Clara’s Verdict
Jenny Han has an extraordinary gift for capturing the specific emotional register of adolescence – the way a summer can feel both permanent and heartbreaking in the same breath, the way first love is inseparable from first loss, the way growing up is always slightly accompanied by grief for what you are leaving behind. The Summer I Turned Pretty is the first book in her Summer series, and it is a quiet, assured piece of young adult fiction that has grown considerably in cultural stature since its Amazon Prime adaptation introduced it to a new generation of readers. Narrated by Lola Tung, who played Belly in the television series, the audiobook has a particular charm: this is an actor who has inhabited the character on screen, bringing her back to the page, and the fit is naturally compelling. At exactly six hours, it is an afternoon’s listen – and a genuinely lovely one.
About the Audiobook
The Summer I Turned Pretty is Book 1 of the Summer series. Belly Conklin – full name Isabel – has spent every summer of her life at the beach house that her mother shares with her mother’s best friend Susannah. Susannah has two sons: Conrad, brooding and emotionally guarded, and Jeremiah, warm and easy-going. Belly has had a crush on Conrad for as long as she can remember. This summer, something is different: she has grown up, and both boys are starting to notice.
What makes the novel more than its premise is Han’s handling of the darker material threaded through the breezy summer surface. There are suggestions early on that something is wrong with Susannah – something that will shift the emotional landscape of the sequels significantly. Han’s prose is deceptively light; she writes with clarity and economy, trusting her young readers to register what is not said as much as what is. The love triangle is genuinely constructed: both Conrad and Jeremiah are given enough interiority that the reader’s allegiances are authentically divided rather than directed. Belly’s navigation of friendship, family loyalty, and the first serious experience of romantic feeling is rendered with real psychological honesty.
The beach house setting – seasonal, slightly suspended from normal time – is beautifully used. Han understands that summer, for adolescents, is a compressed space in which change is both more visible and more acutely felt than during the school year. Everything happens faster. Everything matters more. And everything, eventually, ends.
The Narration
Lola Tung, who played Belly Conklin in the Prime Video adaptation, narrates with an ease that reflects her genuine familiarity with the character. Her voice is warm and immediate, with a natural quality that avoids the over-emphatic delivery that can blight YA narration. She reads the quieter emotional moments with particular skill – the pauses, the hesitations, the things Belly notices but does not quite articulate. At six hours, the pacing is brisk and well-suited to the episodic, diary-like structure of the narrative. Recorded Books have produced a clean, well-balanced recording throughout, with Tung’s performance benefiting from a restrained, sympathetic production that keeps the focus on her voice.
What Readers Say
The audiobook holds a rating of 4.4 from 73 listeners, with UK reviews ranging from enthusiastic to warmly affectionate. One reader described it as “an easy, emotional read with lovely summer vibes” that “pulls you straight into the story.” Another – who bought it as a gift for a twelve-year-old granddaughter – reported back that her granddaughter declared it “the best book I’ve ever read.” Several adult reviewers noted that the book is pitched slightly young for mature readers but is perfectly calibrated for its intended audience – adolescents navigating the specific terrain of first love. A reviewer dating back to 2013 noted the central romance with real precision: this is a book about the summer you stop being a child, and it knows exactly what it is doing with that moment.
Who Should Listen?
Ideal for listeners aged twelve upward, and especially resonant for teenagers navigating the emotional intensity of first love and changing friendships. Adults who enjoy YA fiction – or who want to share a gentle, emotionally honest audiobook with a younger listener – will find it rewarding. Fans of the Prime Video series who have not read the original will appreciate Lola Tung’s narration as a bridge between the two versions of the story. Available on Audible UK, Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel. Listen to The Summer I Turned Pretty on Audible UK – and remember what it felt like to count the weeks until summer.
