Every Year After Review: If you’ve watched The Summer I Turned Pretty, then Prime Video’s Every Year After treads on similar paths as it features a heart-touching romance between Percy and her complicated relationship with Sam and Charlie developed over the summer holidays. The series is a lighthearted and sweet watch that treads a few too many familiar paths. Navigating first love, heartbreak and a possibility of rekindling old romance, the series shuttles back and forth between the past and the present to bring out Percy’s complete story.
The series tries to bring forth the breeziness of the novel and often does a good job of capturing it. However, it’s riddled with familiar tropes and similar romantic-drama beats, which makes it unmemorable and repetitive.
Who is in the cast of Every Year After Prime Video?
Sadie Soverall, Matt Cornett, Aurora Perrineau, Abigail Cowen, Michael Bradway, Joseph Chiu, Elisha Cuthbert
Who are the Directors of Every Year After Series?
Gillian Robespierre, Jeff W. Byrd, Tara Nicole Weyr, John Polson
When is Every Year After Releasing?
10 June 2026
The series has 8 episodes, each around 50 minutes long, and is based on Every Summer After by Carley Fortune.
Every Year After Review
A Story Built on First Love and Lingering Regrets
Set in the lakeside town of Barry’s Bay, the series unfolds across multiple timelines, chronicling Percy and Sam’s evolving relationship and their eventual fallout. Right from the start, Percy and Sam’s instant connection is apparent and quite sweet as they find themselves back to each other over and over again. As a devastating turn of events brings them back together in adulthood, though, they have a lot of history and heartbreak to sift through as they try to be there for one another.
Then again, the connection is instant, although the weight of their past is apparent. We explore whether all childhood relationships are meant to overcome the test of time and how mistakes change the course of the best of relationships. Every Year After juxtaposes the innocence of childhood friendship and love with the weight of adulthood and its complications. The second-chance romance has its moments of magic and sweetness as it gradually reveals why the pair fell out in the first place.
But, as with these YA/new adult shows, they often tread a familiar beat where even the romance and the friendships feel repetitive and obvious. The mystery surrounding their separation feels stretched out, and after a while, it becomes apparent that the series is simply trying to delay the inevitable and generate as much interest as possible. Viewers may be able to figure out the truth from a mile away, which doesn’t help the huge runtime.
Barry’s Bay Becomes the Real Star
The series looks absolutely beautiful and is one of its greatest strengths. Barry’s Bay is a character of its own in this series, creating a magical place for the kids to make fond memories. The lakeside scenery, which holds so many good memories for the kids, holds a warm, nostalgic quality that enhances the themes of memory and longing. There’s a sense of yearning for simpler times in the series that tugs at your heart and adds to the nostalgia that makes YA shows so popular.
The production does a great job of capturing the escapist appeal of a summer romance and helps push the narrative forward. Even when the narrative slows down, these moments make viewers want to keep watching, hoping for the vibes to pull them in. However, it’s worth mentioning that it’s a bit too reminiscent of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and it’s clear that the streaming giant wants to capture what made that series so popular, hoping for another hit on their roster.
Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett Carry the Emotional Weight
A YA series is as good as its protagonists and how much audiences believe in the central romance. Soverall and Cornett are a nice pair and share great chemistry. There’s a vulnerability in Soverall’s Percy, who tries to come to terms with her internal conflicts as things get worse before they get better. She has to accept a lot of things from her past to move on in the present, which makes her struggles grounded and engaging. Complimenting her is Sam, who seems to have been living under a rock for most of his life, and this new chapter of his life comes with a lot of realisations for him as well.
The series’ performances are quite good, although it’s the characters who feel rather annoying as they make one bad decision after another. This can also be attributed to the fact that the series is far too long and the story too thin to actually make an impact, and thus, some of the conflicts can be annoying. Although Every Year After tries to bring forth themes surrounding getting a second chance at life, the path to that chance can sometimes be infuriating.
Familiar Romance Tropes Dominate the Narrative
The biggest disappointment with the show, however, is that there are hardly any surprises in the narrative. If you’ve watched one of these shows, you’ve probably watched this one as well. It focuses too heavily on established tropes of the romance-drama genre and repetitively goes back and forth with the conflict between the characters to leave viewers hooked. However, it mostly has the opposite effect. It’s a cycle of misunderstandings, lingering feelings and reunions that gets boring after a while. Although some moments, especially when the series tries to bridge the gap between the past and the present, can be interesting, the series offers nothing new that justifies its existence.
An Adaptation That Prioritises Feelings Over Innovation
Prime Video’s Every Year After embraces the book’s emotional core and tries to honour Fortune’s writing. The adaptation puts all of its efforts into establishing the relationship between Percy and Sam and understanding their emotions, which works in its favour. That also means that there’s hardly any originality in the runtime, and everything feels obvious. The familiarity stops it from being a standout adaptation, although fans of the books will enjoy this one quite a bit. It’s nostalgic and charming, although like every other adaptation we have seen in the last few years.
Final Verdict
Every Year After is nothing new. It’s charming and heartfelt, but the tropes are glaring at every moment and will remind viewers how unoriginal it is. The beautiful scenery and the charming leads probably make its problems all the more obvious. But, if you’re looking for a good binge without putting in many thoughts, this one’s going to be a nice watch.
Every Year After releases on Prime Video on 10 June 2026. Let us know your thoughts on the show in the comments below!
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