A Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty (Series)
I’m calling it: this is the TV series of the summer to watch.
Disclaimer: this blog post contains spoilers for the entire series.
Initially, I thought it was going to be a cheesy YA (even closer to teen fiction) rom-com and coming of age, and while it has that aspect overall, the TV series was more mature than I thought.
I re-read the first book (still need to catch up with the next two books) last week. I read book 1 in 2020 on Kindle and was “eh” about the series. I thought it was very young and I didn’t like the time jumps.
Maybe it was the series coming out or the fact that Taylor Swift released her re-recording of This Love (Taylor’s Version for the series AND had five of her songs in the series total. But I LOVED this series and everything about it. It captured my heart just like the way Conrad can capture a girl’s heart in just one look. (This love is good, this love is bad …) Speaking of Conrad … um … he’s hot. So brooding, so mysterious. (He’s 21 or 22, btw.)
And the other Fisher brother, aka Jeremiah (Jeremy, to Taylor), was just as good but in his own special way. While similar characteristics as beautiful and mysterious Conrad, Jeremiah was the fun-loving and flirtatious younger brother who (SPOILER ALERT sort of) is bisexual. Or pansexual. Or, as Belly puts it in one episode, “flirts with everyone.” Love to see it.
Overall, like I said, this series captured my heart. Throughout the entire series, each episode, I was wrapped up in my blanket and just waiting for Conrad and Belly to confess their feelings for each other and get together. But each time they were close to, I was afraid that something would happen as there were more episodes! Still, I loved their relationship develop and blossom from being friends, to them dancing around their feelings for one another, to friends who knew they had feelings for one another, and then finally, to their kiss at the end of the series. I loved them together and will forever be #TeamConrad for Belly. I am VERY excited for season two (already confirmed).
Aside from the romance, I also really love that they added more storylines other than the Conrad-Belly-Jeremiah-Steven stories. We got to see a storyline for each character, which I love. Steven and Shayla, Jeremiah and flirting with everyone, Jeremiah and Conrad with their mom, Belly and her new (debutante) friends, and the moms. First of all, I loved the moms. I loved the friendship between Susannah and Laurel in the book, and they made it so much better and stronger in the series. I am very excited to see where they take Susannah’s entire storyline in season two — both excited and nervous.
Also, I just have to note Laurel and Cleveland (I think that’s his name). I love this fling for her. That’s it, that’s the tweet.
Honestly, the only thing that I wasn’t a fan of and didn’t really care for was the “love triangle” they tried to do between Conrad, Belly, and Jeremiah. That was the only thing I thought they should’ve kept the same. Jeremiah was so carefree and fun-loving throughout the entire series and now he decides to fight for Belly? In the book, he confesses his feelings for Belly but Belly doesn’t reciprocate them (and still has feelings for Conrad) and they remain as friends and nothing else. But the last few episodes decided to focus on Belly and Jeremiah which I didn’t mind, but wasn’t my favorite part. Still, I thought it was good overall and a big contribution to Belly and Conrad FINALLY getting together for once and for all.
Overall, I think this is a very rare circumstance where the TV series was better than the book. I thought the book was slightly too young for me, and that’s saying a lot considering how many YA novels I read. When I first read it in 2020, I thought it was too young. The series made it more mature — including all of the characters.
I will definitely be doing a re-watch later this summer. (And listen to every Taylor Swift song until I do.)
Side notes:
The debutante crowd was VERY fascinating to watch! Loved the entire country club scene.
Steven and Shayla = endgame. (Much like Belly and Conrad.)
Cam (as in Cam Cameron) was very charming and perfect for Belly’s first boyfriend! Although I am #TeamConrad, Cam was a nice addition. I didn’t like him in the books, but I think the actor who played him played Cam very well.