed).

Rating: 3

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It's Not Summer Without You - Jenny Han

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