The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Genre: YA Romance/Realistic Fiction

Image result for the summer i turned prettyBlurb (on back of book): Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

 MY OPINION: *****

 I read this book in the span of one night and one morning. I read 100 pages last night, and finished it today. 

 I LOVED IT.

 It was amazing! Definitely one of the best contemporary novels you can read. I have already had good experiences with Jenny Han's writing with To All the Boys I've Loved Before (which I am planning to reread next), and this was definitely an addition to her amazing work. I loved this book so much! What excited me more is that it is a series! YAY!

 Belly. I hated that name at first, but it started to become more familiar as you read along. It's short for Isabel. I like the name Izzy or Belle better, but you know... Belly makes her seem so childish. Belly was an awesome character though, although she sometimes made mistakes that really ended up hurting other people. The author put THREE guys into her love life: Conrad, Jeremiah, and Cam. Conrad was her crush since forever (like 10 years old), and Jeremiah apparently likes her... and she dates Cam for a great chunk of this book. Cam is this guy she knew in eighth grade who sounds dorky to me, and was annoying. At first, I was rooting for him, but by the end, his character got old and nettling.

Conrad. Definitely my favorite character. He was so conflicted and hard to understand. Sometimes he was sweet, sometimes playful, sometimes angry, sometimes cold, sometimes scary. Who knew? He was dealing with a lot in his life and he chose to show how he felt in strange ways. I definitely liked him the best, mainly because he was Belly's biggest love interest and face it: I always love the love interest :D

Jeremiah. He was funny and sweet, and my heart hurt for him at his confession. I wanted to cry so bad, but I didn't, knowing that something was going to happen... maybe. I don't know. Jeremiah was also one of my favorite characters. He was funny, smart, amazing, everything..

Cam. I hated him. That's basically it. Like I said before, at first I was 100% rooting for him, but then he changed. He got in the way of Belly's affection for Conrad and I NEEDED THAT SHIP TO SAIL SO BAD, AND I HATED EVERYONE WHO GOT IN THE WAY. Yeah. Cam was also a dorky nerdy dude who I guess tried to be cool or something, but never really was.

Steven. I always wanted to call him 'Stevie' and I may have at some point in my head. He was Belly's brother thankfully, as if he wasn't, he would have been a fourth wheel in Belly's love life and that would have been hectic honestly. But that sounds weird, seeing as how they are related. THAT WAS HYPOTHETICAL. Anyways, Steven was not my favorite character and he wasn't really that much of an important character in the book.

Susannah. Her story was so sad: she had breast cancer. We all thought she was over it, but it came back and spread. That was so incredibly sad and shocking to me. I feel as if I should have seen that but the author put in such a serious red herring that how else could I have figured it out? Susannah was so kind and giving, always making people happy. She was Belly's mom's best friend/"blood sister" and it was pretty cool at how long their friendship lasted.

Belly's mom. I honestly can't remember her name at the moment, but she was quite annoying at some points, and kind at others. Belly's family was more on the poor side, and her mother hated Susannah getting stuff that Belly didn't need. But Belly's mom really came through by the end, by giving her that dress, helping her out, explaining things, and being a great mom. I feel as if Belly treated Susannah as more of a mom than her own at some points, but her real mom was awesome.

I think that's all the characters I wanted to talk about. Let's talk about the book now.

This book made my stomach ache for the characters. That was weird but it was true. When they were confessing love, my stomach got all whirly, as if I was actually there. This book was so powerful and awesome and I loved it so much.

The romance was really well-written, though it may not have been the most powerful "last page". The last page was a little confusing, but I'm sure it will clear out in the second and third books. I loved how Belly was always so confused, not sure whether or not she was cared about, and so gullible when Cam told her she was beautiful. She always felt like a kid or something, and the fact that someone made her feel grown up made her instantly love them.

JEREMIAH'S CONFESSION WAS THE SADDEST AND ONE OF THE BEST SCENES IN THE BOOK. He just tells her that he loves her, although he knows she likes Conrad. 

 I feel for Jeremiah, guys. He's always been the second person, following someone else, and he just wanted to be better than his brother at something. Sad. Sad. Sad.

Oh yeah, I hated Taylor. Best friend or not, she was a jerk who was shallow and conceited honestly. I'm glad the guys felt the same way about her.

Ok, so that's it. Definitely one of my favorite contemporary novels. I would recommend this to romance lovers :D

Main Character: Belly
Sidekick(s): Conrad, Jeremiah, Steven, Taylor, Cam, Susannah, mom, etc
Villain(s): Love, death, cancer, etc
Romance/Realistic Fiction Elements: This book featured a lot of romantic relationships/confusion/interests and was very real to life in all ways possible.

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