With a summer destination on the water and a main character sparking a romance with two brothers, it’s easy to quickly recognize the alleged similarities between Every Year After and The Summer I Turned Pretty. But don’t get it twisted — there are key differences between the two stories.
Warning: Spoilers for Every Year After below
“I think it has the same yearning as The Summer I Turned Pretty, but I think it’s really not a love triangle,” Aurora Perrineau, who plays Chantal in the series, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Every Year After Wednesday, June 10, premiere. “I don’t think it’s a love triangle. I think, also, it’s just a bit more adult, because it’s about adults.”
In Every Year After, Percy (Sadie Soverall) faces ex Sam (Matt Cornett) in the present-day while returning to Barry’s Bay after his mom’s death. As the story progresses, viewers discover that Percy was intimate with Sam’s brother, Charlie (Michael Bradway), after the pair split.
At first glance, the events are similar to The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Belly (Lola Tung) pursuing a romance with Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) after a breakup from Conrad (Christopher Briney). But as Perrineau, 31, explained to Us, Every Year After is more of a “conversation of forgiveness” between Percy and Sam.
“I think it’s something that a lot of people — maybe not in the exact scenario have dealt with — but it is that thing of trying to understand how to forgive people and if you can,” Perrineau shared. “I think that that’s something that people will attach to.”
Joseph Chiu — who portrays Jordie in the series — noted to Us that another difference between the two shows is Sam and brother Charlie (Michael Bradway) navigating the death of both of their parents. In The Summer I Turned Pretty, Conrad and Jeremiah do face the death of their mom, but they still have their father to lean on.
Every Summer After author Carley Fortune echoed Perrineau’s sentiment, reiterating that the book and adapted series is really just about Sam and Percy’s love story rather than the love triangle that The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Belly found herself in.
“It’s not about a person choosing between other people,” Fortune explained exclusively to Us of her story. “That’s what a love triangle is, when there is equal kind of tension in the triangle. It’s just not what it is. I think the show is very much about important places and those people and places that stay with us for many, many years. It’s about coming home.”
She continued, “It’s about how we grow and we evolve, but the younger versions of ourselves are always with us. I think it’s very tender.”
Every Year After is currently streaming on Prime Video.
