The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 (No spoilers) review: Belly loves and loses

A shy, bespectacled young girl one fine day wakes up to find that she is suddenly getting all the male gaze that has eluded her all these years. Turns out, it's because she is now pretty and attractive, and basically, everything that gets a boy's attention. You have two of her friends now jostling over her trying to win her love. Sounds familiar? It definitely does since this pretty much forms the basis of most of your teen dramas. Amazon Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty fits this bracket perfectly. In fact, the makers seem to have gone out of their way to portray Belly (Lola Tung), the protagonist of the show, as a teenager who has found the key to hotness and desirability.

A recap of Season 1

Despite being a cliché rom-com/teen drama, Belly and her family and friends seem to keep you hooked. In the first season, we saw Belly’s trip to Cousins where she has been spending the summer at her mother’s (Laurel) best friend’s (Susannah Fisher) beach house for years. Belly shares a great relationship with Susannah who has two sons – Conrad and Jeremiah. The brothers have known Belly since forever. But this summer (the one where she turned pretty) is special since Belly has turned into a beautiful 15-year-old who has both brothers falling for her. She finds herself torn between the two, besides exploring new friendships and a whole new time in Cousins. But in the midst of all this, she also comes to learn that Susannah is battling. The season ended with Belly at her debutante ball, finding herself caught in a love triangle. Who does Belly end up with in The Summer I Turned Pretty?

A lowdown on Season 2(No spoilers!)

The second season kicks off with Belly now back home, months after the debutante ball. Another summer is approaching, but this year Belly and her family are not going to Cousins. Things are no longer the same and a lot has happened in the months gone by. The show runs in flashbacks where the makers slowly reveal what transpired in the months since the deb ball. We are made aware of Susannah’s cancer, Belly’s love life and who she ended up choosing – Jeremiah or Conrad.

But the present is a far cry from last year’s summer and everything she experienced. The relationship she shared with the Fisher family isn’t the same anymore. Belly is trying to adjust to the new reality but soon finds that she can no longer avoid the past. An incident leads her back to Cousins where she finds herself re-engaging with things she thought could no longer happen. The flashbacks, where Belly is basically telling the story of what happened, layer by layer reveal the reasons behind why things are the way they are today.

Meanwhile, Belly and the Fisher boys are faced with a new problem in Cousins which sees them all come together. It isn’t something they can fight alone, but nevertheless, they are determined to try. Belly’s brother Steven and her friend Taylor also join them.

While in the first season,Belly found love, in the second, she is grieving over the loss of it. Belly now understands how quickly things can change and a childhood dream might not always bring you happiness.

Should you watch it?

If you have watched the first season, then there is no reason for you to skip the second season. There are a lot of things you would want answers to, especially,who does Belly endup with - Jeremiah or Conrad? Or someone else entirely?

For those of you who have been thinking about giving it a watch, go ahead, you won’t be disappointed, especially if you love romcoms/ teen and high school dramas.

The first three of the eight episodes will be available to watch on July 14 on Amazon Prime Video, with the rest dropping one by one on Fridays.

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