Viewers 'locked in' as 11-part drama The Summer I Turned Pretty makes long-awaited return

Taking to social media, viewers have been full of praise for the new season, with one person "locked in" after the first two episodes. 

Hailing the drama as "amazing TV", one person wrote: "These two episodes of #TheSummerITurnedPretty have been amazing TV once more, I felt, I laugh, I cried, I jumped out of joy but also almost spit my coffee, I changed teams like 4 times already," while another compared the series to the source material, penning: "#TheSummerITurnedPretty season three is just amazing. Words cannot describe how perfect it is. The books are just amazing, and the way season three has expanded it. It's just perfect."

A third viewer remarked: "This season is already too good omg #thesummeriturnedpretty3," while another added: "OMG. The first 2 episodes were so good. Can't wait for another episode next week."

Billed as a "coming-of-age story about first love, first heartbreak, and the magic of that one perfect summer", the series centres on the love triangle between teenager Belly and her childhood friends, Conrad and Jeremiah, who would spend every summer together at Cousins Beach.

In season three, Belly is at the end of her junior year of college, having spent the past three years with her boyfriend, Jeremiah, whom she's looking forward to spending another summer with in Cousins. 

The synopsis continues: "Her future seems set, until some core-shaking events bring her first love Conrad back into her life. Now on the brink of adulthood, Belly finds herself at a crossroads and must decide which brother has her heart. Summer will never be the same…"

Lola Tung leads the cast as Isabel 'Belly' Conklin, alongside Christopher Briney (Mean Girls) as Conrad Fisher and Gavin Casalegno (Walker, The Vampire Diaries) as Jeremiah Fisher.

Meanwhile, Sean Kaufman (FBI: Most Wanted, Manifest) plays Belly's brother Steven Conklin, while Jackie Chung (Station 19, Grey's Anatomy) plays Belly and Steven's mother Laurel Park, and Rain Spencer (Good Girl Jane) portrays Belly's best friend Taylor.

The first two episodes of season three premiered on Wednesday, 16 July, on Prime Video. The remaining episodes will be released weekly until the final 11th episode on Wednesday, 17 September.