Every summer, Belly and her family head to the Fishers’ beach house in Cousins. Every summer is the same ... until Belly turns sixteen. Relationships will be tested, painful truths will be revealed, and Belly will be forever changed. It’s a summer of first love, first heartbreak and growing up — it's the summer she turns pretty.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.0/10
IMDb: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Metacritic: 72
TMDB: 8.1/10
Production
Amazon Studios, wiip, Sunswept Entertainment, Jenny Kissed Me, Big Red Bus, Amazon MGM Studios
Cast
Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, Rain Spencer, Jackie Chung, Isabella Briggs, Kristen Connolly
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, emotionally direct YA romance that gets by on summer atmosphere, love-triangle tension, and earnest coming-of-age stakes. It’s especially appealing if you want a breezy, melodramatic binge with strong seasonal vibes, though the emotional beats can feel repetitive and the triangle dominates the storytelling.
Best for
fans of teen romance and coming-of-age drama
viewers who like beach-town escapism and seasonal nostalgia
binge-watchers who enjoy love triangles and heightened emotions
readers of Jenny Han-style emotional, character-first storytelling
Skip if
you want tightly plotted drama with minimal melodrama
you’re tired of love-triangle storytelling
you prefer ensemble shows with broader thematic range
you dislike earnest, sometimes soapy YA tone
Overview
The Summer I Turned Pretty is built for mood: sunlit beaches, first-love ache, family nostalgia, and the kind of romantic indecision that can power an entire season. It’s easy to watch and often genuinely affecting, especially when it leans into Belly’s coming-of-age and the complicated emotional history around the Fisher family.
Worth noting
The show’s biggest strength is its emotional accessibility. It understands how to make small gestures feel enormous, and it uses summer as both setting and metaphor for a life that’s changing too fast. The performances are appealing, and the series knows how to deliver fan-service moments without losing its core sincerity.
Bottom line
That said, the series can feel stretched by its central triangle, and the repetition of romantic beats means patience is required. It’s best enjoyed as a glossy, sentimental binge rather than a deeply layered drama. If you’re in the mood for teen longing with a strong sense of place, it works well; if you want sharper plotting or more variety, it may wear thin.
2006 · Curator 9.2/10 (79.3K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A more grounded coming-of-age drama that balances romance, family, and the ache of growing up.