The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy

Books in the series

The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009)

It's Not Summer Without You (2010)

We’ll Always Have Summer (2011)

Characters

Isabel "Belly" Conklin: The narrator, and protagonist of the series. She is the daughter of Laurel and the younger sister of Steven. She is known to have had a crush on her friend Conrad since she was young, but her relationship with him falls apart at the end of It's Not Summer Without You after the two become a couple for a short time. She then starts a relationship with his brother, Jeremiah, after he kisses her, making his feelings known to her. In We'll Always Have Summer, which chronicles their two-year relationship, Belly discovers at a frat party that Jeremiah cheated on her with a sorority girl. She slaps him across the face and spends days in bed, crying. To prove his regret, Jeremiah proposes to her, which she hesitantly accepts; however, a result of ongoing fights with her mother (who is furious with her for choosing to marry so young), she stays at Cousins Beach. Because of this arrangement, her old feelings for Conrad, who is staying there as well, begin to slowly resurface. Conrad confesses his love for her. Although Belly blows up at his confession, saying he was too late, her feelings for both brothers are called into question. She and Jeremiah, in the end, call off their engagement and break up for good after realizing they are not meant to be. In the epilogue, Belly has not heard from Conrad for two years, before receiving her handwritten letters from him "each and every month" throughout the rest of her college years. Eventually, she begins to stay in contact with him. Conrad shows up at her college graduation, resulting in them getting back together as a couple. He proposes to Belly a little over a year later.

Conrad "Con", “Connie” Fisher: The eldest son of Susannah and Adam Fisher, and older brother of Jeremiah. He is known to push away his loved ones and to keep all his emotions and feelings inside. In the first book, his character is something of a jerk, having spent the summer at the beach getting drunk or locked in his room. It is suspected, though, that he has developed feelings for Belly; he is shown several times as either overly protective or jealous of boys flirting with her. At the end of the novel, he and Belly become a couple. However, the relationship is short-lived when Conrad once again slips back into his emotional old ways. At the beginning of the second novel, he runs away from college to protect the beach house once he finds out his father intends to sell it. In the end, Laurel shows up and makes a deal with Mr. Fisher that Conrad and Jeremiah can personally keep the house if Conrad returns to college and passes all his exams. The adults leave and Belly and Jeremiah help prepare Conrad for his exams. Things seem to go well, but take an abrupt turn for the worse when Conrad walks in on Belly and Jeremiah kissing. Conrad, however, tells his brother he is over Belly and it is okay if the two get together. In We'll Always Have Summer, which takes place two years later, it is revealed that Conrad lied when saying he was over Belly and has always been in love with her. He spends time throughout the novel fighting his true feelings and pretending he does not care for her. However, once he discovers at Jeremiah's bachelor party how he cheated on Belly, Conrad becomes furious and leaves. When Belly later comes across him, Conrad confesses his long-hidden love for her before begging her not to marry his brother and to be with him, breaking down into tears. Belly turns him down, claiming he is too late, breaking his heart. The next day, Conrad apologizes to Belly because he was "too drunk" during his confession, but Belly knows he is lying. After Jeremiah finds out about his brother's feelings for Belly, he goes missing on his wedding day. Conrad finds him at their mother's garden. They fight and Jeremiah soon disowns him as his brother, saying that he is "dead" to him. Conrad bids Belly goodbye, and gives her back his infinity necklace, saying it "always" belonged to her and "always will". In the epilogue, Conrad has not contacted Belly for two years before sending her his first handwritten letter, which then come "each and every month" through the rest of her college years. He then shows up at her college graduation, and they get back together. This all leads up to his marriage proposal two years into their relationship. The series ends with Belly marrying Conrad, and the couple starting a new life together.

Adaptation

Television series

In 2013, Lions Gate Entertainment announced that it had secured the rights to turn the trilogy into a television series. On February 8, 2021, Amazon ordered eight episodes of a series created by Han and Gabrielle Stanton and executive-produced by them and by Karen Rosenfelt, Paul Lee, Nne Ebong, and Hope Hartman. The seven-episode series was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina; and premiered on June 17, 2022. Season 2 premiered on July 14, 2023, marking a highly anticipated continuation of the series. Season 3, the show's final season, premiered on July 16, 2025.

Film

On September 17, 2025, the day the series finale of the television series adaptation of The Summer I Turned Pretty released, a feature film was greenlit to conclude the story on Amazon Prime Video, with Jenny Han herself serving as the writer alongside Kucserka. Han is also set to direct the film.