As my cousin, Solaina, and I were continuing our summer vacation, we stumbled upon the much anticipated book-to-movie adaptation of The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, who was previously known for the adaptation of the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movie trilogy. Needless to say, the show took us by a storm and it had us hooked! We finished the entire series in well under three days and have some serious thoughts about the show and our hopes for the future seasons. Here are our thoughts:
The first thing that I want to note is that the executives have done a wonderful job with casting. Having read the book before I watched the show, the cast were all exactly what I pictured them to be. Conrad and Jeremiah especially, were wonderfully cast as Chris Briney (Conrad), and Gavin Caselegno (Jeremiah). Additionally, Isabel, or “Belly” played by Lola Tung was an amazing representation of not only Asian-American women (something different compared to the book), but also a perfect fit in contrast to the leading men.
Another aspect that I loved and wanted to point out was the music! The music in this case definitely created the gen-z romance vibe for the show. I found myself singing along to many of the songs and loved the music choice for particular scenes. I have found that in To All The Boys I’ve loved Before as well, Han has an amazing choice when it comes to music that she wants in her scenes.
Finally, we loved the pace of the episodes. Every single episode brought a new twist. There was no moment where we felt bored or as if the story was getting drawn out for too long. Additionally, we enjoyed the development of the supporting characters’ individual plots, and how they intertwined with one another.
Turning over to what we did not really enjoy.
Firstly, in some moments, the scenes between Conrad and Belly became EXTREMELY repetitive. Throughout the seven episodes, it was as if the same emotions were arising between the characters on multiple occasions. There was extreme reluctance between the two characters and the same cat-and-mouse that kept happening until their monumental kiss in the last episode.
On that note, we also wished we would have seen some clearer understanding of Jeremiah’s feelings for Belly. We loved that Han changed Jeremiah’s character a bit by making him bisexual in the show, however, we wished for some clearer spoken emotions from Jeremiah before he decided to pursue Belly. It made it seem that Jeremiah and Belly’s relationship was less emotional and purely physical. Some more meaningful scenes from the pair would have been nice.
Finally, onto what we want to see in the future (of course, the regular things that make teenage girls go crazy).
First, we want to see where Savannah’s illness leads her. In the book, she never agrees to take part in the trial. With this change, we are wondering if the show will take a different direction. Additionally, we would love to see if Laurel and Cleveland Castillo last, as it was a tasteful addition to the show to include someone so similar to Laurel who is also close to Conrad. Finally, of course, we would like to see who Belly choses and if Conrad really is her final choice. We know that this is one of three books, so some twists and turns are definitely to come...
Overall, this show was a wonderful addition to our vacation and we cannot wait for the next two books’ TV adaptations to release! Please share your comments about the show down below or DM me on IG @eviespaceblog.