The Summer I Turned Pretty (TSITP), a teen romance coming of age drama, just finished its dynamic second season. The show, starring Lola Tung as Belly, Christopher Briney as Conrad, and Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah, is set in the town Cousins Beach in 2022.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is about Belly Conklin, a girl who finds herself in a love triangle with the Fisher brothers: Jeremiah and Conrad. After a failed relationship with one of the brothers, Belly tries to reconcile her friendships with them and bring closure to that relationship. In addition to this, their childhood summer beach house is going to be sold, and Belly and her friends must try to save it. By the end, Belly is faced with a choice of which brother she wants to be with.
A main thing that fans like about this show is how consistent the show is with the book. The director and author of TSITP Jenny Han has tried to keep consistency between the book and the show to satisfy her original fans. Han says to The Hollywood Reporter, “I always want to really satisfy those OG book fans, because I know they’ve been waiting for such a long time to see the story come to life in this way. They’re always at the front of my mind as I’m making these decisions and really wanting to give them a gift. And I know what scenes are important to them, so even when there are changes or tweaks from the books or expansions, I’m always really careful about the things I know matter the most to the fans.” This sentiment is evident in the way the story is designed.
To go along with the high-powered show, there is an exceptional soundtrack. The Summer I Turned Pretty features nine Taylor Swift songs, including the unreleased song Delicate (Taylors Version).
Han strives to make the music just as powerful as the scene it plays for. The audience can clearly see this later in the second season when she uses songs such as Snow on the Beach to convey emotions. This song is used to portray “a painful memory”, according to Han, where the lyrics are twisted from their original awe into panic (LA Times).
In my opinion, this show was excellent. The character portrayal and emotions displayed by actors were superb and helped to make the story come to life. The Summer I Turned Pretty is watched by many teens and young adults, but keep in mind that it is rated 16+. I think most people would agree that this show deserves 5 Shields and will be a timeless coming-of-age classic.
