Book recommendations for fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty
The Summer I Turned Pretty is finally back for season 2, and if the show has got you craving the perfect beach read in between weekly episodes, you're in luck!
The Prime Video TV series follows Belly Conklin, a teenage girl who spends her summers at the magical Cousins Beach at her mom's friend's beach house.
As Belly grows up, summer becomes a bit different, and she finds herself caught in a love triangle with brothers Conrad and Jeremiah, whose mom owns the house.
With swoon-worthy romance, heartwrenching drama, and quite a few Taylor Swift songs, The Summer I Turned Pretty is a dreamy escape.
These beach reads will help fill the void between episodes and channel your main character energy this summer!
A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Namey
A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is another swoon-worthy teen love story that is the perfect fix for fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty's romances — whether you're Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah!
After losing her grandma and being dumped by her boyfriend, Lila Reyes heads to Winchester, England, for some time away with family friends.
As she tries to find a sense of home in the quaint town, Lila meets Orion Maxwell, a local tea seller.
Despite her initial frustrations with life across the pond, Lila finds herself wondering what the future could hold if she lets go of the life she had planned for herself.
A selection for Reese Witherspoon's YA book club, A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is set to be adapted as a movie starring Maia Reficco and Heartstopper's Kit Connor.
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
If you're drawn to the emotional side of The Summer I Turned Pretty, I'll Give You the Sun is the perfect choice for you.
Jandy Nelson's novel follows twins Noah and Jude in alternating first-person timelines as readers learn what drew these once-inseparable siblings apart.
I'll Give You the Sun perfectly reflects the simultaneous beauty and terror of adolescence through artistic imagery and characters you'll not soon forget.
Believe the five-star reviews: this book is worth the hype!
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
Along for the Ride follows a teen named Auden, who spends the summer in a cozy beach town with her dad.
Like The Summer I Turned Pretty, Auden finds herself encountering many of the hallmarks of adolescence for the first time in this idyllic setting.
After Auden meets Eli, an enigmatic lone-wolf type, the pair strike up an unexpected bond.
A deeply relatable coming-of-age tale, Along for the Ride is a summertime tale like no other.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
If you love the beach town setting of The Summer I Turned Pretty but have a penchant for mystery, We Were Liars is the book for you.
This thriller is the story of Cadence Sinclair, a teen who spends each summer on her wealthy family's private island.
Despite the lavish setting, the island holds family secrets that have threatened to tear them apart for years - secrets that may have already done so.
After suffering a head injury two years prior, Cadence returns to the island to recover the memories of what really happened that fateful summer.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
A teen fiction classic, you can't go wrong with The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
The novel follows Hazel Grace, a 17-year-old battling thyroid cancer, who strikes up an unexpected friendship with Augustus Waters after meeting in a support group.
As the pair's bond grows into something more, their mutual love for a novel that ended in the middle of a sentence sends them on a quest for answers.
Embodying the best of young adult fiction, The Fault in Our Stars is a poignant and unflinching honest reflection on life's biggest heartbreaks and why they're worth suffering.
The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.
Cover photo: Collage: Unsplash/@socialcut & IMAGO / Everett Collection