Even though “The Summer I Turned Pretty” premiered on Amazon Prime on June 17, 2022, people continue to buzz about main character Belly’s complicated love life. This summer love triangle show is based on Jenny Han’s book trilogy of the same title about a girl, Isabel “Belly” Conklin, and her tricky love life. Now in its third season, the show’s finale comes out on Sept. 17.
If you haven’t heard of the series, you can read about the first season here.
According to Seventeen Magazine, Belly (played by actress Lola Tung) goes through a transformation from an awkward girl to a young woman. Every time summer rolls around, Belly, her mother, and Steven, her older brother, travel to Cousins Beach to spend the summer with her mother’s best friend, Susannah, and Susannah’s two handsome sons, Conrad and Jeremiah.
Season 1 mostly focuses on Belly’s efforts to figure out her feelings for her long-time crush, Conrad, while dealing with all the changes happening around her. She has a short-lived relationship with a boy, but quickly ends it once Conrad, who constantly gives off mixed signals, starts showing her some attention again. Soon after, Susannah faces a health scare, which leads to sad moments.
Throughout Season 1, I felt bad for Belly and her on-again, off-again obsession with Conrad. The show does a good job of showing all the stresses that go along with having a sick parent, something which a number of teens face in real life. Although the season is packed with a lot of drama, it intrigued me, but I wasn’t super excited about it. I’d give Season 1 a 6/10 stars.
Season 2 turns up the emotions meter quite a bit, having way more drama than Season 1. The family faces a heartbreaking loss that really changes everything, especially for Conrad, which we learn explains his constant sad and strange moods. One of the highlights of the season is when Conrad and Belly go to an event together, leading viewers to hope that the would-be couple will finally make some new, happy memories. Like me, a lot of viewers were disappointed to see the evening not go as we had hoped, although a lot of viewers are still “Team Conrad” just because they find him attractive.
Just when you think things can’t get more complicated, Belly’s love life gets even more confusing. You’ll just have to watch to find out why. Compared to Season 1, I preferred Season 2, so I’d give it 8/10 stars.
Is “The Summer I Turned Pretty” for everybody? Probably not. The series is marketed towards teenagers and rated TV-14. Lots of teens and young adults watch the show, but I believe that many parents of younger children wouldn’t want their tweens watching this show due to some inappropriate scenes and conversations. However, those types of scenes and conversations are pretty quick, so in the worst-case scenario, you could just cover their eyes briefly. Otherwise, I’d tell moms and dads not to let “The Summer I Turned Pretty” be the first adult show they let their younger children watch.
As someone who’s a hopeless romantic, I love the series and think that it is worth the hype. The cute, summer love theme makes me feel all the feels. I really like how there’s always some sort of drama in each episode, so I’m never bored.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score for Season 1 is 78% positive and Season 2 is 60% positive, so I guess I’m kind of opposite most viewers, since I preferred Season 2.
While I have to admit that there is nothing terribly original about the basic idea behind “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, it’s a classic love triangle with the usual teen drama. Some people, like me, enjoy that sort of thing; some don’t. But if you like cheesy, lovey-dovey, drama-filled stories, you’ll like all three seasons of this series.
