14 Big Differences Between the Summer I Turned Pretty Books and the TV Show So Far

It's common for books to have a limited point of view to tell a story, but it doesn't always work quite as efficiently on screen. In the book, we see the plot unfold through Belly's emotions and experiences. The show, however, widens its lens and tells the stories of the surrounding characters, which could increase the longevity of the series beyond the three-book arc because there is so much more ground to cover.

Belly's mom, Laurel, who is a published author on the show, has a fling with a local author named Cleveland Castillo. We're more privy to Conrad struggling to keep his mom's cancer a secret, working with Cleveland for the summer, and confiding in him now that he's on the outs with his dad. On the show, Steven dates a girl named Shayla at Cousins, and we see him develop hobbies outside of that like playing poker.