Review : We’ll Always Have Summer

We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
Pages : 291
Genre : YA, fiction
Series : Summer, Book 3
My Rating :

What it’s about, from the back of the book :

Belly has only ever been in love with two boys, both with the last name Fisher. And after being with Jeremiah for the last two years, she’s almost positive he is her soul mate.

Almost.

Conrad has not gotten over the mistake he made when he let Belly go even as Jeremiah has always known that Belly is the girl for him. So when Belly and Jeremiah decide to make things forever, Conrad realizes that it’s now or never–tell Belly he loves her, or lose her for good. Belly will have to confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face a truth she has possibly always known: she will have to break one of their hearts.

My Thoughts :

Ever since I read The Summer I Turned Pretty, I have made no secret of my love for Jenny Han. I loved and understood Belly, fell in love with the beautiful house by the sea, and couldn’t wait to see where her story with Jeremiah and Conrad would take her.

It’s really difficult to review this book without giving away too much of the story, and I have to say, if the ending hadn’t been what I was hoping for, I would probably have taken away half of a star from my rating. The book was good, but it had a different feel from the first two. I think it came, first, from the fact that from the beginning of the story, I fell out of love for Jeremiah. The sweet guy from the previous novels in mostly gone, reappearing a few times during the story, but mostly being replaced by a jerk.

Other than that, I loved how the story developed, and where Han went with it. I wasn’t sure about this marriage idea, I have to say : it was clear to me that it was, for Belly and Jeremiah, a big gesture to try to repair what had been broken. In the end though, I liked what the author made with it, and how she used it to give the characters a chance to grow up. I also loved that Susannah, Jeremiah and Conrad’s mother, wasn’t forgotten. She is present all through the story, in thoughts, in letters, in memories, and I loved that.

Han again used the two voices formula, which I hadn’t appreciated in It’s not Summer without You, but which worked well for me in this one. I felt like that, this time around, the second point of view really brought more to the story, instead of repeating Belly’s narration.

All in all, We’ll Always Have Summer  is a great conclusion to a great contemporary series, which I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

Stay tuned, as I’ll post some extras for you to enjoy as well as a giveaway in the coming 24 hours! 🙂

Series Reading Order :

1. The Summer I Turned Pretty
2. It’s Not Summer Without You
3. We’ll Always Have Summer