Today is a 3 for 1 review day, in that we’re reviewing all three of the books in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy in one go. Scroll to find the one you’re interested in, but beware! We try not to put spoilers in our review, but summaries and reviews of the later books will spoil earlier books, so approach with caution.
You might also be here because you’re wondering how The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime TV stacks up against the books. If you’re only interested in that conversation, scroll to the end of this post.
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THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY
Summary: When each summer begins, belly leaves her school life behind and escapes to Cousins Beach, the place she has spent every summer of her life. Not only does the beach house mean home away from home, but her favorite people are there: Susannah, her mother’s best friend, and her sons Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has been chasing Conrad for as long as she can remember, and more than anything, she hopes this summer will be different. Despite distractions from a new guy named Cam and lingering looks from Conrad’s brother, Jeremiah, Belly’s heart belongs to Conrad. Will he offer his to her? Will this be the summer that changes everything? (
(Summary from back of book – Image from www.tvinsider.com)
My Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty is the first book in a series that also includes It’s Not Summer Without You and We’ll Always Have Summer. I read all three books in the span of a week. That may be all you need to know, but if you’d like a little more detail, read on.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is told from the perspective of a teenage girl named Isabel, or ‘Belly,’ as she is more commonly called. Belly has spent every summer of her life at a beach house on Cousins beach with her mother, Lauren, her brother, Steven, her mother’s best friend, Susannah Fisher, and her two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah. For nearly as long as she can remember, Belly has been in love with Conrad with nary a whisper of those feelings being returned. Now, approaching her 16th year, Belly has started to gain the attention of both the Fisher boys and learns some heartbreaking news. Cue the summertime shenanigans, romantic tension, and familial drama.
There are several things to love about this series. It definitely showcases the magic of summer, of walks on the beach, midnight swims, laid-back afternoons by the pool, and hanging out on the boardwalk. It also highlights the intensity of head-over-heels-can-hardly-breath kind of first love, the sour pangs of jealousy, and the devastation of a love that seems utterly unrequited I loved the zingy tension that existed between Belly and Conrad, but also enjoyed the chemistry and relationships that she had with other characters in the beach house. Even if those relationships weren’t always romantic, they were unique and enhanced the story. The Summer I Turned Pretty is told from Belly’s present-day perspective, but frequently flashes back to past summers, adding backstory, context, and delightful bits of revelatory information. I loved the flashbacks for how they enhanced the story and altered my perception of the present-day narrative.
I enjoyed almost everything aspect of this book…with a few exceptions. First, I had a hard time picturing Belly as a 15 year old. I’d already seen the Netflix show (where she is played by a 20-year-old actress), so it was impossible to see her any other way. Every time the book made mention of her age, my brain would experience a kind of uncomfortable cognitive dissonance that was hard to shake. It was in those moments that my brain also alerted to lack of parental supervision and subsequent underage drinking in the story. If Belly were actually twenty-something she could do as she pleases without my disapproval, but 15-year-old Belly needs to be grounded.
Overall, The Summer I Turned Pretty perfectly captures the magic of summer, the fervency of young love, and the grief that comes with loss. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to immerse themselves in an emotionally complex, summery, romantic beach read.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
For the Sensitive Reader: Language: Some innuendo, crude language, and profanity. Sexual Content: Kissing (M/F), Discussion of Kissing (M/F and F/F), possible consent issues regarding kissing. Other: Underage Drinking, Cancer
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IT’S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU
Summary: After spending every single summer at Cousins beach, Belly’s life is about to change. Since her brief relationships with Conrad fizzled out this past winter, she’ll be staying home for the first time. Her best friend, Taylor has lots of plans for them — boat parties and tanning by the pool and new boys to obsess over. But when Jeremiah calls and says that Conrad has disappeared, all roads seem to lead back to the beach house. Will Belly spend another summer chasing after Conrad, or will she finally be able to let him go?
(Summary from back of book – Image from pinterest.com)
My Review: It’s Not Summer Without You picks up the summer after the events of the last book, only this summer will mark the first summer that Belly will be spending at home with her friend Taylor, rather than at Cousins with the Fishers. A lot has happened in the interim, but the author doesn’t fill the reader in right away, opting to reveal that information in a series of flashbacks over the course of the book — a rather delicious form of torture, I assure you. One thing is certain, with all that has happened, Belly is not coping well. Soon, events transpire that throw Belly back together with the Fisher boys and relationship drama ensues. It’s another rollercoaster of teenage emotions and, despite the tone of this sentence, I was 100% here for it.
While the last book was told exclusively from Belly’s perspective, It’s Not Summer Without You, adds Jeremiah’s POV to the mix. I liked being in Jeremiah’s head — and that’s not something I usually say about teenage boys. The Fisher boys feel like the embodiment of Taylor Swift’s Midnight Rain, in that Conrad is dark and stormy, while Jeremiah is all sunshine. If I were to psychoanalyze them with my absolutely zero expertise, I’d say that Jeremiah acts the way he does to counteract all that is Conrad. Either way, they have an interesting relationships.
I’m not always a fan of books that hop around the timelines, but I liked the way that Han organized the story, with flashbacks that slowly let the reader in on the events that happened between summers. Often times these little revelations would shift my perspective of what was happening in the present, and I love when authors can do that. I feel like Han also does a great job of conveying the complexities of human emotion (and especially female emotion) — like how you can feel happy and sad at the same time, or how you can’t just flip a switch and stop caring for someone you know doesn’t care for you.
Since this novel is YA, I really appreciated Han’s efforts to keep intimacy at a YA level. There was no sex on-page or off, and I am thrilled about that because it means I can rec this books to some of the YAs in my life. That having been said, I was a little put off by the amount of teen drinking and the alarming lack of parental supervision, which means that even though I enjoyed this book as an adult, I probably wouldn’t recommend this book for younger YAs.
The Summer I Turned Pretty isn’t really a fluffy romance. It has more heart than that and tackles some complex themes about love, loss, and what constitutes home and family. The epilogue will definitely get you amped up for the next book. Thankfully, I had We’ll Always Have Summer sitting right next to me, so I didn’t have to wait.
My Rating: 4.25 Stars
For the Sensitive Reader: Some swearing. Kissing (M/F). Underage drinking and ill-advised teenage shenanigans. No sex (on page or off).
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WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE SUMMER
Summary: Her whole life, Belly has been in love with the Fishers. Susannah was like a second mother to her, Conrad was her first love, and Jeremiah was her first real boyfriend. Now, after two years, Jeremiah gets down on bended knee and offers Belly what she has always wanted…to be Belly Fisher.
As Jeremiah and Belly head back to Cousins Beach to plan their wedding, Conrad comes home to tell Belly he mad a mistake when he broke her heart. Now Belly must confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face a truth she has possibly always known: She will have to break one of their hearts.
(Summary from back of book – Image from )
My Review: We’ll Always Have Summer skips ahead a few years, starting off as Belly is finishing her first year of college, deeply committed to her relationships with Jeremiah. After some devastating news, Jeremiah proposes and Belly believes that she’s finally found the Fisher boy she’s meant to spend the rest of her life with. The couple heads to Cousin to start to plan the wedding. There’s just one problem – she can’t seem to get Conrad out of her head.
The bulk of the story is relationship driven, with Belly at the center of several complex relationships. Things are strained with her mother, her best friend Taylor seems distant, and Belly is (as per usual) torn between her feelings for the Fisher boys. Consequently, the reader may feel similarly conflicted. I might have leaned toward Team Jeremiah in the first two books, but dang if I didn’t tilt the opposite direction in book three. There are several reasons for this shift, but I will only disclose one. In the first book, we read from Belly’s perspective. In the second book, we get to hear from her and Jeremiah. In We’ll Always Have Summer, we finally finally finally get some chapters from Conrad’s point of view, which gives significantly more insight to his character and motivations than in either of the previous books. It makes him likable in a way he wasn’t before and, what can I say, I’m a sucker for a good redemption arc.
I read all three of these book in less than a week, so its safe to say that I enjoyed them as it’s rare that I’ll spend that much time in a series without coming up for air. Han does an excellent job of exploring different types of relationships within the story, the conflicts that might arise, and the emotions someone might feel in certain situations, especially that all-consuming rush of first love. I especially liked the technique that Han has employed through the series of telling a story from the present (often having skipped time between books) and then slowly flashing back to fill in the gaps, expanding the story with each revelation. And finally, I appreciated that the author kept things relatively YA, especially in the intimacy department. I can actually recommend these books to my older teens and not feel bad about it. I can’t tell you how rare that is.
In past books, I have been fairly firm on my love for Jeremiah, but I felt that he regressed in these books. I suspect that was intentional on the part of the author, but it was hard to watch a character that I had loved up to this point turn into someone I didn’t really like. Also, I’ve never been a fan of love triangles (especially those that involve brothers), but I am even less of a fan of teen marriage trope and this book has both. It felt a little Twilight, to be honest. I can overlook the presence of the two tropes because I love the characters and relationships that Han created, but I still think this is my least favorite book in the series because it made that final leap.
Finally, I feel a bit cheated by the ending to We’ll Always Have Summer. Yes, there is an HEA — hooray — but it felt tied up entirely too quickly and neatly to be realistic, with barely any time to enjoy what was happening before it was over. Did I feel invested in the final outcome? Absolutely. Will I still recommend the series to older YA and up? Yes. But even though I’m happy with how it ended, I do feel a slightly let down by the way it ended. That having been said, they are easy reads, with a beachy aesthetic and feel that is perfect for your next trip to the coast.
My Rating: 4 Stars
For the Sensitive Reader: Language: Some profanity. Violence: I can’t remember any. If there was it was light. Sexual Content: Only kissing (M/F) though there is some discussion of sexual matters.
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THE TRILOGY vs THE TV SHOW
As of 11/19/23, only Seasons 1 & 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty are available to watch on Amazon Prime. I didn’t realize the show was based on a book series until midway through the second season, so I finished the season, but decided to read the entire book series while waiting for the third season to come out. So far, each book seems to be the basis for one season, and I expect the third to follow the same pattern. I’ll do my best to outline the major differences between the trilogy and the show below. **I’ve tried to keep things as spoiler-free as possible, but I am also assuming that you have either read the book or watched the show before reading this section.**
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Season One = The Summer I Turned Pretty
- In the show, Laurel (Belly’s mom) has her own storyline that brings in other characters. In the book, she barely has a storyline except as it relates to Belly.
- Susannah (Conrad and Jeremiah’s mom) has an important storyline in the book, but she isn’t as present in the book as she is in the show.
- Underage drinking is an issue in both the book and the show, but it is less prevalent in the book.
- Taylor is more obnoxious in the book (IMO) and certain elements have been added to her character’s story in the show.
- Steven is not as present in the book as he is in the show.
- In the show Belly takes part in a debutante ball (or something along those lines). That element of the story and everything related to it, is not present in the books.
- In the show, Jeremiah is openly bisexual. In the book he is not bisexual, openly or otherwise.
- Conrad doesn’t have panic attacks in any of the books.
Verdict: I prefer the first book to the first season because it has lighter romantic moments and less swearing. Also, I like book-Belly significantly more than show-Belly. She is more honest and less emotionally oblivious.
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Season Two = It’s Not Summer Without You
Here are some of the differences I have noticed between the show and the book in the second season:
- In the show, there is an aunt and a cousin who factor into the plot. In the book, they do not exist.
- In the show there is a volleyball element. In the book there is not.
- Taylor is not as big of a presence in the book as she is in the show. Same with Steven.
- Laurel rarely shows up in this book and then only briefly.
- The ‘house’ problem is resolved incredibly quickly in the book vs. the movie.
- In this season of the show, two characters have sex. In this book, characters only kiss.
- In the show, Belly feels incredibly self-absorbed. In the book, she is less so.
Verdict: The show is a more diverse adaptation of the book, but I will likely recommend the book version if asked for a YA recommendation.
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Season Three = We’ll Always Have Summer
(I will update this section when the third season is released)
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A final note on what I have read and seen so far: In book to movie adaptations, the creative team is often forced to leave things out because of time constraints. With TV shows, the reverse is often true and the creative team must flesh out characters and add events to generate enough material for individual episodes. This particular adaptation added certain elements which gave the characters and storyline more depth and diversity, but (in my opinion) some of those additions also made the show a little more adult. Ultimately, readers may be appreciative or bothered by these additions, depending on their own personal beliefs and standards.
