For fans looking to fill the void that The Summer I Turned Pretty left behind, Prime Video's new summer-set series Every Year After is here to answer the call.
All eight episodes of the heartwarming series, based on Carley Fortune's books, dropped on 10 June – and fans are already raving it's "pure excitement" to watch. Every Year After tells the tale of second chance love between childhood friends turned lovers Percy (Sadie Soverall) and Sam (Matt Cornett), who reunite a decade after a mysterious fallout for Sam's mother Sue's funeral.
The series is the latest of Prime Video's romance book-to-screen adaptations after the mammoth success of college-based hockey drama Off Campus. While Every Year After and The Summer I Turned Pretty both take place in the summer and stars two brothers, actress Abigail Cowan, who plays Percy's childhood friend Delilah, shared an exciting part of the new series is that it dives "deeper into younger storylines".
© Cate Cameron/Prime"I love that it's compared to it, because it brings in the theme of nostalgia and young love, and rekindling and forgiveness, things that we don't always get in life," Abigail recently told Refinery 29. I think that it should be compared in a way. But you know, we do have differences in the show."
She added: "I love that we go kind of deeper into younger storylines, and we get to see these characters throughout their years grow, and you get to really find out why they're making the decisions that they're making."
What are fans saying?
It's only been out for a day, but fans have already been busy binge-watching the series, with reviews skewing generally positive. "Just watched the first episode of Every Year After and it’s perfect! So accurate to the book!" one pleased fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"This is why we watch rom coms. This feeling is pure excitement," another gushed, while someone else declared they "need season two".
One viewer praised the "fire" mix of current and 2010s hits on the soundtrack in particular. "Would definitely be spending my weekend binge watching this. I love a show which uses good music," they said.
© Cate Cameron/PrimeWhat do the critics think?
The critics have been relatively mixed on Prime's latest romance drama, which has earned a rating of 71 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
Variety said Every Year After "infuses the perfect amount of depth and emotion to elevate it beyond a typical teen romance."
"Beneath Every Year After's YA stamp of approval is a refreshing take on the genre, focusing on coming-of-age regrets, family, and new beginnings. The kind of story you will want to come back to, year after year," one review on Rotten Tomatoes read, while another praised the "compelling ensemble, beautiful scenery, and a story that balances romance with genuine emotional depth", dubbing Every Year After as "one of the year's most engaging dramas".
"While it rarely breaks new ground and often feels indebted to The Summer I Turned Pretty, it remains an engaging watch thanks to its emotional sincerity and strong central performances," a critic who gave the series three out of five tomatoes wrote.
Meanwhile, others weren't sold on the "predictable romantic-drama formula" and said it felt "weirdly directionless".
What is Every Year After about?
© Cate Cameron/PrimeThe first season of Prime Video's Every Year After is an adaptation of the best-selling 2022 romance novel, Every Summer After. A 28-year-old Persephone 'Percy' Fraser's life in Seattle is disrupted when her ex-boyfriend Sam Florek's older brother Charlie (Michael Broadway) phones her after 10 years of no contact with the news that his mother Sue has passed away.
Percy hesitantly returns to Barry's Bay, with the moral support of her best friend Chantal (Aurora Perrineau), and comes face to face with Sam, who is now in his residency to be a doctor and has moved on with a new girlfriend, fellow doctor-in-training Taylor (Roan Curtis). The series goes back-and-forth between the present timelines and six years of summers before Percy and Sam went their separate ways.
The first few episodes tease something went cataclysmically wrong between the exes as their relationship is haunted by a deep-rooted betrayal.
