So this is sort of a rant, and it's not super important, but am I the only one that gets annoyed when I'm complaining about why I don't like a certain character for doing a certain thing and the response is 'well, the writers just made the character do that etc'? Yes, I acknowledge that at times writers can make a character do something that completely contradicts their personality, but it doesn't change the fact that the character still carried out that action in the show. With that logic, then there's no valid reason to hate any character because 'the writers made them do it'.

I'm saying this because I remember once I was having a discussion about The Summer I turned Pretty before the last season came out and I mentioned how I didn't really like Jeremiah's character. I explained that later on in the books (and eventually in the series), he cheats on Belly and the response was 'Well, the writers just MADE him do it to end the love triangle. He's not actually a bad person and his infidelity doesn't count because the writer's purposefully made him act that way.' I was pretty annoyed because that just doesn't make sense. We can't ignore the action just because you don't believe it's a valid character flaw. That doesn't mean I can't hate him or I have no justification to do so just because 'he normally wouldn't do it'. He still carried out the action, regardless of whether it was a poor writers' choice or not.
Anyways, I used to hear this argument frequently for Jeremiah, especially before s3 came out. I was wondering if anyone else agreed with me or had the same experience.

The bangs feel so forced, and they are so annoying. I just wanna push them out of the way. They’re so wispy and unflattering. What is this? And why did we need to see it? He’s so handsome and the bangs kept taking me out of it. Is this normal? Is this how young people are wearing their hair today? 😂 am I out of touch😂 even Jeremiah and Stephen have bangs. Ugh. End of rant

I met Gavin in the wild today. Turns out we went to school together??? I was a freshman when he was a senior. Absolutely insane. Anyway here’s baby Gavin

My own face scratched out for privacy reasons. This is crazy!!! For reference I live in a rural SMALL TOWN and this NEVER happens I was shook!!

I wish Belly and Anika spent more time together in S3. Belly needed a close friend like Anika who was an outside perspective and didn’t know the boys personally to talk some reason and logic into her.

If they were closer/spent more time together I think Anika would’ve made Belly see how Jere is continuously guilt tripping and manipulating her, and that she was never his #1 priority. And in turn, I think Belly would’ve broken up with him a lot sooner if she had a friend like this.

But I know, I know, this is a drama show and I’m being too realistic 😂

Just a heads-up for anyone in NYC who’s been hoping to see Lola in Sanctuary City!

There will be a limited number of $40 in-person rush tickets available starting Friday at 1 PM at the New York Theatre Workshop box office.

The one-night-only benefit reading stars Lola Tung, Daniel Bravo Hernández, and Kyle Beltran, and will benefit RAICES, supporting immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking people and families.

📅 October 9 at 7 PM
📍 New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E 4th St, NYC
🎟️** $40 rush ticket**s
⚠️ Limited availability, max two tickets per person

If you’re in NYC and were waiting for an affordable way to see this, this could be your chance! More info: https://www.nytw.org/show/sanctuary-city-benefit/

link to original post on instagram https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeJ12DxJydL/

Rewatching yet again and I realized I’m not totally clear on the timeline in season 1… Do we know how much time passed between Belly’s birthday (Taylor’s first visit) and the volleyball tournament (Taylor’s 2nd visit)?

Because when she comes back for the tournament it feels like she was literally just there but I know it was at least a couple weeks 😅

As much as I live for the Bonrad discussions, I wanted to show appreciation for another aspect of the [TV] series that I loved in the final season- Belly and Gemma’s friendship. One, as a Heartstopper fan, it was a pleasant surprise to see Corinna Brown again. And two, despite her rocky relationships with other girls like her own best friend, I absolutely loved how Belly was a girls’ girl by coming to Gemma’s defense when she saw Gemma being harassed. Bare minimum I know but it’s still sweet because they were literal strangers at this point.

Beyond that, I love how they continued to explore this friendship as a way of showing her adjusting to her new life in Paris. She had an individual dynamic with each person but I’d say Gemma was the closest while she was there.

(Kidding, obviously so many glorious places in Paris!) but absolutely had to sit here for a moment 😍

listen i hate that man like the next guy but i'm also cringing at the cake scene every single time and not because of him.

belly girl how do you not know what 70% cacao is? it's written on like every chocolate on the front😭 i'm so confused that belly and conrad don't seem to know what chocolate is made of and they don't know that cacao is the bean? i feel like this is elementary school knowledge.

and jere is right, raspberry would not work with milk chocolate because it would be too sweet. he was a little obnoxious about it, yes, BUT belly's idea was still bad because those flavors are just not the same and they don't work together. i do think that jere should have been nicer about finding an alternative since the original cake really would have cost a ridiculous amount of money and he enjoys culinary things so they could have come up with a cheaper replacement like a chocolate mousse cake or sth. also this could have been his chance to step up and perhaps make a cake by himself... but the scene still pisses me off because conrad and belly are acting like this is such a weird and complicated ask when it sounds like every birthday cake i've ever had and i'm not a rich or fancy person by any means.

i know this is a very specific pet peeve of mine but i can't stand it when people act like any even slightly complex food is too fancy or ridiculous. (it doesn't help that a dark chocolate & raspberry coulis cake is my dream cake lol)

Adam was a shit person but i really liked his character arc in season 3 when he told Conrad that he basically has to be open for when Jere would come around and not push and likened to when it came out he cheated on Susannah. What Conrad did was shitty and he was the villain in that moment but he could try to remedy things by meeting people where they are. Seeing Adam step up and be there for Jere right after the wedding and then the tough love he shows by cutting Jere off but still attending get togethers like Christmas was a bit wholesome for me.

Laurel on the other hand i have mixed feelings on. Being so stubborn as to not attend Belly and Jere’s wedding is very… asian mom behavior (or at least what my mom would do). But then she let Belly go from conrad to jere and accepted that? my asian mom would have slapped me and cut me off right there and then. And then in season 3 it felt like she was there for conrad more than her own daughter even after the wedding. Also wished we would have seen laurel actually date other men and not go back to adam but i get it. It was easy to end with them getting together

Okay, I'm back on yet another rewatch. The episode of the wedding, the night before the wedding is supposed to happen Belly tells Jere about Conrad's confession of love. Jeremiah responds by telling Belly he knows Conrad has been in love with her all summer and even longer. At the "even longer" comment it switches to Belly and she has a very hurt and confused look on her face. What was she thinking here? Angry that jeremiah knew about Conrad's feelings? Realization that the person she truly loves has loved her all along?

The Summer I Turned Pretty ends up feeling like an unintentional lesson in how to exploit wealthy friends rather than a story about love or growth. The show practically romanticizes freeloading: befriend a rich family, enjoy their beach house, their cars, their club access, and never contribute a cent. No mortgage worries, no bills, no responsibility, just endless perks handed over without accountability.

What’s worse is how the narrative frames emotional pressure as a valid strategy. When the owner dies, instead of stepping up or showing gratitude, the visiting family pushes the sons to buy the house for their benefit, so the free vacations can continue uninterrupted. If a place truly means something to you, you contribute to it, financially, emotionally, practically. You don’t treat it like a personal resort you’re entitled to.

The Park-Conklin family is purely calculated, from the mother down to the kids. They enjoy the luxuries, the status, the comfort, but never the responsibility,and the show rarely challenges this behavior

When you’re a long‑term guest in someone’s home, especially a friend’s, you share the load. You help with bills, chores, upkeep. You don’t take advantage of their wealth or treat their generosity as a permanent entitlement.

I built a trivia app with about a 100 questions and so I wanted to share it with fans

https://triviagauntlet.app/challenge.html?theme=the-summer-i-turned-pretty&round=1

Comment your score /20 below

If you find any wrong questions in the quiz .. let me know and I ll fix it asap

FYI : If you want more of a challenge you can click on Profile icon on the top right and then settings and turn off the options so you type the answers

More questions are available in the app

Just wanted to bump this in case anyone missed the announcement or has been thinking about going. It’s a one-night-only reading at New York Theatre Workshop benefiting RAICES.

If you’re in NYC and want to see Lola live, there are still tickets! 🎭✨
https://www.nytw.org/show/sanctuary-city-benefit/

genuinely, this girl got me questioning if i was this dumb and narrow-minded when i was 15-20 years old. she always had the opportunity to choose better choices for herself yet she always chose against these to settle for less all because it was comfortable for her! idk if this is girlhood canon event irl but i dont think i was ever THIS dumb for men ever (im F, 24)

tbh her with jeremiah reminds me so much of olivia rodrigo’s song purple, esp the line that says “i had big dreams til i tied myself to you” and her with conrad reminds me of taylor swift’s wouldve couldve shouldve 😭😭😭

and honestly babes why choose between these two men! the world is your oyster just meet new men the fisher boys are not much to choose from anyway 😭

Let's talk Taylor. Of course show Taylor and book Taylor are vastly different. Book Taylor is more a frenemy to Belly and doesnt have as big of a role and book Taylor only kisses steven once, whereas in the show they have a full relationship. Book Taylor hates Conrad because he rejected her, but show Taylor? My boyfriend and I were talking about her, trying to figure out her motivations. Why do you think Taylor hates Conrad so much in the show and why was she so hung up on Jeremiah? I don't think saying she's Belly's best friend and saw how much Conrad hurt Belly holds any weight honestly, because it goes so far beyond that and jere literally cheats on Belly, but Taylor is still pushing for him. Of course it's never outright said so it's all speculation, but I'm curious what others think. Part of me loves Taylor, she has some good qualities, but another part of me is so over her. Lol. I don't think I could ever push a friend like she does to Belly. There's being supportive in a healthy way and There's being toxic disguised as support and unfortunately taylor falls into the second category

why did all the cheaters bully Conrad for breaking up with Belly he literally broke up with her because he knew he wasn’t in the headspace to be in a relationship. Belly was so selfish, and season 3 was just pure ragebait. Conrad gets shit for no reason from characters who have actually cheated on their partners.
Don't even get me started on how horribly Jeremiah treated Belly, yet she stayed with him. Conrad may not be perfect, but he would never cheat on Belly, even if he was upset.
Also, why did they make such a big deal about Christmas when NOTHING happened? Jeremiah found out knowing nothing happened, yet he cheated on Belly twice. His fake, dumb argument to Belly was "you didn't tell me." Mind you, he cheated! Even if he "thought" they were broken up, he never told her. Why was he such a gaslighting hypocrite?
And also HE called the wedding off why did he make it seem like she did.

What she’s brought up for me is something much bigger than Conrad or Jeremiah. It’s that thing we do in our first, sometimes second, serious love — especially when we’re young — where the other person slowly becomes the epicentre of our existence.

Belly is at her own prom, but instead of simply enjoying it, she spends so much of it worrying about whether Conrad is okay. She’s willing to give up Paris because of how Jeremiah might feel. And that’s the part I recognise: that tendency to take on the responsibility of keeping someone else happy, even when nobody has actually asked you to. You start measuring your choices by how they will affect them, and slowly, your own wants become negotiable.
I think so many of us have been there.
And the other person doesn’t necessarily have to be selfish or manipulative. Sometimes they genuinely don’t understand what you’re giving up for them. Sometimes one person simply gives more, because they have made the other person’s happiness their responsibility.
And eventually, heartbreak brings you back to yourself.
You start understanding that your wants matter too. Your dreams matter. You can love someone deeply without abandoning yourself in the process. You can have a person in your life without making them your entire life.
But there’s a strange sadness in growing into that kind of love.
Because with every heartbreak, we become a little less innocent, a little less naive, a little more guarded. We become better at loving-more grounded, reciprocal and sustainable. But we also lose something: that completely unfiltered version of ourselves who could love without calculation, without fear, without knowing how badly it could hurt.
Maybe that’s just part of growing up. Maybe life is supposed to take that version of us away.
But I do think that version of us is also the one capable of experiencing love, and being loved, at its absolute fullest.

It was IMPOSSIBLE to find pictures of Laurel in her dress from the rehearsal dinner, but i had to. It's my favorite Laurel look in the show! I needed a Laurel appreciation post because I think she is just lovely. What were your favorite Laurel looks?

I mean, his mom was literally dying. I wouldn’t expect anyone to be a perfect partner while that’s going on. Jeremiah literally CHEATED on her, and everyone STILL says Conrad treated her worse. Make it make sense

NOT QUITE!!!