The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 has already changed these 5 major things from the books

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 is an adaptation of Jenny Han's third book in her best-selling trilogy of the same name. The coming-of-age trilogy is in its final stages as the third season premieres with two episodes, and the rest are set to follow a weekly release schedule until September 17.

The finale will finally reveal who Belly ends up choosing between the two Fisher brothers. The internet is completely divided between Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah. However, after the first two episodes and Jeremiah's actions, Team Conrad seems to be leading the race.

Nevertheless, Jenny Han has also commented that even the audience who has read the books might be surprised by the ending of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3. So, here are five major changes that the series has already made, compared to the books.

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5 major changes in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, compared to the novels

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 has been a very close adaptation of the novel so far, and in some scenes, for example, Belly overhearing Lacie Barone brag about what happened in Cabo, the dialogue was exactly the same word for word as they are in the books.

However, there have been several parts of the show where prominent changes have been made compared to the novels. Here are five such major differences.

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The Time Jump is doubled

The biggest change that The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 has compared to the novels is the time jump. The third season of the show features a four-year time jump, whereas in the books, this jump is only two years.

The ages of the characters are considerably different from the book, as Belly was 15 years old in the first book, whereas in the first season of the show, she turns sixteen. This adjustment has been made to fit the storyline better, and the time jump is a similar change.

Throughout the two episodes, we get snippets of information that relay everything that has happened throughout these four years. Steven and Conrad are now out in the workforce, as Steven graduated early and Conrad has been accepted (and fired on the first day?) from a summer internship at a lab.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, despite being the same age as Steven, has to complete another semester of college to graduate, owing to some missed courses.

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Steven and Taylor's hot and cold relationship

In the novels, Steven and Taylor do not have a relationship to begin with, let alone one that has had so many complications so far. Jenny Han went completely off the books for their relationship and the many problems that it is encountering.

The second episode featured an extremely intense fight between Steven and Taylor when she asked him to let her out of the car. Steven turns his car back to follow her as she starts walking back in anger, when he is hit and ends up sustaining serious injuries. This accident is also a big change from the books, as no such accident takes place there.

Additionally, in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Steven is said to be cheating on Mia with Taylor, whom he later breaks up with to pursue a real relationship with Taylor. Even though Mia is someone we have yet to meet on the show, in the book, there's no such character.

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Laurel and John spending time together

Laurel and John, Belly and Steven's parents, are divorced in the books, as they are in the show. However, the second episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 featured them spending a lot of time together after they bumped into each other at a conference, something that does not happen in the books.

They end up getting drunk, and in the midst of it, Laurel asks for John's phone to check on the kids, as hers is dead, to which John replies that he left his in his room. They don't pay much mind to the fact, and after spending time and getting drunk together, they subsequently end up spending the night together as well. However, that little detail is why they are unavailable the whole night when Belly is trying to reach them after Steven's accident. All of this, however, is original to the show and doesn't take place in the book.

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Belly considering a semester abroad in Paris

Even though a semester abroad is a part of Belly's story in the novels as well, the discussion regarding it happens much sooner in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 compared to the book. Additionally, in the book, the abroad semester is in Spain and not in Paris.

This track played an important part in the series, as it played out in parallel to Jeremiah finding out that his graduation was delayed owing to the missed course, which causes Belly to reconsider telling him about the semester. Nevertheless, she ends up telling him, and he is very happy for her and motivates her to follow her dreams.

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New Characters

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 brought with it several new characters, such as Lacie Barone, Annika, Redbird, Davis, and Steven's girlfriend Mia (who we never see), and even though most of these characters are also present in the books, some of them, such as Mia or Davis, are not present. There is a boy named Davis whom Taylor dates at one point in time in the books, but that is in high school.

Another new character is Denise, Steven's co-worker, a junior associate at Breaker, who seems to have an interesting dynamic with Steven is not present in the books. According to statements from Kaufman, the actor who plays Steven, Denise is set to play an important role in the upcoming episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3:

"He's working at this firm called Breaker, working with this new character, Denise, and I'm really excited for you guys to see that relationship form. there's a lot of change that happens for Steven this season, some life-altering stuff that really makes him kind of question what he has been doing with his life, what he's been finding mundane, and what he actually wants to do with his life and what kind of passion he figures out whether that's in romantic relationships or in work."

So, the addition of these characters and changes from the books can include an interesting dynamic to the show.

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Keep reading Soap Central as we follow Belly and the gang for the final summer in The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3.