Prime Video adapts one season of bestselling trilogy
New York Times Bestselling Author Jenny Han was able to see another fan-favorite trilogy come to life with the release of the show’s first season (now renewed for a second which will probably follow book two, It’s Not Summer Without You).
The show follows Isabel, better known as Belly, as she visits her family friends’ beach house in Cousins the summer she turns 16 and gets roped into a complicated love triangle with Jeremiah and Conrad, who happen to be brothers.
As Han’s fans would expect, The Summer I Turned Pretty is lighthearted Young Adult escapism at its finest and was complete with a compelling, talented cast.
Newcomer Lola Tung was the perfect choice as a lead in the series. She is captivating and fun in a way that makes it feel like you are going along her summer journey with her.
Gavin Casalegno was a wonderful Jerimiah – he was sweet, charming and albeit a little cringey at times, but it was easy to see why Belly fell for him after Conrad basically rejected her.
Conrad’s actor, Christopher Briney was exactly how I imagined the quiet and broody Conrad when I first read the trilogy many years ago.
There were times I wanted to hate Conrad, but Briney acted so effortlessly to draw the audience back into his world to learn why he did what he did.
Belly considers Susannah’s beach house a sacred place and considers it more of a home than her actual home, because nothing ever seems to change at the summer house.
Except this summer, something has changed: Belly turned “pretty.” Tung is a real find as the new pretty Belly, whose shy smile and uncertain posture show she has not completely grown out of the gawky girl she used to be.
“This isn’t you,” she kept hearing from her mom, Conrad and her best friend Taylor.
But what they did not understand was that trying out things that didn’t used to be her—from debutante balls to beach parties—was Belly who way of finding out she is now.
However, Belly is not the only one having a difficult summer. Laurel and her husband were just divorced; Susannah’s cancer came back again and says she doesn’t want chemo again; Conrad found out about it but kept everything to himself and quits football; Jerimiah is in love with Belly, but she loves Conrad.
The series’ roughly hourlong seven episodes grant Belly a plethora of space to navigate her changing relationships and evolving a sense of self with all the emotions it entails.
Han’s writing is accompanied by a soundtrack of smash-hit singles to match the onscreen action.
Songs included were “Lover,” “Super Rich Kids,” “brutal,” “False God,” “Your Type” and many others, especially Taylor Swift songs.
All in all, the first season follows the YA romance to a T, but still manages to give a fresh feel with a charming cast and just enough drama and angst to keep viewers watching.
Fans of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before are definitely in for a cool treat.
Despite some plot points that were different in the first book versus the show, I can say the adaptation did not disappoint in the slightest.
This is the perfect summer read/watch if you wish there was a beach house you visited every summer with two brothers fighting over you.
My overall rating for season one of The Summer I Turned Pretty is 4.5/5 stars.