Everything you need to know about The Summer I Turned Pretty ahead of the finale

As the hit young adult (YA) romance The Summer I Turned Pretty wraps up this week, here is everything you need to know about the show ahead of the finale.

– What is the show about?

The Prime Video TV series is based on the books by Jenny Han, the author who also wrote To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

The three books, The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer Without You and We’ll Always Have Summer, have been adapted into three seasons which first aired in 2022 and will come to a conclusion on Wednesday.

The coming of age series is centred around Isabel “Belly” Conklin, played by Lola Tung, as she navigates growing older, from first loves to grief to going to university, all while being caught up in a love triangle with the Fisher brothers: Conrad, played by Christopher Briney, and Jeremiah, portrayed by Gavin Casalegno.

As with many love triangles, this one has driven the internet into two camps; one for Team Conrad, the broody older brother, and the other for Team Jeremiah, the golden retriever younger brother.

– Who is watching the series and why?

Despite it being a YA romance, the series has caught the hearts – and minds – of many 20 to 30-year-olds who have become deeply invested in the series for its characters, storyline and its overwhelming nostalgia of those big firsts – the excitement of a crush, the agony of heartbreak and the all-consuming yearning that comes with it, all while backed by a soundtrack loaded with sentimental pop hits predominantly led by Taylor Swift.

– How have people reacted online?

Whether it is a mirror glaze chocolate cake or slowly eating a peach, each episode has delivered something for viewers to jump on.

The most recent trend has seen people telling their friends the plotline of the show, as if it had happened to someone they knew, while capturing the disbelief in their friends’ or colleagues’ faces.

Presenters Ant and Dec fell victim to the trend, with their reactions going viral after their colleague shared a video online.

The frenzy reached a tipping point, however, which caused the programme to put out a statement to remind fans to be respectful to the actors after many received backlash online.

The series shared a statement which said the “show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are”, followed by a video which replaced the title scene with the words “The summer we started acting normal online”.

– Why has Season Three blown up?

In the first seven days of the show’s release, the series drew in 25 million viewers and became the number one show on the streaming platform in more than 120 countries.

The series has also proved that it exists online as much as it does on streaming sites, with endless memes, edits and fan reactions consuming every angle on the internet.

Of the content shared, it is clear that the recent series has swayed audiences to one side of the love triangle, with many cheering on Conrad in the hopes that he and Belly will finally be together.

Despite the series being true to the books, showrunner Han has told audiences that the ending will be a little bit different, keeping fans wondering whether or not they will get the ending they want.

Ahead of the finale, fans saw Belly settle into her life in Paris while Conrad and Jeremiah made amends, prompting Conrad to make one final bid to win Belly back with a flight to the French capital.

The Summer I Turned Pretty finale will stream on Prime Video on Wednesday September 17.