A coming-of-age YA novel series adapted into a three-season Amazon Prime Video TV show has completely taken over the internet. 

TikTok edits, Reddit discussions, and watch-party nights have all stemmed from the crazed media obsession over Belly Conklin, a high school girl who struggles to decide where her heart stands in a love triangle between two brothers. 

In the series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Conrad Fischer, the hot, smart, and brooding older brother, and Jeremiah Fischer, the goofy, arrogant, and outspoken younger brother, compete for Belly’s love after their feelings for her shift one summer. 

Whether you’ve read the whole book series every summer since you were fifteen, kept up with the show since its premiere in 2022, or you get all your knowledge from social media, the very obvious answer for Belly’s romantic issues is Conrad. 

Conrad is Belly’s first love, the one she longs after and the one who truly knows her.

The show’s ending intensified the debate between the brothers; despite clear signs that producers favored Conrad and Belly’s connection, there may be a deeper connection behind love triangles and young girls’ feelings. 

The title itself is a literal implication of the show’s core. 

All of the male characters in the show suddenly have feelings that shift toward Belly once she hits puberty and “turns pretty.”

Both brothers who viewed her as just a childhood friend they spent their summers with suddenly became emotionally and sexually interested in Belly when her glasses came off and her boobs came in. 

In Jenny Han’s first book of the three-novel series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, she wrote, “It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it”.

If their feelings only changed after she “turned pretty,” are they worth pining for? 

And what does that say about the messages the media sends to young girls?

Trending entertainment like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries has taken over the internet’s interest for years, and the rage is rooted in our fascination with a love triangle. 

The obsession with having two polar opposite men pining and chasing after one, young and perhaps naive girl, leads viewers into an unhealthy mindset that we just can’t get enough of. 

But, just because two men are fighting each other for you doesn’t mean your only options are them. 

Belly, similar to the female leads in the comparable media, was made to think her only two options were Conrad and Jeremiah, and audiences fell into the same trap. 

By obsessing over who’s hotter (yes, it’s Conrad), we miss the real issue: Belly stayed with Jeremiah out of comfort, not love.

In Han’s third book of the series, “We’ll Always Have Summer,” Han writes, “I’ve only ever loved two boys—both of them with the last name Fisher.”

For young girls still learning their own minds and bodies, being pressured to choose between two romantic options—especially when they’re brothers—only adds to the confusion.

While the show’s light tone may suggest a lack of depth, it still offers themes worth examining. Every production involves countless contributors, and failing to engage critically with what we watch does them a disservice.

I am team Conrad. However, I am also part of a team that believes we shouldn’t push young girls into thinking that just because two men are chasing after you, they have to pick one of them. 

I am a top consumer of romance stories, love triangles, and trending entertainment, but I also wonder about the effects pop culture fan favorites have on young people. 

So while you tune in for episode eight this Wednesday of The Summer I Turned Pretty, also consider the implications the relationship shown has on the younger audience members watching. 

A coming-of-age YA novel series adapted into a three-season Amazon Prime Video TV show has completely taken over the internet. 

TikTok edits, Reddit discussions, and watch-party nights have all stemmed from the crazed media obsession over Belly Conklin, a high school girl who struggles to decide where her heart stands in a love triangle between two brothers. 

In the series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Conrad Fischer, the hot, smart, and brooding older brother, and Jeremiah Fischer, the goofy, arrogant, and outspoken younger brother, compete for Belly’s love after their feelings for her shift one summer. 

Whether you’ve read the whole book series every summer since you were fifteen, kept up with the show since its premiere in 2022, or you get all your knowledge from social media, the very obvious answer for Belly’s romantic issues is Conrad. 

Conrad is Belly’s first love, the one she longs after and the one who truly knows her.

The show’s ending intensified the debate between the brothers; despite clear signs that producers favored Conrad and Belly’s connection, there may be a deeper connection behind love triangles and young girls’ feelings. 

The title itself is a literal implication of the show’s core. 

All of the male characters in the show suddenly have feelings that shift toward Belly once she hits puberty and “turns pretty.”

Both brothers who viewed her as just a childhood friend they spent their summers with suddenly became emotionally and sexually interested in Belly when her glasses came off and her boobs came in. 

In Jenny Han’s first book of the three-novel series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, she wrote, “It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it”.

If their feelings only changed after she “turned pretty,” are they worth pining for? 

And what does that say about the messages the media sends to young girls?

Trending entertainment like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries has taken over the internet’s interest for years, and the rage is rooted in our fascination with a love triangle. 

The obsession with having two polar opposite men pining and chasing after one, young and perhaps naive girl, leads viewers into an unhealthy mindset that we just can’t get enough of. 

But, just because two men are fighting each other for you doesn’t mean your only options are them. 

Belly, similar to the female leads in the comparable media, was made to think her only two options were Conrad and Jeremiah, and audiences fell into the same trap. 

By obsessing over who’s hotter (yes, it’s Conrad), we miss the real issue: Belly stayed with Jeremiah out of comfort, not love.

In Han’s third book of the series, “We’ll Always Have Summer,” Han writes, “I’ve only ever loved two boys—both of them with the last name Fisher.”

For young girls still learning their own minds and bodies, being pressured to choose between two romantic options—especially when they’re brothers—only adds to the confusion.

While the show’s light tone may suggest a lack of depth, it still offers themes worth examining. Every production involves countless contributors, and failing to engage critically with what we watch does them a disservice.

I am team Conrad. However, I am also part of a team that believes we shouldn’t push young girls into thinking that just because two men are chasing after you, they have to pick one of them. 

I am a top consumer of romance stories, love triangles, and trending entertainment, but I also wonder about the effects pop culture fan favorites have on young people. 

So while you tune in for episode eight this Wednesday of The Summer I Turned Pretty, also consider the implications the relationship shown has on the younger audience members watching.