The Summer I Turned Pretty

By Srijani Jana

Edited by Nandana

I am sure you must be familiar with The summer I turned pretty? I mean right now it's a global sensation and a series you can rage bait on. It's based on the trilogy written by Jenny Han. Now if you were introduced tothe book first and a romance novel person on top, you must have loved it to the core. Personally speaking, I avoid romance novels, and when I say this is the sole book series I'm actually in love with, trust me I'm not lying. In the book, Belly is not just a character, but a mirror for all the teenage girls. She is an emotion. Readers can actually feel her while reading. On the other hand, if I talk about the series adaptation ... .is it the same? In the book, Belly is innocent and caught up in her emotions and her inner monologues reveal her actual thoughts and feelings. Whereas, in the series, Belly comes across as more outspoken and modern and socially confident. Here, Belly is more expressive than in the book, where she is often more passive. The series obviously has changed a lot of the plot presented in the book. Conrad Fisher's character does not have much extreme alteration but in the series, he is characterised as a person with expanded emotional depth and he shows more vulnerability. He is portrayed as someone who always puts others' feelings above his own. Whereas in the book, there are a lot of instances where he takes care of his emotions as well. Jeremiah Fisher is being portrayed as a person with no emotional maturity and sometimes even selfish in the series. This is not at all true, as in the book, even when he does become unreasonable, he is also quick to resolve. Susannah's character has blossomed more in the series, as they have shown her side of the story very beautifully. The way the series is full of minute details about why she did what she did is amazing.

Overall, we see a stark contrast in the way the whole plot has been presented in the book versus in the series. The book has a more poetic style and is very introspective and feels like a breeze of nostalgia. Whereas the series is full of pop culture aesthetics enhanced with Taylor Swift soundtracks and is more bright and modern. As an avid reader I would always be the biggest fan of the book rather than the series but then again the series does bring alive the characters and satisfy our imaginations.

So..which team are you on?