Series · young adult
The Summer I Turned Pretty
The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009).
- Books
- 3 books
- First published
- 2009
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Summer I Turned Pretty - Book 2:
It's Not Summer Without You
Alternative text for cover: Cover of It's Not Summer Without You - Book 3:
We'll Always Have Summer
Alternative text for cover: Cover of We'll Always Have Summer
About The Summer I Turned Pretty
The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy follows Isabel "Belly" Conklin across the summers she spends at Cousins Beach with her mother's best friend's family, growing from an awkward younger sister figure into someone both brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, notice differently. Jenny Han tells the story in Belly's first-person voice, jumping between present-day summers and flashbacks to earlier ones, tracking a slow-building love triangle alongside real grief and family strain as the beach-house matriarch's illness reshapes both families over the trilogy. It's a foundational YA summer romance, credited with popularizing the modern love-triangle beach read well before it became a Prime Video hit starring Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno.
The three books cover three consecutive, escalating summers, each raising the stakes on Belly's choice between the brothers while the wider Conklin-Fisher family relationship strains and reforms around illness, divorce, and growing up.
How to read this series
Read the trilogy in publication order — The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, We'll Always Have Summer — which is also the story's chronological order, one escalating summer after another. There are no companion novellas or spin-off books; the story is told in full within the three novels, though the Prime Video adaptation has since expanded some side-character material beyond what's on the page.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in The Summer I Turned Pretty series?
Three: The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009), It's Not Summer Without You (2010) and We'll Always Have Summer (2011).
What order should I read The Summer I Turned Pretty in?
Publication order, which is also story order: The Summer I Turned Pretty, then It's Not Summer Without You, then We'll Always Have Summer.
Does Belly end up with Conrad or Jeremiah?
We won't spoil the ending here — read We'll Always Have Summer, the trilogy's final book, to find out.
Is The Summer I Turned Pretty finished as a book series?
Yes, the original trilogy is complete at three books; Jenny Han has not published a fourth novel in the print series, though the Prime Video TV adaptation continues to expand the story on screen.
Is the TV show based on all three books?
Yes — Prime Video's adaptation (2022-) follows the trilogy across its seasons, with Jenny Han serving as showrunner, and the show has added scenes and subplots beyond the original three novels.
Reading order last verified .