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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Started slow but immediately hooked me in. Absolutely loved it.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before starts off sweet - Lara Jean’s life is being established as having an amazing loving family, two sisters Margot and Kitty, who are like dear friends to her, and the boy-next-door, Josh, who is practically a part of their family. Lara Jean is a shy girl who doesn’t come out with her feelings, so she instead has always written letters to her crushes to get it over with and stores them for safekeeping. But when her letters get mailed to the guys, and she has to hide her current feelings from Josh (who is also Margot’s ex), she gets drawn into an elaborate lie with another of her previous crushes, Peter Kavinsky.
At first, I thought it was adorable, you know - the pretend romance becomes real trope is cute in most situations. You wait for these two to stop denying their feelings and realize that they liked each other, or start to like each other and the fake romance becomes real, right? So, in the start, when Peter is acting like a dick, I thought maybe he is just overcompensating for being half in love with her? (I blame rom-coms for instilling this kind of thought in my head - we have been conditioned to treat terrible guys as still redeemable but that is a conversation for another time) But till the end of the book, I do not get any indication that he is interested in her because of her - it seems more like she is an attractive girl who is quite different from his controlling ex, and she happens to already like him, so he also likes her.
There is also the problem of character inconsistency - the Margot and Josh at the beginning of the book hardly match the ones at the end. Margot becomes distant from Lara Jean but she also blames her first for Josh kissing LJ (which is weird for Margot, because she seems like the kind of sister who wouldn’t be mad at her beloved younger sister over a boy she doesn’t even have feelings for anymore). And Josh becomes a weird jealous ex (for LJ) as the story progresses, when initially he comes across as her close friend who confesses he once had a crush on her, but was shown to be in love with Margot. Then there is Gen, who is an enigma for most of the novel - and no, I won’t accept the evil ex trope here. Surely there had to be more to her character than just being a catalyst. And there are two weird chapters just to introduce another boy, John, who is so obviously going to be in the sequel.
So while it was cute and adorable and mushy in nearly two-thirds of the book, and I had genuinely liked the portrayal of Lara Jean and her character, I wasn’t satisfied by the romance. Which, considering this is a freaking contemporary romance and basically the whole plot, is a sad disappointment. The cute moments just couldn’t make me forget how it was wrapped in the end, I’m sorry to say.
At first, I thought it was adorable, you know - the pretend romance becomes real trope is cute in most situations. You wait for these two to stop denying their feelings and realize that they liked each other, or start to like each other and the fake romance becomes real, right? So, in the start, when Peter is acting like a dick, I thought maybe he is just overcompensating for being half in love with her? (I blame rom-coms for instilling this kind of thought in my head - we have been conditioned to treat terrible guys as still redeemable but that is a conversation for another time) But till the end of the book, I do not get any indication that he is interested in her because of her - it seems more like she is an attractive girl who is quite different from his controlling ex, and she happens to already like him, so he also likes her.
There is also the problem of character inconsistency - the Margot and Josh at the beginning of the book hardly match the ones at the end. Margot becomes distant from Lara Jean but she also blames her first for Josh kissing LJ (which is weird for Margot, because she seems like the kind of sister who wouldn’t be mad at her beloved younger sister over a boy she doesn’t even have feelings for anymore). And Josh becomes a weird jealous ex (for LJ) as the story progresses, when initially he comes across as her close friend who confesses he once had a crush on her, but was shown to be in love with Margot. Then there is Gen, who is an enigma for most of the novel - and no, I won’t accept the evil ex trope here. Surely there had to be more to her character than just being a catalyst. And there are two weird chapters just to introduce another boy, John, who is so obviously going to be in the sequel.
So while it was cute and adorable and mushy in nearly two-thirds of the book, and I had genuinely liked the portrayal of Lara Jean and her character, I wasn’t satisfied by the romance. Which, considering this is a freaking contemporary romance and basically the whole plot, is a sad disappointment. The cute moments just couldn’t make me forget how it was wrapped in the end, I’m sorry to say.
Listen, this book is JUST AS GOOD the second time around. Jenny Han is a master!
I am absolute trash for fake dating and han did not disappoint. This book features a very likeable protagonist with strong familial relationships and a cute romance plot. Simple and fluffy but very fun and sweet. Highly enjoyable.
This review was originally posted on my blog https://natysbookshelf.wordpress.com/.
I added this to the list of books I wanted to read this Summer out of sheer curiosity. Like When Dimple Met Rishi, this is a contemporary, young adult novel with lots of romance. I normally don’t gravitate towards this kind of book, but apparently this Summer I did. I like to go through many genres throughout the year if I can, as I’m a firm believer that it’s not that some genres are bad or not for you, it’s just that you need to read the right book.
After this dramatic introduction, let me start with the book’s plot: Lara Jean is a sixteen-year-old middle child, who is starting her Junior year after Summer. Her older sister is going off to college in Scotland, and Lara Jean feels now responsible for her younger sister Kitty and her dad. Their mother passed away many years ago, and Lara Jean keeps a hat box her mom had given her. Inside it, she keeps all things that are most private to her: love letters. Not love letters she received, but ones she wrote. Every time she falls in love, writing a love letter helps her get rid of her feelings and get over her heartbreak. So she writes, puts them into an envelope and puts the address, but never sends them. Except, one day, they are all sent out…
This book is very cheesy and predictable. And yet, I really enjoyed it. It is a regular High School romcom, with love triangle, bitchy cheerleader, hot guy interested in the apparently bland girl and so on. The day I read it, I was in an awful mood – and this book changed it entirely. It was so light, fun and easy to read that I soon felt much better, and I must give it credit for that.
I found the whole “putting the letters inside envelopes, writing the address, sealing, putting them all together in an accessible box with no lock” a little too unbelievable, but I thought it unfair to judge Lara Jean for the way she deals with heartbreaks. It was just an accident waiting to happen, though. I found Lara Jean hard to relate to, but it didn’t make the reading experience bad or anything – her personality is quite light and bubbly in a pleasant way.
Personally I don’t like the Josh/Lara Jean part of the love triangle. He dated her sister! How weird is that? To me, any of the reasons they give for it to be “okay” that they have feelings and all are still is very wrong. I hope they don’t end up together! If you’ve read the book, what are your feelings about this?
That being said, I really want to read the next books, because it was such a fun read that I think will be a good series for cheering up. A very effective feelgood book! Quite good also for commuting, since the chapters aren’t very long and it easily grips attention. Also, this is the first time that a love triangle doesn’t make me roll my eyes, it works really well and it made me very invested in the story.
The last book came out this year (Always and Forever, Lara Jean)and has pretty good reviews so far!
Veredict: This book has been really hyped up, and although I don’t think it’s spectecular or a must-read, it’s a pretty good one, very entertaining and hard to put down. The love triangle works and I am very interested in reading the next two books! I don’t recommend it if you generally don’t like romcoms, though.
I added this to the list of books I wanted to read this Summer out of sheer curiosity. Like When Dimple Met Rishi, this is a contemporary, young adult novel with lots of romance. I normally don’t gravitate towards this kind of book, but apparently this Summer I did. I like to go through many genres throughout the year if I can, as I’m a firm believer that it’s not that some genres are bad or not for you, it’s just that you need to read the right book.
After this dramatic introduction, let me start with the book’s plot: Lara Jean is a sixteen-year-old middle child, who is starting her Junior year after Summer. Her older sister is going off to college in Scotland, and Lara Jean feels now responsible for her younger sister Kitty and her dad. Their mother passed away many years ago, and Lara Jean keeps a hat box her mom had given her. Inside it, she keeps all things that are most private to her: love letters. Not love letters she received, but ones she wrote. Every time she falls in love, writing a love letter helps her get rid of her feelings and get over her heartbreak. So she writes, puts them into an envelope and puts the address, but never sends them. Except, one day, they are all sent out…
This book is very cheesy and predictable. And yet, I really enjoyed it. It is a regular High School romcom, with love triangle, bitchy cheerleader, hot guy interested in the apparently bland girl and so on. The day I read it, I was in an awful mood – and this book changed it entirely. It was so light, fun and easy to read that I soon felt much better, and I must give it credit for that.
I found the whole “putting the letters inside envelopes, writing the address, sealing, putting them all together in an accessible box with no lock” a little too unbelievable, but I thought it unfair to judge Lara Jean for the way she deals with heartbreaks. It was just an accident waiting to happen, though. I found Lara Jean hard to relate to, but it didn’t make the reading experience bad or anything – her personality is quite light and bubbly in a pleasant way.
Personally I don’t like the Josh/Lara Jean part of the love triangle. He dated her sister! How weird is that? To me, any of the reasons they give for it to be “okay” that they have feelings and all are still is very wrong. I hope they don’t end up together! If you’ve read the book, what are your feelings about this?
That being said, I really want to read the next books, because it was such a fun read that I think will be a good series for cheering up. A very effective feelgood book! Quite good also for commuting, since the chapters aren’t very long and it easily grips attention. Also, this is the first time that a love triangle doesn’t make me roll my eyes, it works really well and it made me very invested in the story.
The last book came out this year (Always and Forever, Lara Jean)and has pretty good reviews so far!
Veredict: This book has been really hyped up, and although I don’t think it’s spectecular or a must-read, it’s a pretty good one, very entertaining and hard to put down. The love triangle works and I am very interested in reading the next two books! I don’t recommend it if you generally don’t like romcoms, though.
Reread for the reading rush 2019: I definitely stand by my solid four star rating because it was cute but wowowowow that ending sucked. Like how do you build all that tension and then literally just leave it like that? (I realize I’m describing a cliffhanger, but it feels different than that lol, this just feels like the story is unfinished)
It’s times like these I’m very glad to already have Book #2 because IM STARTING IT RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND TO CONTINUE THE STORY
It’s times like these I’m very glad to already have Book #2 because IM STARTING IT RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND TO CONTINUE THE STORY
As always I do things last minute and as the film was released yesterday on Netflix I hurried the fuck up and read the book and oH. MY GOSH I WAS GIGGLING THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH. Lara Jean, Margot and Kitty are the perfect sisters and Lara Jean & Peter K. STOLE MY ENTIRE HEART. Everyone knows how the fake dating trope ends...ehem. Can't believe she went and left the ending like that though????? GONNA HURRY UP AND READ THE SECOND BOOK (AND THEN WATCH THE FILM, OBVS.)
OK THIS WAS ACTUALLY VERY SWEET. I'd been put off of it multiple times because the blurb- I'm not the biggest romance person (well, mostly because at this point in YA you've seen it all already) and the blurb lowkey implied a love triangle but!! It turned out not to be! And I absolutely adored it.
So, the book centers around Lara Jean: scrapbooker, baker, and fashionista. She loves her family and her home and cute things and she was just VERY NICE. But she still fought with her siblings and made bad choices and wasn't perfect! It was very refreshing.
I think that, actually, my favorite part of the book was how flawed everyone was. They do dumb things and blindly follow their emotions (wow #relatable) but you still see that they're trying and they care underneath it all. Especially the boys: Peter was a bit of a jerk at first, but he did end up being a sweet fake boyfriend to Lara Jean! And then they ended up actually liking her and it was very soft and mushy and I'm not supposed to have this many feelings for YA romance. Send help. And Josh was deeply flawed at some parts, but he really did just care for Lara Jean and Margot and Kitty and was just a Nice Guy (tm). I loved that it seemed very love-triangle-esque originally but became much more interesting and emotional and way less dumb than the usual YA love triangle! Kudos to you, Jenny Han.
Speaking of Kitty: WOW I LOVED HER. She was so spunky and sweet and tangible as a little sister and just wanted her family to be okay!! I must admit I did like Margot significantly less: she just seemed very snooty and bossy and didn't seem to have much regard for how her sisters were doing since she left? I also didn't understand why she was so mad that Josh had kissed Lara Jean when she had a) broken up with Josh and b) previously shown PRACTICALLY ZERO EMOTION. Also, Lara Jean hadn't reciprocated the feelings at all?? It was just bizzare.
All in all, this was just a very nice cute emotional book and I loved it and I need to go buy the sequel with the money I don't have.
So, the book centers around Lara Jean: scrapbooker, baker, and fashionista. She loves her family and her home and cute things and she was just VERY NICE. But she still fought with her siblings and made bad choices and wasn't perfect! It was very refreshing.
I think that, actually, my favorite part of the book was how flawed everyone was. They do dumb things and blindly follow their emotions (wow #relatable) but you still see that they're trying and they care underneath it all. Especially the boys: Peter was a bit of a jerk at first, but he did end up being a sweet fake boyfriend to Lara Jean!
Speaking of Kitty: WOW I LOVED HER. She was so spunky and sweet and tangible as a little sister and just wanted her family to be okay!! I must admit I did like Margot significantly less: she just seemed very snooty and bossy and didn't seem to have much regard for how her sisters were doing since she left?
All in all, this was just a very nice cute emotional book and I loved it and I need to go buy the sequel with the money I don't have.
This was a really great, fun read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were real and the writing was just lovely! I finished it in a matter of hours!