Great news everyone: the adaptation of Jenny Han's best-selling book, The Summer I Turned Pretty has landed on Amazon Prime. And yep, we've already powered our way through the entire season.
Based on the first book in a trilogy by Jenny Han, who – you may remember – wrote the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series, the show follows Belly: an endearingly awkward teenager who's ready to shake off the ‘little sister’ vibes and finally become the romantic heroine in the story of her own life.
In April, it was confirmed (via Variety) that Han had signed an overall film and television deal with Amazon, with the author saying, “Adapting my novel, ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ into a television series at Prime Video has been an incredible experience, and I’m so thrilled to now expand my relationship with them.”
Does this mean we can expect more from Han in the future? We may just be in luck. In the meantime, here's everything we know about her latest project, The Summer I Turned Pretty:
What's The Summer I Turned Pretty about?
As we mentioned earlier, The Summer I Turned Pretty will be based on the book by Jenny Han, of the same name. It's the first in a trilogy, followed by It's Not Summer Without You and We'll Always Have Summer. The synopsis for the book (via Jenny Han's official website) reads:
"Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad.
“They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.”
That's right folks, we've got a love triangle on our hands.
Who stars in The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Lola Tung will take the lead as Belly, who finds herself in a love triangle with her childhood friends, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher (played by Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno). Her mother, Laurel, will be played by Jackie Chung, while her surrogate-aunt (and mother to Conrad and Jeremiah) will be played by Rachel Blanchard.
What have fans said about The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Although the season has only just been released, the praise is already flooding in. One fan took to Twitter to share their approval, writing, “Honestly The Summer I Turned Pretty has exceeded my expectations, I lowkey thought this was going to be a PG/light hearted version of the book but it’s sm more mature like it was made for an older audience. They really knew wtf they were doing & I love it [sic].”
Another fan tweeted “can we talk about the summer i turned pretty ??? bc this cast? beautiful! the storyline? AMAZING! i love this so much [sic].”
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There's one aspect of the show that people can't seem to get over: the heartbreakingly excellent soundtrack, featuring the one-and-only Taylor Swift.
One fan tweeted “the summer i turned pretty has one of the best soundtracks ever like it has it all. taylor swift, olivia rodrigo, blackpink, carly rae jepsen, dua lipa, hayley kiyoko, billie eilish, ariana grande, phoebe bridgers, caroline polachek, baby queen, doja cat, & saweetie to name a few [sic],” while another wrote, “the summer i turned pretty soundtrack literally ate so hard. the amount of taylor you literally could’ve told me she made the show and i’d believe you [sic].”
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Here are some more of our favourite tweets/memes about the show's incredible soundtrack:
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You can listen to The Summer I Turned Pretty soundtrack on Spotify.
Is there a trailer for The Summer I Turned Pretty?
We're glad you asked. On 5 May 2022, the teaser trailer for the show officially dropped, featuring Taylor Swift's "This Love (Taylor's Version)" from her forthcoming 1989 (Taylor's Version) album.
Sharing the trailer on Instagram, Taylor Swift wrote, “Thank you @jennyhan for debuting my version of This Love in the trailer for @thesummeriturnedpretty!! I’ve always been so proud of this song and I’m very 🥺🥺🥺 about this turn of events - This Love (Taylor’s Version) comes out tonight at m i d n i g h t!”
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The mega-cute trailer opens with Belly saying, “I thought this summer was going to be like all the other summers… but it's not, because I won't let it be.”
When was The Summer I Turned Pretty released?
The Summer I Turned Pretty was released on 17 June 2022.
Will there be another season of The Summer I Turned Pretty?
As The Summer I Turned Pretty is based on the first book in a trilogy, we were always hopeful that more seasons would follow. And it's looking good! Deadline has confirmed that the show has been renewed for a second season. We haven't got a release date (yet) but we can probably expect it to be released around June 2023. Fingers crossed, eh?
We cannot WAIT.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
