Jenny Han’s YA love triangle has become more than a bingeable teen drama. Boardroom explores how the series tapped into Tumblr nostalgia, fueled TikTok fandom, and turned into a global streaming juggernaut.
Call it YA if you want, but The Summer I Turned Pretty has grown into something much bigger.
Since the series debuted on Amazon Prime Video, it has become a breakout hit that has reshaped the way young adult stories live on streaming. Over the course of three seasons, the series captivated a global audience with its beachy aesthetic, love-triangle drama, and a soundtrack designed to bridge generations.
This is the story of how a small beachside drama evolved into a worldwide obsession, one that resonated across generations, including teens experiencing their first romances, millennials chasing nostalgia, and parents connecting through family dynamics. Behind the fanfare lies a strong formula: a blend of Y2K and Tumblr-era nostalgia, a blockbuster music strategy, fandom-fueled lore, and the kind of momentum that turned it into a true streaming juggernaut
From Page to Prime
The journey began in 2009, when Jenny Han introduced readers to Isabel “Belly” Conklin and the Fisher brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah, in her bestselling YA novel The Summer I Turned Pretty. The trilogy became a fan favorite, blending romance, family, and the bittersweet glow of summers that feel like they’ll last forever.
More than a decade later, Prime Video adapted the books into a series, premiering the first season in June 2022. It immediately struck a chord, becoming the platform’s #1 show during its launch weekend. Within just three weeks of the show’s debut, The Summer I Turned Pretty hashtag racked up more than 1.3 billion views on TikTok, while Jenny Han’s original trilogy shot back up the Amazon Best Sellers list, with all three books reclaiming top spots.
The second season doubled down on the drama and the momentum in 2023 after it more than doubled its predecessor’s viewership within just three days. By the time Season 3 premiered this summer, the series had grown into a global juggernaut, drawing 25 million viewers worldwide in its first week and ranking as Prime Video’s fifth most-watched returning season.
This steady climb showed that the appeal wasn’t niche. The show was pulling in a diverse, multigenerational audience: Gen Z fueling the fandom online, millennials driven by nostalgia, and even parents drawn to its storylines about friendship, motherhood, and growing pains.
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Tumblr Core and Gen Z Lore
What sets TSITP apart from other YA shows is the way it leans into nostalgia while feeling distinctly modern. Its hazy cinematography, soft beach lighting, and romanticized love triangle echo the teen dramas of the early 2000s — from The O.C. to One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl — that defined an bygone generation.
At the same time, the show leans into the Tumblr-era aesthetic of the 2010s, with pivotal moments scored by Taylor Swift, GIF-able longing stares, and visuals that naturally translate into fan edits. It recreates the vibe of scrolling through a perfectly curated dashboard, but updates it for a TikTok-native generation who experience stories across platforms as much as on screen.
Layered on top of its Y2K-inspired teen drama roots, the result is a nostalgia that feels both familiar and refreshed, a style that speaks directly to Gen Z while resonating with millennials who grew up on this kind of storytelling. Cousins Beach, in turn, became more than just a backdrop. It’s presented as an idealized summer space, part mood board, part memory, and a cultural touchpoint audiences can keep coming back to.
Jenny Han’s dual role as the author and showrunner/executive producer makes all the difference. She’s not just translating her books; she’s reinterpreting them, choosing what to preserve, what to reimagine, and how to let Belly evolve in new ways. Many of the emotional beats, like the Summer-at-Paris arc, the complicated family dynamics, and the slow build of reconnection with Conrad, were carefully mapped from the start.
And Han’s track record speaks for itself. Starting with her best-selling novel To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Han has mastered transforming youthful lovelorn stories into cinematic hits on Netflix. Later, the expansion of the universe with the spinoff series XO, Kitty, proved that she can translate YA worlds into screen experiences that feel intimate but work on large platforms.
The Music That Met the Moment
Of course, no discussion of TSITP is complete without its soundtrack. Prime Video pulled from the deepest Gen Z and millennial crates, licensing tracks from big names such as Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Frank Ocean, Phoebe Bridgers, and Bleachers. These weren’t throwaway background songs; they became emotional anchors, punctuating major moments and sending fans straight to their preferred music streaming platforms after each episode.
The rumored music budget became lore in of itself. Fans have long speculated about just how much Prime Video was spending, but the payoff was clear. Each needle drop became a marketing moment, sparking TikTok edits, trending hashtags, and even streaming spikes for artists.
Han has been open about just how intentional the show’s music choices were. She has said that certain songs were non-negotiable, even writing a handwritten note to Taylor Swift to secure the rights for “The Way I Loved You (Taylor’s Version)” in the Season 1 finale. She also told her music team exactly which tracks mattered most to the story, explaining how a lyric or melody would elevate a dialogue-light scene or carry the weight of a turning point. For Han, these songs were essential to capturing the same emotions she felt when writing the original books, with Fearless on repeat.
In many ways, the show’s cultural staying power is tied as much to its soundtrack as it is to its love triangle.
Fandom Fuel and Pop Culture Reach
Every great YA hit thrives on ‘ships, and TSITP delivered one of the most divisive in recent memory: #TeamConrad vs. #TeamJeremiah. That debate fueled endless discourse across every social media platform, where fans dissected every glance and gesture as if they were clues in a mystery.
But the fandom went beyond shipping. Playlists, memes, outfit recreations, and heartfelt Tumblr-style essays kept the show alive between seasons. The result was a community that stretched beyond teenagers: millennials, and even Gen X viewers, found themselves hooked, proving that the universal themes of first loves, heartbreak, and family transcend age.
And, I’ll admit it, I only met Belly and the Fisher boys this summer. I intentionally binged all three seasons just before the series finale aired so I could join the conversation in real time. I found myself completely swept up in the experience. Watching Belly navigate not one but two great — and, to some, controversial — loves had me feeling butterflies one moment and frustrated the next. I was anxious, excited, and sentimental all at once, like being dropped straight back into high school. That ability to make viewers relive those feelings, no matter their age, is what makes TSITP more than just a show — it’s the defining YA hit of the streaming era.
One Last Summer on the Big Screen
And just when fans thought the journey was over, Prime Video dropped one more surprise. At the red carpet for the season three finale in Paris, the streamer announced that a feature film continuation of TSITP is in the works. Han will write and direct, with longtime collaborator Sarah Kucserka co-writing.
While story details remain under wraps, Han teased that “another big milestone” in Belly’s journey could only be told on the big screen. The film is set to serve as the true final chapter, closing out a story that has spanned books, television, and now film.
It’s a fitting end for a series that has always been about more than a summer fling.
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