Davis The Summer I Turned Pretty

So, you’ve stumbled upon The Summer I Turned Pretty, or as I call it, The Summer I Questioned My Life Choices. It’s a show about a girl, a beach house, and two brothers who look like they were sculpted by a team of angels with a serious grudge against my own love life. I’m here to break it down like a cheap beach chair: entertaining, slightly unstable, but ultimately worth the splat.

The Premise: A Love Triangle That Needs GPS

The plot is simple: Belly Conklin, a teenage girl, spends every summer at a beach house with her mom’s best friend’s family. That family includes two sons: Conrad, the brooding, emotionally unavailable type who reads poetry, and Jeremiah, the golden retriever in human form who probably brings snacks. Belly has pined for Conrad since she was a fetus, but suddenly both brothers are interested. It’s like a Game of Thrones for the Hollister crowd.

Fun fact: The show is based on a book trilogy by Jenny Han, who also wrote To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. So she basically knows how to make you feel nostalgic for a prom you never had. The series debuted on Amazon Prime in 2022 and became a cultural event so big that people actually argued over which brother was better. Spoiler alert: it’s like choosing between a broken heart and a papercut.

The Characters: A Therapy Session Waiting to Happen

Let’s start with Belly. Her real name is Isabel, but everyone calls her Belly, which sounds like a medical condition. She’s played by Lola Tung, who is so perfect it hurts. Belly spends most of her time sighing, staring at Conrad, and making decisions that make you yell at your TV. She’s the reason you realize you were a dramatic teenager too—you just didn’t have a camera crew.

Then there’s Conrad, played by Christopher Briney. He’s the older brother with a dark past and a jawline that could cut glass. He’s so moody that if he were any more brooding, he’d emit actual fog. Surprising fact: Christopher Briney actually auditioned for the role of Peter Kavinsky in To All the Boys but didn’t get it. So he came back for revenge by making millions of girls cry. He’s a menace.

Jeremiah is played by Gavin Casalegno, and he’s the sunshine sibling. He laughs, he flirts, he probably hugs strangers. But don’t be fooled—he has a dark side too. In the books, he does something that makes fans scream. In the show, he just makes you question if you’ve been wasting your life not being a beach lifeguard.

The Beach House: Unpaid Actor of the Show

The real star is the house itself. It’s called Sussman’s Beach House in the story, and it’s the kind of house that smells like salt, sunscreen, and nostalgia. In real life, it’s in Wilmington, North Carolina, and it’s so photogenic that it probably gets more fan mail than the cast. Fun fact: The house was originally gray, but they painted it yellow for the show. Because nothing says “emotional turmoil” like a cheerful paint job.

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The soundtrack is also a character. You’ll hear Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and a lot of indie songs that make you want to run through a field in slow motion. One episode even uses a song by the band “The National,” which is surprising because they’re usually for sad dads, not sad teenagers. But it works.

Why It’s So Addictive (And Slightly Ridiculous)

This show is like a bag of chips: you know it’s not gourmet, but you can’t stop. The drama is so high that at one point, a character eats a sandwich and it becomes a metaphor for losing your virginity. I’m not joking. The love triangle is so intense that fans have formed literal teams—Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah—like it’s a presidential election. Except the candidates are just two guys who can’t communicate.

But here’s the twist: the show is actually about grief and growing up. Belly’s mother, Laurel, played by Jackie Chung, is dealing with the loss of her best friend, Susannah. Suddenly, the love triangle feels like a side dish to a main course of crying. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, and then you’ll sob when someone says “summer love.”

Surprising Facts to Impress Your Friends

Okay, here’s the good stuff. Gavin Casalegno (Jeremiah) is a former competitive swimmer. That’s why he looks like he was manufactured by the ocean. Lola Tung had never acted in a TV series before this—she was a college student who auditioned via Zoom. Talk about a summer job upgrade.

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The book series sold over 5 million copies worldwide. That’s more copies than my will to live. And the author, Jenny Han, included a character named “Cameron” who is basically a joke about white people. In the books, the character “Steven” is Belly’s brother, and he gets into a rivalry with a guy named “Alex.” In the show, Steven is played by Sean Kaufman, who is so awkwardly hilarious that he steals every scene he’s in. He’s the only character who seems to have a functional brain.

The Final Verdict: Watch It, But Bring tissues

If you want a show that makes you feel like you’re at the beach even when you’re stuck in a cubicle, this is it. It’s dramatic, slightly over-the-top, and obsessed with the word “summer.” But it also has heart. One episode made me cry so hard I had to call my mom—and she lives three hours away.

So grab a soda, prepare to argue with your friends about which brother is better, and remember: it’s just a show. Unless you’re Team Conrad. Then you’re wrong. Just kidding. Sort of.

Now go binge it. The summer isn’t going to turn pretty by itself.