‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Review: The Coming-Of-Age Story Is Full Of Love, Heartbreaks, Female Friendships, And Hot Men. Lola Tung Is The Perfect Belly
You know, I have no idea how I used to spend my summer vacation except for that one summer when I decided to binge-read loads of books. Like seriously, I used to finish a trilogy in one week but it was totally worth it. At that time, I somehow ended up reading Jenny Han’s novels – To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series and The Summer I Turned I Pretty series (my favourite genre is YA). And both the trilogies have the message that love is complicated and choosing the right person for yourself is a difficult task, I completely agree with it. Coincidentally, I recently watched the series The Summer I Turned Pretty which is based on Jenny Han’s novel of the same name and let me tell you, she made my summer perfect again with this coming-of-age story starring Lola Tung as Belly/Isabel Conklin, Rachel Blanchard as Susannah Fisher, Jackie Chung as Laurel Park, Christopher Briney as Conrad Fisher, Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah Fisher, Sean Kaufman as Steven Conklin, Tom Everett Scott as Adam Fisher, David Iacono as Cam, Alfredo Narciso as Cleveland, Colin Ferguson as John Conklin, Rain Spencer as Taylor, Minnie Mills as Shayla, and Summer Madison as Nicole amongst others. So, as a true Jenny Han fan, I decided to review the series which premiered on Amazon Prime Video. Let’s get started!
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As I said, Jenney Han’s novels were a big part of my late teenage years. The first crush turning into first love, sweet meet-cutes, brutal heartbreaks, cheesy yet adorable storylines, strong female characters who are inspiring, handsome male characters who raise our standards in men, female friendships, and butterflies-in-the-stomach moments have my heart. After witnessing the success of the To All The I’ve Loved Before movie series, I had very high hopes for the series adaptation of The Summer I Turned Pretty. The reason is that the novel is very close to my heart because it made me laugh, cry, and encouraged me to follow my heart. So, I was quite excited and nervous to watch it.
The Plot
The story of The Summer I Turned Pretty revolves around Isabel Conklin aka Belly or Bells or Belly Button’s transition from a child, to a young adult and her complicated love life. She spends every summer at the Summer House in Cousin with her mother and elder brother along with her mother’s best friend Susannah and her two sons – Conrad and Jeremiah. She had a crush on Conrad since she was ten but he only sees her as a kid. However, one summer changes everything and she finds herself in a love triangle with both the brothers. Interesting, right?
So, there are many changes in the story like the debutante ball, Steven’s relationship with Shayla, Laurel’s relationship with Cleveland, and many more. Basically, the series is an adult and more realistic version of the book which is a good thing.
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The Characters
I don’t know what I imagined Belly to look like when I read the book, but Lola Tung portrayed the character so well. The way she reacts without thinking and sulks when she doesn’t get attention is so relatable, that’s what a teenager should act like!
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Well, the one thing I loved about The Summer I Turned Pretty is that it’s full of hot men and boys. From Conrad Fisher to author Cleveland, the men are just *chef’s kiss* and I’m here for it. Although, I think our sweet boy Cam Cameron deserved better!
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However, the most adorable and mature aspect of the series is the friendship between the mothers – Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard) and Laurel Park (Jackie Chung). They are friends since they were teenagers and want their kids to share the same bond. Laurel always teaches her daughter that boys will come and go but a best friend is for life. We stan them!
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Talking about the characters, The Summer I Turned Pretty has many new additions and they are seriously adding extra drama to the story, I absolutely loved it. I especially loved Alfredo Narciso’s character Cleveland. The way he helped Conrad when he had a panic attack was so heartwarming. He was the only one who understood him, listened to his problems, and gave genuine answers that helped Conrad to understand his own feelings and express himself to others in a better way.
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The Soundtrack
I was ecstatic when I found that the soundtrack of this series includes a song by pop icon Taylor Swift but I was more surprised when I listened to all the songs. The soundtrack of The Summer I Turned Pretty is trendy, fun and again, full of love and emotions, you should definitely look forward to it because it’s amazing.
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Verdict
To be very honest, the makers of The Summer I Turned I Pretty tried really hard to capture the essence of the novel in the series and I must say that they were quite successful in their mission. But in the battle of the ‘Book Vs. Movies’, the book claimed the victory this time as well (some things never change, I guess). However, I realised that the change in the storyline was quite necessary for the series adaptation because reading a book and watching a series are totally different things and you want to grab the attention of the viewer by giving them an interesting twist and the debutante ball or the coming-out party did its job pretty well.
Lola Tung is the perfect Belly we could’ve asked for, she’s messy, she’s a brat and acts like a baby at times (as per Conrad) but she’s imperfectly perfect and so beautiful. And I felt like Christopher Briney as Conrad Fisher is way more mysterious and serious but he’s dealing with so many things that I would like to cut him some slack here. I don’t know the reason but Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah Fisher is way more complicated than Conrad and that one kissing scene at the party had me confused and yelling at the screen “What was the reason?” But I was so happy when everything changed in the last episode, it’s my favourite episode because it reminded me so much of the book. All and all, the series made me laugh, cry, and made me realise that it’s okay not to be okay (thanks to Conrad and Cleveland) and people should follow their hearts more while finding their soulmates. The creator of the series – author Jenny Han recreated her magic again with yet another teen romantic drama series and that’s why I’m giving The Summer I Turned Pretty a total of 4 stars. She literally healed my soul with this story!
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Also Read: ‘The Broken News’ Review: A Thrilling Drama With Strong Female Characters, Impactful Performances By Sonali, Shriya, Jaideep
After watching the first season, I definitely can’t wait for season 2 already because I’m sure that we are going to witness many heartbreaks in the future.
The Summer I Turned Pretty will be available on June 17, only on Amazon Prime Video. Watch it if you want to get reminded of your first love again.
P.S: I will always be Team Conrad no matter what (if you know, you know)
