After its debut in June 2022 that captured the hearts of countless viewers and hopeless romantics around the world, it was all but certain that The Summer I Turned Pretty would get a second season. The coming-of-age drama based on Jenny Han’s young adult fiction trilogy of the same name quickly became one of the most popular book-to-screen adaptations in recent memory, and its second season became one of the most anticipated follow-ups in even quicker fashion.
Well, in not all that much time, we’ll get to pick back up with Belly Conklin’s complicated love life and dramatic teenage years, as the popular Amazon Prime Video series is preparing for its return. Below is everything we know about The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2, including its premiere date, cast (both returning and new faces), and a hint at what the second chapter in Han’s sentimental saga has in store for us.
What Is The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Premiere Date?
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 is set to premiere Friday, July 14 on Amazon Prime Video, meaning there isn’t much time to wait until the second chapter in Jenny Han’s sprawling coming-of-age drama kicks off.
Prime Video has announced that the first three episodes will be available upon the show’s second season debut, with the remaining five chapters being released every Friday until the finale airs on August 18th. This is a departure from Season 1, which was released all at once. Though the three-episode drop will give fans the chance to binge a large portion of the sophomore season in one sitting, we’ll have to let the anticipation build for the remaining parts of the eight-episode second installment.
Most Of The Primary Cast Returns For Season 2
The vast majority of The Summer I Turned Pretty cast that we all fell in love with last year will be returning for Season 2, Amazon has announced. This means we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of Belly Conklin (Lola Tung), Laurel Park (Jackie Chung), Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard), Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney), Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno), Cam (David Iacono), Steven Conklin (Sean Kaufman), John Conklin (Colin Ferguson), Adam Fisher (Tom Everett Scott), and the other returning characters and the actors who portrayed them in the first go around.
However, there will be one major character not featured in the second season, as Minnie Mills’s Shayla won’t be returning for the show’s sophomore effort. In an April 2023 Instagram post, Mills revealed that her character won’t be featured, but that she “would love to continue her story” if given the opportunity in the future.
Kyra Sedgwick And Elsie Fisher Are New Additions For Season 2
In addition to the returning members of the show’s cast, Season 2 will also feature some new faces when it premieres on July 14. Back in August 2022, Deadline reported that Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick, as well as Elsie Fisher, had joined the large ensemble, though their characters were not revealed at the time.
When speaking with E! News a couple of months after joining the cast, Fisher was mostly tight-lipped about her character, though she did reveal that her role was created specifically for the show and was not part of the books on which the series was based. The actress, whose previous appearances include the Despicable Me movies and Bo Burnham’s 2018 coming-of-age comedy, Eighth Grade, said her character is different from those she has played in the past.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Will See The Future Of The Beloved Beach House In Jeopardy
Not a whole lot has been revealed about the plot heading into The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2, but Amazon has hinted at what fans of the series can expect this time around. When an unexpected (and unrevealed) visitor arrives on the scene and threatens the future of Susannah’s house on Cousins Beach, Belly will have to get the whole gang back together, and on the same page, to see things through.
But, that wasn’t the only tease provided by Amazon in the lead-up to the Season 2 premiere, as the next installment will also see the return of Susannah’s cancer, which could potentially lead to the future of her beloved beach house that has been at the epicenter of so many memories (both good and bad) being even more up in the air.
Let’s also not forget about the love triangle involving Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah, which will surely be a major part of the drama moving forward.
Season 2 WIll Draw From Jenny Han’s It’s Not Summer Without You
The first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty was based on Jenny Han’s 2009 novel of the same name, and it’s safe to say there was a lot of speculation about whether or not the second installment would use the follow-up novel – It’s Not Summer Without You – as the source material. Well, Amazon has announced that the upcoming season will in fact be drawing from Han’s 2010 young adult romance.
In May 2022, Han, who also created The Summer I Turned Pretty TV adaptation, sat down with EW to discuss the inclusion of the “Hot Cocoa” scene from the book, and why she felt so strongly about including the flashback involving Belly and Conrad in the series:
Any time that there is a scene in the books that I know is really important to the readers, it's something that I try to keep sacred for the show.
But, Han did admit that while the scene does play out in the show similar to way it did in the book, she made some slight changes to the dynamic between the two young lovers.
How The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 1 Ended
Though there were some major differences between the book and show, The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 1 ending created an unforgettable moment that did a perfect job of setting up the second installment, while also leaving fans wondering about the future of Belly and Conrad after finally kissing one another on the beach.
In the lead-up to that instant-classic moment, Conrad and his brother, Jeremiah, got into a fight at Belly’s debutante ball, but the scuffle wasn’t entirely because of the season-long love triangle between the three. Instead, the brothers were fighting over Conrad not telling Jeremiah he knew about their mother’s cancer diagnosis all along.
With those stories, as well as other plot threads carrying over into the next set of episodes, there’s going to be a lot going on in Season 2.
Expect to hear more about The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 as we get closer to its July 14 premiere. In the meantime, you can get caught up with the show’s second season, as well as numerous other shows on the 2023 TV schedule, with an Amazon Prime subscription.
