With the season 3 finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty just around the corner, fans are bracing for an ending that could look very different from the books. As the show barrels toward its final episode next week, it’s becoming clear that the series is taking big swings with Jenny Han’s original story—and might not deliver the same happily-ever-after readers remember from We’ll Always Have Summer.
Showrunner and author Jenny Han recently teased that viewers shouldn’t expect the finale to mirror the original books’ ending, no matter how closely it may seem to follow Belly and Conrad’s love story at times.
“There is so much that is going to surprise fans about how much we’re showing of Belly in Paris and the whole ending,” Jenny told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s not just an epilogue.”
In Han’s final novel, Belly and Conrad’s reunion plays out almost entirely off-page. After drifting apart, Belly heads to Spain to study abroad and begins receiving heartfelt letters from Conrad. They eventually reconnect at her college graduation, with their relationship quietly rekindled in just two short pages.
But the show has already rewritten that trajectory in a big way. Instead of Spain, Belly is studying in Paris—a change Han says she’s “always” envisioned—and she’s decided to extend her stay instead of returning home for graduation. “There’s just so much to living on your own, for the first time, in a foreign place, and that’s important for Belly as she’s growing up,” Han explained to EW, noting that Belly’s Paris storyline spans multiple episodes to showcase her personal growth.
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Meanwhile, the penultimate episode ended with Conrad booking a flight to Paris to see her, a move that has “Team Conrad” fans buzzing that a romantic reunion could still be on the horizon. Still, given all the twists so far, it’s anyone’s guess if they’ll actually rekindle their romance—or if Han is setting up something entirely new.
Han, 45, has been dropping hints since before the season’s July premiere that the ending won’t be as straightforward as fans might expect. She’s admitted she doesn’t “like too neat of an ending” and prefers to leave things “hopeful,” though she promised longtime fans that the most beloved book moments will still make it onscreen.
“There are a couple of moments that people really love from the books that I knew that people were wanting to see,” she told People. However, she warned, they “might not always happen in the way that you’re expecting.”
“I wanted to make sure that I was going to really service those fans who’ve been following the story for a really long time,” she added.
