Back when The Summer I Turned Pretty first took over my algorithm, I found myself compelled to get a Prime subscription and watch it. Of course, I didn’t make it very far. As someone who practically grew up on Wattpad, I am no stranger to messy love triangles involving reckless teenagers. And seeing as I had numerous Streaming subscriptions at the time, I was spoiled for choice.

But recently, I’ve decided to really cut back. I cancelled all my Streaming subscriptions (even Spotify) and I downloaded a free Library app.

And that’s where I found The Summer I Turned Pretty audiobooks.

And honestly, they’re pretty entertaining for long car rides. I finished all three books within the span of two and a half weeks. And it only took me a day to get through the first book.

I was absolutely hooked.

So of course, here is my honest review of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Now be warned, I know there are differences between the book and the show. Even the clips I’ve come across so far attest to that fact. So I may have different opinions to show watchers. Like my belief that Jeremiah wasn’t actually that bad. In fact, I found Belly to be the real villain in a lot of the conflict throughout the books.

So if the show makes Jeremiah out to be the villain and Belly a complete victim, I do not care. Please don’t use the show to disagree with my review of the books. It’s a pointless argument and if you disagree with me, at least disagree with me based on the version of the story I’m reviewing.

Spoilers for the entirety of the trilogy. Read at your own risk.

Conrad Wasn’t That Much Better Than Jeremiah, Especially Not In The Beginning

From the YouTube shorts and Instagram reels alone, I can tell that the show very heavily skews in Conrad’s favour. And they very heavily portray Jeremiah in a negative light to make Belly and Conrad look better.

And even though I strongly believe that Belly should’ve never dated Jeremiah. I believe it because she was never in love with him. She loved him as her childhood friend. He was comfortable and safe. He never pushed her away. He was the easygoing, fun brother. And Belly chose him because she couldn’t stand to sit with her feelings of heartbreak. In dating him, she did him a disservice.

At the same time, Conrad was genuinely terrible to her. Yes, he was grieving a dying mother. And his natural instinct was to push people away. But all three kids loved Susannah. And all three kids struggled to cope with her death. And yet, Jeremiah and Belly were forced to chase after Conrad. All the while, he was hiding things from them and actively pushing them away. He was genuinely cruel to both at times.

And while grief is an explanation, it is not an excuse.

And I still think Conrad’s a shit person for confessing his love to his brother’s fiancé, the day before the wedding. Yes, Jeremiah dated Belly after Conrad. But Jeremiah liked Belly from the start. And he actually asked Conrad about it. In fact, he was growing enraged by the fact that Conrad was forever pushing Belly away or denying her the bare minimum.

And dating your brother’s ex isn’t great. But dating her after you’d already spoken to your brother. A brother who ended the relationship himself. A brother who told you to go for her. That is nowhere near as bad as your brother hitting on your fiance the day before the wedding.

Should they have gotten married? Absolutely not! But this was still very shady. And the book doesn’t shy away from showing you that even though they ended up together, Conrad and Belly were the real villains here.

The one thing I will say is that Jeremiah tends to play fast and loose with consent. I don’t like the fact that he forced a kiss on Belly to make Taylor jealous. And Taylor getting mad at Belly for this is an entirely different mess (that I’ll talk about if I ever do a second review). And I genuinely despise the fact that Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship began because he kissed her mid argument. This is shady behaviour.

But in the grand scheme of things, Belly wasn’t any more upset about this than she was when they threw her in the pool. And she still ended up dating him anyway so I don’t think she was really that upset about the kiss itself. I think she was more upset that it was done to get a reaction out of Taylor.

Jeremiah Never Cheated And Belly Was A Worse Girlfriend To Him Than He Was A Bad Boyfriend To Her

Here’s the thing that pisses me off about Belly. Even though she claims to love Jeremiah, she constantly makes him feel bad. She looks down on him for being who he is. And she’s actively pining over his brother, even while planning their wedding.

In fact, here’s a list of ways Belly is a terrible girlfriend:

• When Jeremiah was really sick because of his allergies, she was mad that he wanted to spend time with her. And yes, she had assignments and uni work. But he genuinely felt sick. And she looked down on him for it. And when he offered to come over himself and sleep, so he could be in her presence while she studied, she resented him for it. I’m sorry but wanting to be around your partner, especially while feeling under the weather, is not only normal but how you should be in a relationship. This was my first clue that she didn’t even like him.
• She made Jeremiah feel bad for wanting to invite his friends. And her whole justification was that she didn’t want more than two of his frat brothers at the wedding.
• When they broke up, because she escalated an argument unnecessarily, she accused him of cheating for sleeping with another woman while they were broken up! I’m sorry, but you cannot cheat with someone while you’re broken up. This wasn’t even a break. Their relationship ended. And she guilt tripped him by saying he should’ve known it was only temporary. Meanwhile, she’s pining after his brother and lying about it when she runs into him.

Jeremiah wasn’t a good boyfriend to Belly. But considering the circumstances, I don’t blame him. In fact, I think she needed the reality check of him sleeping with someone else.

Belly’s the type of girl who believes she can say anything in a moment of anger, and then if she apologises afterwards, everything’s fine. She escalated an argument to the point that he broke up with her. And then she expected him to read her mind and know that the relationship wasn’t truly over.

That level of childishness and delusion boggles my mind. And the fact that they kept pushing the idea that Jeremiah cheated really pissed me off. You cannot cheat on someone if you’re broken up. That’s like my ex calling me a cheater for sleeping with my boyfriend.

And yeah, you can argue that Jeremiah slept with someone too soon after the breakup. But even if that’s questionable, it isn’t infidelity.

Final Thoughts

I feel like this review was a Jeremiah defence post. And honestly, I don’t think I’d feel as compelled to write this if it wasn’t for the shere amount of Jeremiah hate. People will excuse Conrad’s every action because his mother died and they won’t extend that same grace to Jeremiah.

And judging from the few clips I’ve seen from the later seasons, I can understand why. The show really made it a point to favour Conrad by villainising Jeremiah. And yeah, he may show his privilege at times. But he was never a bad guy.

If you’ve gotten this far in the review and you haven’t read the book, find your nearest library and borrow it. It is genuinely really well written. And I’d definitely recommend the audio book for anyone who drives more than they want to.