The Summer I Turned Pretty premiered on Amazon Prime this June. Keeping in line with the fashion nowadays, the show has a limited trajectory of 7 episodes. It revolves around teen life and all the dysfunctional changes that accompany it. Isabel is stuck in a love triangle between two brothers. Complications around first love tug at their hearts. The choices they make will ascertain their love lives by either making or breaking their hearts. It’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime. At the same time, it’s not just about others perceiving you to be pretty.
The show pays great attention to how one sees and accepts oneself. An exchange between Belly and Conrad sums it up really well. Conrad points out that he liked her ‘better with her glasses’. In response to that, Belly confidently shuts his claims out by saying “Too bad, cause I like myself without them.” If you’ve recently finished watching this romantic drama and are looking for some similar content to get into next, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some more shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty.
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Shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty:
1. Heartstopper
This Netflix rom-com series is like The Summer I Turned Pretty as both of them navigate through the phase of teen life. The changes in one’s physical surroundings, as well as one’s psychology, shape a young adult’s life. Heartstopper takes us on a ride while Charlie and Nick learn new dimensions to their friendship. Based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel of the same name, this show brings the ‘opposites attract’ vision to light in a more jovial and hearty manner.
2. One Tree Hill
One of the OG shows of the 2000s, One Tree Hill shows that the concept of ‘home’ is established by the people who surround you. It is the typical example of a teen drama depicting how love, hatred, friendships, and your family play a major in shaping one’s individuality. Sometimes your own family falls short in standing by your side, and that’s when you choose your own set of people to stick with through thick or thin. Like The Summer I Turned Pretty, One Tree Hill thrives on the brotherly bond dynamic as well. And as Keith Scott said, “Most people are stronger than they know. They just forget to believe in it sometimes.”
3. Dash & Lily
Adapted from David Levithan and Rachel Cohn’s holiday-themed book titled “Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares”, this Netflix show is all about taking chances. Lily makes up a “challenge” book and leaves it in a bookstore in the hopes of someone finding it. As fate has it, Dash picks it up and must complete the series of challenges listed therein to finally meet Lily. The series has almost the same number of episodes as The Summer I Turned Pretty. Therefore, both of them are easy and light-hearted to watch when you’re feeling a bit mellow.
4. Everything Sucks
The title says it all. When you’re a teenager stuck in high school, everything seems to be a big deal and out of place. Everything Sucks portrays the clashing relationship between two contrasting cliques – the A/V club and the Drama club. Highlighting all the angst felt through one’s teen life, the show is set in the ’90s. Each student has his/her own story to deal with as they struggle to find their identity on their way to adulthood.
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5. Atypical
This is Sam’s coming-of-age story. An 18 year on the autism spectrum settles with the plan of finding a girlfriend. However, doing so puts him at crossroads with his mother while he struggles to establish his own sense of independence. The show strides close to a realistic representation of what it’s like to come to terms with autism as a young adult and how it impacts your family as a whole. On the same track as The Summer I Turned Pretty, Atypical also dives into heartbreaks surrounding young love.
6. Never Have I Ever
The latest Gen-Z Dramedy on the block introduces an Indian-American teenager who wishes to fit in with the ‘cool’ crowd at school. In hopes of turning her life and social status around, she has to tackle not only her parents’ and friends’ expectations but also her own entangled feelings.
7. Looking For Alaska
And here we have yet another book adaptation with the coming-of-age genre at its focus, like The Summer I Turned Pretty. This 2019 mini-TV series turns a new chapter in the life of Miles Halter. His simple and linear life gets capsized upon entering Culver Creek Boarding School and meeting the incredibly unabashed Alaska. People who grew up watching classic teen dramas like Gossip Girl and The OC will fall for the nostalgic soundtrack adopted by Looking For Alaska.
8. Love Alarm
Kdramas are infamously known for thriving on the trope of love triangles. Love Alarm is one such drama series like The Summer I Turned Pretty which complicates love issues by entangling the lives of three people together. Hye Yeong has a crush on Jo-Jo and chooses to love her from afar. His friend Hwang Sun Oh’s return stirs up some drama. Initially, he encourages Hye Yeong to make the move but in the meantime, he too develops feelings for her. While Hye Yeong holds back, Sun Oh moves forward and kisses Jo Jo. Following this incident, the two started dating. Jo Jo, however, is still unaware of Hye Yeong’s feelings. Thus, further complicating the relationship between the three.
9. Sex Education
The Netflix original has crossed 3 seasons already and will eventually be returning with its fourth installment. Sex Education brings the life of the students of Moordale Secondary School to the forefront, where teenagers are caught in a tug of war for their personal intimate lifestyles. All their insecurities, mostly due to their lack of sexual awareness, rise to the surface but their questions are left unanswered. The pre-established ideas regarding the same in society push them aside as a matter of taboo.
This is when Otis comes to the rescue of his peers with his ever-brimming pieces of sexual advice, thanks to the guidance of sex therapist Dr. Jean F. Milburn, who also happens to be his mother. By owning up to this inside knowledge, Otis gains access to conversations with people across cliques in his school. The more he gets to know people, the more he comes to face his own social awkwardness. And it comes to show that he may not be far from needing therapy himself.
10. Switched At Birth
The title of the series gives it all away. Two girls upon being switched at the time of their birth, grow up in completely contrasting environments. The accidental unfolding of the truth lands their two families together under one roof where the girls are forced to come to an understanding while assessing the situation. As they try their best to cope with their struggling and mistaken identities, they also strive to look for common ground. Doing so often leads to arising tensions among the star-crossed family members.
The ABC Family drama came out with its first season back in 2011 and was appreciated for being one of “the first mainstream TV series to have several deaf and hard-of-hearing regulars” on the show. Multiple shots of the series were even filmed using American Sign Language.
