In March, I read the book We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han. We’ll Always Have Summer is a young adult romance novel that concludes the trilogy of the series. It is about a girl named Belly who has always been in love with Conrad Fisher, and Jeremiah has always been her best friend and cared for her like a brother. And their mother Susannah has always been like another mother to Belly. After two years of being together, Jeremiah gets down on one knee and proposes to Belly. With not having the support to get married, the continued planning and head back to Cousins beach to have the wedding. Conrad comes back after two years from being at Stanford University, he tells Belly a couple nights before the wedding that he made huge mistake when he broke her heart. Conrad has always been Belly’s first love, but in a couple days she would be marrying Jeremiah. She knows that she can’t have both of them, so she has to confront them both and tell them her feelings. With that choice she will have to break one of their hearts.

I really enjoyed the story line and the way that Jenny Han expressed the emotions of the characters, it felt like I was really there. Instead of just telling what’s happening or how someone’s feeling, she wrote the description of the how the character was feeling and how they were dressed or where they were at.

My favorite character was Belly, and say that because everything she’s been through with Jeremiah, Conrad, and her Mother. She has been upbeat and cheerful about everything. One of Belly’s characters traits is determined and I prove that with this quote that is one of Belly’s thoughts. “All there was to do now was to steamroll ahead and set this wedding in motion. With or without my mother by my side, this is happening.” (Pg. 117)

My favorite quote from the book was on page 161, It was a conversation Conrad had have between him and one of his classmates, Agnes. When she asked him if he’s ever been in love, And he said once knowing it was Belly. She kept asking more questions about what was it like, what’s her name, and how did you meet. But Conrad and Belly never really met, they’ve always known each other. That’s when Conrad told Agnes this quote. “ ‘There hadn’t been one specific moment. It was like gradually waking up. You go from being asleep to the space between dreaming and awake and then into consciousness. It’s a slow process, but when you’re awake, there’s no mistaking it. There was no mistaking it had been love.’ ” Conrad has always been Belly’s first love, and Conrad has only been in love once. And that was with Belly. What defines love? Love is when you love someone so much that you would do anything for them, no matter what has happened through your journey. You will always love them and be there for them. Love is when you know that you have found the one who will always be your partner in crime and your best friend. Who everyday you want to wake up next to, who you want to spend your life with. That is what love defines for me, that is what Conrad means when Belly is the only girl he’s ever loved. Even though this is only a book, this helps me understand that there is something called love.