Throughout the summer and beginning of the school year, all I heard was, “Did you watch the new episode of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty?’” As an avid Jenny Han fan, I watched every single episode the day it came out. From July 16 to Sept. 19, an episode came out every Wednesday for season three.
The series follows Isabel (Belly) Conklin and her love triangle between two brothers, Jeremiah Fisher and Conrad Fisher, both with whom she grew up with. The book and series follows the ups and downs between her relationships with the brothers. The show also includes many other characters and their relationship dynamics, such as Conklin’s brother, Steven Conklin, I. Conklin’s best friend Taylor Jewel and her other family members.
Watching the TV series, I found a stark resemblance to the book. Many movies/series based on books lose their original plotline, making them start to feel like an entirely new story. However, this was not the case for “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” As someone who has read the book series over five times, I was really happy with the writer’s and director’s decision to have the TV series closely resemble the book. But, obviously, it would not be a good adaptation if it didn’t have its own twist.
During the TV show, one of the biggest differences to the book was the fact that they follow S. Conklin and Jewel’s romantic relationship. During the book, Han hints at S. Conklin and Jewel’s connection, but she doesn’t dive into it as much as the TV show, since she mainly focuses on I. Conklin’s relationship with the Fisher brothers. Throughout the series, we see the progression of S. Conklin and Jewel’s relationship, from falling in love, to their first breakup, to becoming friends, to eventually getting back together and then deciding to move to California with each other. I really enjoyed the addition of their relationship, as it elevated the series and added another entertaining element.
Another event that the TV show added that the books didn’t was the debutante ball in season one. In the debutante scene, I. Conklin becomes a deb, and she goes through the process of preparation. I do think this was a pleasant surprise for anyone who read the series before watching it. The writers did a good job interweaving everyone’s feelings and emotions into the rehearsing for the debutante ball. It tied in nicely with what else was happening alongside it, such as Susannah Beck deciding to stop cancer treatment. The feelings of nostalgia and longing for the perfect summer during the debutante ball quickly changed with the health battle Beck was experiencing, adding a feeling of grief for the viewers.
Another difference I noticed was the addition of Aunt Julia Beck and her child Skye in season two. In season two, J. Beck is given ownership of the summer house in Cousins Beach after her sister S. Beck had passed away. The house is significant, as that is where both the Conklin and the Fisher families have spent every summer together. Season two shows how J. Fisher, C. Fisher, I. Conklin, S. Conklin and Jewel have to fight to keep the summer house. In the second book, it was Adam Fisher (J. Fisher and C. Fisher’s dad) who was the “bad guy.” He wanted to sell the house because it held too many memories he didn’t want to face.
The next huge change was the ending in season three, following each character’s journey. In the TV show finale, I. Conklin is in Paris, turning a closing the chapter of everyone she has ever known. However, C. Fisher continues to follow I. Conklin, with sending her letters and then traveling to Paris to rekindle a relationship with her. J. Fisher also starts a cooking career for himself, and S. Conklin and Jewel make the decision to move across the country to California. The ending was a really nice touch to the season, satisfying many viewers.
In the book series, Han ends it with C. Fisher saving a letter I. Conklin left and showing a sneak peak that they end up together. While the book series did give us some closure, the TV series did it much clearer in my opinion.
In all, the TV series stayed true to the book series, which some fans of the book enjoyed, including me. I really liked most of the new scenes/characters that the directors put in the TV adaptation, and I would highly recommend this series as a book or a show to anyone.
