Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee
It's Not Summer Without You
Jenny Han
Realistic Fiction
Holiday
62

1. So far I am not too far into the book, but it's already really sad. Within the first chapter you learn that Susannah dies from cancer, and she was one of my favorite characters. She was always so sunny and happy and the book seems like it's going to be very bleak without her. At Susannah's funeral, Belly manages to mess things up with Conrad, who she has been in love with for as long as she can remember. When he kisses her at the end of the first book, she is ecstatic, only to have him go to college and only see her on weekends when he comes and visits. At the funeral, she promises herself not to leave his side, but when he slips away and she finds him with another girl comforting him, she gets really upset. She says some things she doesn't really mean, and feels terrible afterwords, especially since it is the day of his mom's funeral. When they go back home she still hasn't made up with him, and she doesn't think he'll ever forgive her. She gets a call from Jeremiah one day, telling her that Conrad has disappeared and he needs her help finding him and so she agrees, telling her mom that she's staying over at her best friend Taylor's house. I stopped reading just as they leave to go find Conrad.

2. This book is alright so far, but I already find it to be a little boring. With Savannah gone I feel like things are going to be so depressing, and that's not really the kind of book I want to read when I'm reading a Holiday book. I hope that things will get more exciting as Jeremiah and Belly go looking for Conrad, otherwise I feel like this book isn't going to be very deep and kind of just a bunch of random events and conversations stringed together. I'm also not a huge fan of how this book is formatted, with random point of view changes and flashbacks. It's never very clear when the time or point of view changes so I always find myself having to go back and reread a couple of pages after I see that something has changed. I don't really like this style of writing because it just seems like the author is wimping out and telling us what other characters are thinking instead of showing it through one point of view. I can understand the flashbacks because she story involves a bunch of summers but sometimes it can be a bit confusing to keep everything straight.

3. A theme in this book is definitely innocence, or loss of innocence. In the previous books, Belly is really innocent, and doesn't really have any idea of the world around her. All she knows is Cousin's beach, and the boys she spends summers with. She doesn't have any idea of how serious Savannah's illness is really until she dies. Susannah's death is kind of a wake up call for her though, a particularly harsh one at that. She starts to see her world as what it is, empty without Susannah and Conrad in it. She sees that her words have more of an effect on people than she could ever imagine and that her help is sometimes vital.

4. My favorite character so far is Jeremiah. It's clear from his point of view that he is in love with Belly, even though she is completely oblivious. He has to watch her fall for his brother which is really sad and kind of heartbreaking. He's still really positive for the most part though, and understands that admitting his feelings to Belly would make things more complicated than make things better. I guess I feel compassion for the fact that he has to watch the girl he loves fall for another guy, especially when that guy is his brother.

5. My least favorite character is probably Conrad. He might be mysterious and alluring to Belly but he just seems like a jerk to me. Even though Belly was really harsh on him, especially on the day of his mother's funeral, if it had been any other I day I would have said he deserved it. Belly was trying to be there for him and instead he betrays her by finding his ex and taking comfort in that. Even more, he disappears when he knows that everyone will be insanely worried and everyone already has so much on their plates. From what I can see so far, Conrad just comes across as a self centered jerk.

6. I think that on their trip to find Conrad, a lot will happen. I think that it will take a lot more than one night to find him since it seems like if Conrad does't want to be found, he won't be. I think that in the process Jeremiah will come to accept his feelings for Belly and maybe even admit them to her. Since Taylor packed the overnight bag for Belly, I think that there will be a lot of stuff in there that she will be embarrassed to wear, so I think it might be a little uncomfortable for her. I think that they'll find Conrad eventually at Cousins and they'll stay for the rest of the summer there.