It's Not Summer Without You
By: Jenny Han
Published Year: 2011
Publisher: 275
Pages: Simon & Schuster
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Last year, all of Belly’s dreams came true and the thought of missing a summer in Cousins Beach was inconceivable. But like the rise and fall of the ocean tide, things can change-- just like that. Suddenly the time she's always looked forward to most is something she dreads. And when Jeremiah calls to say Conrad has disappeared, Belly must decide how she will spend this summer: chasing after the boy she loves, or finally letting him go.
First Impressions
I like the color of this cover better than the first book. I was excited to read this one too as I had never read the rest of this trilogy.
What I thought
In case you aren’t aware, I have been reading these book as a part of a book club with The Bookshelf Thomasville. You can read my review of the first book in the series, here. There will be spoilers to the first book, so if you don’t want any, skip this review.
This book starts the summer after the first book. Susannah has been dead about two months and Belly and Conner have kind of sort of broken up though they weren’t really dating in the first place. Jeremiah calls Belly because Conner has disappeared from college and his summer school midterms are coming up. They both go to try to find him, and when they do, they get to have a little bit of one last summer at the cabin.
The second story is definitely darker than the first. The way that Han writes grief felt very relatable to me and even though Belly still was still on the immature side. The romance again was the weakest part of the book for me. I was super confused as to whether or not Conner and Belly had every even dated and I’m still unclear as to how Conner actually even feels about Belly.
This book, instead of alternating with chapters in the past alternates with some chapters from Jeremiah’s perspective. It was a bit weird but did help to provide some perspective and make it so that his feelings didn’t feel like they 100% came out of nowhere.
I definitely was left with some questions regarding Susannah’s death and how affairs were handled afterwards, but even though it contributes to a main story point, it’s not essential to the telling of the story.
I enjoyed this book but I think because it wasn’t as light and fun and also was a little confusing I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first. I am looking forward to getting to discuss this with a group of people and hear their thoughts on everything that happened. I’m definitely a little confused as to where this story is going to continue in the next book, but I’m looking forward to it!