‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ (2014): Book Review

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by Jenny Han

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Synopsis from the publisher:

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?

Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

Review:

I watched the Netflix adaptation of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before last year and loved it so much that I made a mental note to read the book. It’s been a while, but a digital copy was finally available through my library, so I went ahead and downloaded it. I read it over the course of this weekend. It was an easy, adorable read, and I’m so glad I finally got around to starting the series.

I felt like the Netflix movie followed the book pretty well, despite some changes here and there. As an adult, I sometimes find it difficult to read books with teenage protagonists that aren’t in the horror genre, but Lara Jean is a character I found easy to like and root for. She felt like someone I would have been friends with in high school.

Peter Kavinsky had the potential to be one-dimensional and bland, as so many love interests are in these books, but Han does an excellent job at fleshing out his character. He’s definitely flawed, but most people are, especially teenage boys. I would say the only two characters I had a hard time reading were Margot, who felt overly pretentious and annoying, and Genevieve, who, like in the movie, came across as a typical cliched mean girl. Even bitches have some depth, and it’s so hard to find that in these stories.

Lara Jean and Peter’s journey was extremely cute and angsty. Perhaps a bit overdramatic at times, but that’s high school for you. Still, I definitely rooted for them to get together while still enjoying Lara Jean’s relationships with other people, most notably her close-knit family. TATBILB was everything I hoped it would be, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in P.S. I Still Love You.

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