The Summer I Turned Pretty is originally based on a book trilogy, the main character Isabel “Belly” is a struggling teen trying to figure out what she wants. Her mother’s best friend Susannah has a beach house that she inherited, they have gone to this beach house since Belly was born. Susannah has two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Steven, Belly’s older brother, is best friends with Conrad and Jeremiah.
Belly has had a crush on Conrad, the older brother since she was ten years old. She felt he could never see her the way she saw him. Yet, Jeremiah has always just been my best friend until this summer. She had changed, she had “blossomed” as Susannah would say. She’s grown up now, and both Conrad and Jeremiah see that now. Belly feels torn between each brother.
Most people who have watched this TV series assume that Conrad never paid attention to Belly. That is very far from the truth., when they were younger Conrad taught her how to dance, taught her about infinity. He even remembered teaching her about infinity and got her an infinity necklace for her sixteenth birthday.
He drugged her back to shore when she swam out too far and bought her a glass unicorn that she watched the glass makers make. Once they were older, he even sent her letters while she was studying abroad in Spain.
He notices the little things about Belly, how when she reads she gets car sick, and he even knew her favorite candy is Sour Patch Kids.
Jeremiah only saw her when she became “pretty”, “from the moment I saw her last summer, I was done for”. They had been best friends, and that’s just how they saw each other.
People see Conrad as being a jerk, for apparently breaking up with Belly. She broke up with him, he just felt that he kept letting her down and he was still anxious about the feeling his mom could die any moment from cancer.
Since this series is based on the books, Belly and Conrad will most likely be the endgame couple in season three. Team Jeremiah fans’ only comeback is, “That’s the book, the show is different”. The whole book trilogy was based on Conrad and Belly’s love story., Jeremiah just had to be a part of it.
Susannah has always known since Belly’s birth that Conrad was meant for her. Susannah never told anyone that she was suffering from cancer, until the end of summer. Susannah requested that Belly should go to a Debutante Ball with Conrad. She knew that they would end up together, and wanted to see Belly in a white dress knowing she wouldn’t see her on her wedding day.
Team Jeremiah, don’t understand Conrad like we do. Conrad is always misunderstood and carries the weight of being a big brother. Yet people call him selfish, just for putting himself before everyone else.
