Your guide to ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ book series

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 is finally underway—which is, sadly, the final season of the show. Luckily, for this there is a salve: good old-fashioned reading. Even if you’re not an avid reader, you should pick up this trilogy, as fans of the series say there are some major differences between the page and the screen. Still the same, however, are our main details.

On the page and onscreen, the series follows Isabel “Belly” Conklin, a teenage girl who returns to the fictional Cousins Beach each summer with her family, reuniting year after year with her mother’s best friend and her sons who, naturally, are both hot and pining after Belly.

The series is written by Jenny Han, who also wrote To All The Boys I've Loved Before, which became equally as popular and sparked multiple feature films on Netflix. The Summer I Turned Pretty is marked by love triangles, coming-of-age journeys, heartbreak, and the aesthetics of a New England summer. Sold? Here’s what you should know about all three books in the The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The first novel in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy was released in 2009, introducing the world to the ultimate trio—Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah—as well as our other key players Lauren, Susannah, and Steven. This first novel also does the heavy lifting in building the world of Cousins Beach. The fictional dreamland is based on a few destinations, namely East Coast spots like Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Long Island, and Nags Head.

As the story goes, the Conklins and the Fishers return to Cousins Beach each summer, beginning when the children were quite young. One summer, as the title suggests, Belly returns to the summer house looking less like the little sister, and more like a love interest. From there, the Fisher boys take turns falling in and out of love with her, a triangle that will continue to spin through the entire trilogy. 

It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers ahead. A main plot point of the first novel is that Susannah Fisher, the mother of Conrad and Jeremiah, is ill with cancer. By the start of the second novel, Susannah has tragically lost that battle.

The story picks up one year after the ending of the first novel, and is largely told through flashbacks of what has occurred over the last year. With Susannah gone, the boys are unraveling, the beloved house in Cousins Beach is on the market, and everyone is more lost than ever.

We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

The final book picks up with Belly heading off to college as a freshman, reflecting on the love and losses she has experienced in the past few years. The love triangle continues through this novel, becoming more emotionally charged and more twisted than ever before, and Belly is forced to make a life-altering decision about the future of her life, and theirs.

Seasons one through three of The Summer I Turned Pretty series are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.