**I hold the play bill in my hand. I have been coming to see shows at this theater for quite some time now. I love the performances and the sets. There is nothing better than going to the theater. I glance at the show bill one last time and read through what it is about. I then pay for my ticket and find my seat in the theater. I take my seat and get comfortable. Just a few minutes later, the show begins.**

Welcome or welcome back to bookishcore. As you will see in my upcoming July wrap-up, I finished the series for The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. As you will have read in my June wrap-up and my upcoming July wrap-up, I was not the biggest fan of these books. I loved To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by this author when I read it in 2017, but I haven’t read any of her other books since. I picked up The Summer I Turned Pretty last year and didn’t really enjoy it. I got into journaling this year, so I wanted to pick up an audiobook while journaling, so I decided to listen to the second book in the series since I thought that maybe I would enjoy it better. I still didn’t really like it, but I decided to listen to the third one as well. Even though I didn’t like the books, I thought that I would give the show a chance. As I am writing this, I have seen the first three episodes so far, so I wanted to share my thoughts, especially as someone who didn’t love the books.

If you haven’t heard of this series, The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han follows fifteen, almost sixteen-year-old Belly Conklin, who spends every summer at her mom’s best friend’s beach house. It is the moms, Belly and her brother Steven, and the boys Conrad and Jeremiah. I’m only three episodes in, but I can already say I like it much better than the books. The plot is still the same, with Belly and her family staying at the beach house with Susannah’s family and Belly having a crush on Conrad.

Moving on to the characters, I like Belly a lot better in the show than the books. I felt like she was very immature, and to be blunt, kind of annoying, in the books. In the show, I feel like she has a more fun, bigger personality. I love the scene in episode one where she, Steven, and Laurel are driving to Cousins and Belly is singing along to the radio. I also think that the portrayal of Conrad and Jeremiah are done well, with Jeremiah being more outgoing with a “life of the party” personality, and Conrad being more brooding and closed off. I can’t say too much for Steven, but I think he works well in the dynamic with Conrad and Jeremiah. I also like the relationship between Belly and Taylor much better in the show than the books. In the books, I questioned the entire time if they actually liked each other, wondering if instead they actually hated each other and were only friends because of history. I think that in the show we can see the two actually have more of a friendship. Finally, the moms. I actually really like the depiction of Laurel and Susannah, and the contrast between the two makes their dynamic even better. Laurel seems sarcastic and headstrong, and Susannah is more light with a bubbly personality. I think these two personalities work so well on screen. I also love their friendship. We get to see the two interact, and even better, interact with the others’ kids. I like that they have strong bonds with all of the kids, like when we see Susannah take Belly shopping.

There have definitely been some changes made throughout. Usually, I am someone who doesn’t like when things are changed in adaptations, but I think it actually works well in this case. Season one is based on book one, and if you have seen these books, they’re pretty short, so I can understand why things were added. For example, Belly is a debutante in the show, which doesn’t happen in the books, but I think it adds an interesting element since it is told that it is outside of Belly’s comfort zone. Another change that I think was made was Laurel being an author. I don’t know what her profession was in the books, but I actually really liked the change made with this. I think that it can add some great conflict with Laurel trying to write her next book, and we are introduced to another author who seems to play a small role in the show. The one change I didn’t love was the discussion on infinity. This is something that happens a lot later in the books, I believe book two, but they discussed it in the show in episode three. I think it works better being later on because it gives more emotion between Belly and Conrad.

Now I’m just going to move onto a few minor things that I want to bring up. First off, I like the show. I’m only three episodes in but I am enjoying it. I never watch anything that’s fully realistic except for Friends, but even that’s different since it’s more of a sitcom, so it’s a bit different from what I normally watch. Even so, I do like it. There have been a few moments that have made me smile and some that I found funny, so overall, it’s a pretty good show so far. I like that Belly narrates over the scene. I’m not usually a fan of narrating in a show, and sometimes I do have conflicting feelings with it in this show specifically, but I think that it makes sense for the story. I think that it helps with the storytelling, and just the plot of the story with it being about Belly’s summer kind of makes sense for a narration. Especially with my sentiment from my wrap-up where I say that the book reads like a diary.

I also noticed a small detail in one episode. It’s either episode two or three when Laurel has her book signing and the other author talks to her. Over his shoulder to the left of the screen, I’m pretty sure there is a copy of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which is Jenny Han’s other book series! I thought this was a cool detail (that is, if I’m right) and it was cool to spot it. Something that kind of made me mad however was how all the boys talk about how immature Belly is. I felt that way when reading the books, but I don’t feel it as much when watching the show. The reason this aggravates me is that the boys are immature as well. They do or say things to Belly that shows them as immature, then when she tries to call them out on it, they tell her that she’s being immature, or to grow up, which isn’t very fair to Belly. Another thing to note is the soundtrack for the show. I like the soundtrack they chose and think that each song seems to fit well in the scene in which it is used.

Overall, I think this is a pretty solid show and I do plan on continuing. I have enjoyed what I have seen so far, so I’m interested to continue on. Maybe I will do another one of these for the next few episodes as well. 

xoxo,

Just another reader