A classic case of judging a book by it's cover - I picked it up because I was bored and it looked nice. It didn't disappoint. This proved to be a quick "beach" read. Who doesn't love a love-quadrilateral?
The main character, Belly, did annoy me a bit. First of all, you are 15/16 and still introduce yourself as Belly? Really? Secondly, the story seemed as if it was meant to be a coming of age tale where this girl kind of just grows up during one summer. However, the best way to describe Belly? Bratty.
Some of the characters seemed underdeveloped to the point where I wondered why the author bothered to introduce them in the first place. And, I'm all for a story about long-held crushes, however, Belly's obsession with Conrad was a bit borderline obsessive. Not to mention how uncomfortable it was to read one minute how Conrad had been like a brother to her her whole life and then have it change to her undying, passionate love.
The ending had me scratching my head and deciding whether or not I wanted to throw the book across the room. It was so frustrating to have it skip forward in time only to leave the reader hanging on what would have happened next. Incensed, I read some reviews on amazon only to find that this is the first in a 3-part series. So at least Jenny Han did her job with making me want to read the next one. Hopefully she matured her main character a little for the next book. I'm not sure if I could take any more references to how a pouty Belly reacted to something she didn't like by sticking her tongue out at someone.
The main character, Belly, did annoy me a bit. First of all, you are 15/16 and still introduce yourself as Belly? Really? Secondly, the story seemed as if it was meant to be a coming of age tale where this girl kind of just grows up during one summer. However, the best way to describe Belly? Bratty.
Some of the characters seemed underdeveloped to the point where I wondered why the author bothered to introduce them in the first place. And, I'm all for a story about long-held crushes, however, Belly's obsession with Conrad was a bit borderline obsessive. Not to mention how uncomfortable it was to read one minute how Conrad had been like a brother to her her whole life and then have it change to her undying, passionate love.
The ending had me scratching my head and deciding whether or not I wanted to throw the book across the room. It was so frustrating to have it skip forward in time only to leave the reader hanging on what would have happened next. Incensed, I read some reviews on amazon only to find that this is the first in a 3-part series. So at least Jenny Han did her job with making me want to read the next one. Hopefully she matured her main character a little for the next book. I'm not sure if I could take any more references to how a pouty Belly reacted to something she didn't like by sticking her tongue out at someone.