Taylor In The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Is The Best Change From The Books
She's the real MVP of this season.
Prime TV’s adaptation of The Summer I Turned Pretty has made a few big changes to Jenny Han’s book trilogy. In Season 1, Jeremiah’s sexual fluidity was added to better reflect the TV series’ more layered take on the character, and Season 2 has taken even bigger swings, from adding in completely new characters that weren’t in the book to changing when Belly’s first sexual experience take place. But the best change of all doesn’t have to do with the central love triangle. It’s Taylor’s relationship with her best friend Belly that has really excited book readers about the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
There were already some hints in Season 1 that the show wouldn’t be delving into the more toxic elements of Belly and Taylor’s friendship, instead presenting the two as close, supportive besties who stick up for one another through thick and thin. In the first book, Taylor’s visit to Cousins Beach drives a wedge in her friendship with Belly, as Taylor sees her friend’s glow-up only through a lens of competition, while Belly continues to feel insecure in Taylor’s presence. That wasn’t really the case in the show. Although the two dealt with some tension after Taylor kissed Belly’s brother, Taylor was actually supportive of Belly’s romantic pursuits, hyping her bestie up and encouraging her to explore things with Jeremiah.
In Season 2, show-Taylor is almost unrecognizable from book-Taylor. While Belly’s friendship with Taylor is estranged in the second book (which she barely even appears in), the series made the smart move of promoting her to a main character, and making her the ultimate BFF to Belly.
Not only does Taylor constantly stick up for Belly — whether she’s talking her up in front of the volleyball team or telling Steven off after he yelled at her at his graduation party — she’s also willing to go to extreme lengths to help her friend. She keeps up the lie that Belly has been staying with her so that Belly can secretly run off to help the Fisher boys, and when she learns the severity of what’s going on, she and Steven drive out to Cousins themselves to offer their support.
Compare all that to the book version of Taylor, who gave Belly the cold shoulder when her friend needed her most following Susannah’s funeral, and doesn’t return to Cousins as Belly fights to save the beach house. In the books, Belly’s most important relationships are romantic ones with Conrad and Jeremiah, but it’s clear the series wants to expand that to show how important have a true best friend can be as well.
