Bestselling author Jenny Han is kicking off her impressive deal with Amazon Video with the drama series The Summer I Turned Pretty. Based on Han's first trilogy, the series centers on Belly (Lola Tung), a sixteen-year-old who gets caught in a summer love triangle with two brothers who happen to be her childhood best friends.
While the show focuses on Belly's coming-of-age, it's also an ensemble piece that explores the relationships and adventures of other teenage and adult characters summering in Cousins. From messy teenagers figuring out love to adult best friends dealing with divorces and terminal illness, there's no shortage of characters to like in The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) is one of Belly's childhood best friends, but he has a funny way of showing it. The minute Belly gets to Cousins, he's quick to tease her in a way that's a bit more than just flirty teasing.
Also not helping the case is the fact that he launches a firework at Belly and Conrad (Christopher Briney) when they're about to kiss. He seems to be filled with jealousy, and it's not a good look for a best friend or a potential boyfriend.
Taylor
Taylor (Rain Spencer) is Belly's best friend from home who definitely likes to push Belly out of her comfort zone. That's a positive trait to have a best friend, but sometimes Taylor oversteps.
She's another character that gets consumed with jealousy when Belly starts hanging out with other girls, and she hits one of them with a volleyball. She also lashes out at Belly on more than one occasion and thinks she has authority over Belly's feelings. She also hooks up with Belly's brother on Belly's birthday, which isn't very best friend-like.
Steven
Steven (Sean Kaufman) is the stereotypical jerk older brother in a teen show who definitely isn't winning the best tv brother award anytime soon. He spends a lot of time picking on his sister and trying to exclude her from hanging out with him and the Fisher brothers. He also completely freaks out when he learns that Jeremiah has a thing for Belly.
His track record doesn't improve from there, unfortunately. He hooks up with Taylor despite being in a relationship, and he manages to gamble away his entire summer earnings in one night to impress some silly rich kids.
Laurel
Laurel (Jackie Chung) is Belly and Steven's devoted mom. Unlike some TV moms, Laurel doesn't have her life together and is still figuring things out just like her teenage children.
Though Laurel means well in everything she does, she sometimes gets it wrong. She's extremely hard on Belly and often puts her foot in her mouth around her like when she implies that confident girls don't participate in the debutante ball. She also oversteps when it comes to inviting Susannah's (Rachel Blanchard) husband to the beach house without asking her.
Belly
Belly (Tung) is the main character in The Summer I Turned Pretty but just because she has the most screen time doesn't automatically make her the most liked character. Like all teenagers, Belly is going through normal growing pains, which means she's a bit of a flawed main character but fans still love her.
She definitely breaks a few hearts in the first season by having feelings for Cam, Jeremiah, and Conrad, which causes her some major confusion. She's also extremely rude to Taylor at times and gets drunk during the 4th of July and ruins the celebration. Still, Belly is the main character after the fans' hearts because she usually admits her mistakes, which is admirable of her.
Conrad
While fans who read the book know what to expect with Conrad's (Briney) character, fans of the series alone are just along for the ride. Conrad gets off to a rocky start in the first half of the season coming off as a moody and lazy teenager before he starts to open up.
His attitude might not be the best, but it's hard to blame him when he's dealing with the fact that his mother is sick and hasn't told him yet. Conrad is not without his faults, but he does constantly show up for those he loves even if he's mad at them.
Susannah
Despite all that's going on in Susannah's (Rachel Blanchard) life, she manages to be the life of the party of the adults. On top of dealing with cancer and her strained marriage, Susannah also must parent her two incredibly stubborn and sometimes dumb sons Jeremiah and Conrad.
And yet, Susannah is almost never without a smile on her face. Though she might act selfishly at times, like convincing Belly to participate in the Debutante Ball, all her intentions come from a good place. Including her wanting to keep her cancer diagnosis a secret from her kids so they can have a normal summer.
Cam
Cam (David Iacono) might not be a main character, but he plays a big role in the plot of The Summer I Turned Pretty during the first half of the season. Having met Belly at Latin camp, the two reconnect on the beach after Belly makes a fool of herself at the bonfire.
When it comes to perfect TV teen drama boyfriends, Cam checks all the right boxes. He's kind, patient, and attentive to what Belly needs. He remembers the little things, like her favorite fruit roll-up flavor, and even loves hanging out with family and friends. Cam wins the most points though for not freaking out when Belly breaks up with him because her heart wants someone else.
Cleveland
Most fans might not think of Cleveland as their favorite character, but he's definitely a character that is liked by everyone. He's in Cousins for the summer working on his next best-selling novel which is how he ends up bonding with Laurel.
His relationship with Laurel might be cute, it's his relationship with Conrad that truly makes him the most liked character in the series. Not only does he not parent Conrad or fire him for missing an event, but he also takes the time to truly understand what Conrad is going through. He even helps him through and understands panic attacks.