There was a lot to celebrate even beforeThe Summer I Turned Pretty dropped its first season on Amazon Prime Video. Less than a week before the series launched on June 17, the coming-of-age, young-adult drama — adapted from author Jenny Han’s best-selling novels — earned an early pickup for season 2, guaranteeing more romance, heartbreak and growing pains for the main heroine, Belly Conklin.
The seven-episode freshman season, which largely follows the first book in Han’s trilogy, centers around Isabel “Belly” Conklin as she, her mother Laurel and her brother Steven spend their annual summer vacation at the beach house of her mom’s best friend, Susannah. While there, Belly reunites with her friends, the Fisher brothers — Jeremiah and Conrad — and finds herself at the center of a love triangle. At the end of the season, Belly’s long-harbored unrequited crush on Conrad becomes a thing of the past as they both confess their feelings for each other, complicating her other potential relationships — most notably with Jeremiah and Cam.
“It means everything,” Han, who also serves as creator and executive producer, told ET’s Cassie DiLaura in June of the season 2 renewal. “And I’ll just say that Amazon has been an amazing creative partner for the show and that they have the confidence in the show and support it to this degree is really just incredible. For me personally, as the author of the books, it’s really nice to be able to continue going on to the second one and be able to tell the story the way that I think it needs to be told.”
“It means so much,” leading lady Lola Tung, who plays Belly in her first onscreen role, echoed Han’s sentiments. “They’ve been so supportive from the beginning and we all believe in this so much and I’m so proud of the work that we did so I’m excited to keep working, keep doing it.”
“It feels good,” added Christopher Briney, who plays Conrad, while co-star Gavin Casalegno said of the chance to explore more in the series’ next chapter: “It’s an honor, seriously. Just to know that our stuff’s already appreciated… because it’s one thing to wrap and feel good about it but –” “To have that vote of confidence,” Briney chimed in, jokingly adding, “It’s nice to be employed.”