The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 review: Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno make Jenny Han's creation compelling

3.5/5

Story: The Summer I Turned Pretty is the coming-of-age romantic drama series based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by the To All the Boys I've Loved Before fame Jenny Han. The series explores the transformative summer experiences of Belly and how she navigates through a complex love triangle between two brothers. The hit 2022 show is now back with its second season.

Review: The first season informed how Belly (Lola Tung) and her family spend every summer in a small town named Cousins at her mother's best friend's house along with their two sons. It further sees how Belly gets to know that her mother's best friend, Susannah Fisher, who is also her godmother, is soon to be dead due to her terminal illness. 

Along with Belly, Susannah's sons named Conrad and Jeremiah also get devasted by the news. On the other hand, amidst going through the hurtful truth, the three of them deal with the love triangle that makes things complicated around them.

Jenny Han's idea of love digs deep into the life of young adults and showcases how their lives are quite different from how they get represented in general. The characters seem compassionate, mature and relatable too. This is what keeps the viewers, especially the youth, connect with her novels and their adaptations on the screen created by the author herself.

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 begins with a few saddened discoveries that see that Belly is having a hard time dealing with Susannah's death. On the other hand, she and Conrad seem to have broken up, and she also has lost contact with Jeremiah. However, a new development about Fisher's house in Cousins brings back the three together again and they get another chance to reconnect again.

Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno make a compelling narrative even more impressive with their wonderful performances. The three pivotal characters get new arches in their personalities after going through the most devastating event of their lives, while the three actors essay their roles incredibly well.

The makers have dropped only dropped the first three episodes of the second season, which is nothing short of a genius idea, as a few new matters in the lives of the trio make you interested in the latest series, while the end of the third episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty S2, makes the rest of the series highly anticipating. 

The rest of the show is worth the wait, however, will they meet the expectations? Only time will tell.

Verdict: The first three episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 seem quite promising as Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno's promising acts make Jenny Han's beautiful creation even more compelling.