"The Summer I Turned Pretty" Series Review

July 14, 2023

I was going to wait until all of season 2 of the tv series came out to review these books, but then I realized it's not the entire season coming out at once, so I'm just going to review it all now. I've already watched the first three episodes, but I'm so stoked for more. Here's your warning now, this review has a few spoilers for both the books and tv series.

This series, written by Jenny Han, follows Isabel Conklin, or Belly, as she spends her summers at Cousins Beach with her brother Steven, her mom, Susannah, and most importantly - Jeremiah and Conrad. Before I go any further, I will share my team. After watching season one of the show, it was pretty simple for me - team Jeremiah. But, after reading all three books, I have decided that for the books, I'm team Conrad, but I'm sticking with team Jere for the tv series (at least for now).

As for the first book, I did rate it three stars, but not necessarily because it wasn't good. I think it was just hard for me to enjoy it because I had already watched the tv series while reading it and I knew the gist of the entire plot. There was definitely a lot of differences between the show and the book in the case of season 1, but the biggest difference was that in the first season of the show, Belly and Jere hooked up, and in the books, Jere only confessed his feelings but Belly shut him down. This makes such a big difference because it makes Belly seem like wayyyy more of a player in the show.

This first book follows the love triangle of Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah (with a little Cam Cameron thrown in there). Even though I may be biased since I watched the tv show first, I really do think the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty did a better job than the first book, which I think is pretty rare to say. The main reason I say this is because there are so many side characters that are really brought to life with problems and love interests of their own, whereas in the books its almost entirely about Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. However, one thing the book delivers better than the show in my opinion is how much Jeremiah truly cares about Belly. I found his compassion for Belly apparent in the show, but reading the first novel only made that more obvious to me.

The second novel was truly amazing. Following Susannah's death, Belly is devastated and her grades, volleyball, and social life take a turn for the worse. However, all that stops mattering when Belly gets a call from Jeremiah saying Conrad is missing. The two take a trip together to look for him and find out some pretty gut-wrenching things along the way. After watching the first few episodes of season 2, I think they did a very good job of turning about half of this book into the show, and I think the way they adjusted Belly and Jere's growth apart based on the fact that they had already hooked up was spot on. This book has Jeremiah POV chapters, which goes to show even more how much Jeremiah really, really cares about Belly. This book is made for the team Jeremiah fans, but unfortunately that doesn't last too long. I can't wait to see the rest of this book come to life in the next few weeks.

Oh, and one thing I loved about season 2, a small little detail, is that Laurel's memoir about Susannah is titled It's Not Summer Without You, which is the name of the second novel in the series. That was genius and very fitting.

Finally, the third novel. Now the torch is passed back to team Conrad. This book skips ahead to Belly and Jeremiah's college days (which feels kinda strange at first), and they are in a committed relationship. However, things definitely take a turn for the worse, and soon after that the couple puts themselves in a huge rush to commit to each other (very broad but I don't wanna spoil too much). Even though it may seem contradictory coming from me, I absolutely loved the ending and the letters were a beautiful touch.

All in all, I LOVE The Summer I Turned Pretty book series, and I can't wait for more season 2 episodes to come out. If I can leave you with one recommendation, definitley read the books before watching the tv shows if you plan on reading the books at all.