“My letters are for when I don’t want to be in love anymore. They’re for good-bye. Because after I write in my letter, I’m not longer consumed by my all-consuming love…My letters set me free. Or at least they’re supposed to.”
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books
Genre: Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 355
A while back Netflix release a movie with the same name as this book. I watched the movie and fell in love–all the while thinking, “this would be a good K-drama.” I ended up reading all the three books in the trilogy (but honestly, I need more). I finally decided that I should blog about this story.
Synopsis
Lara Jean covey keeps her love letters to her crushes in a hatbox in her closet. One day, Peter Kavinsky approaches her asking her the purpose of the letter. She realizes that all five letter must have been sent out, including one to Josh, her sister’s ex-boyfriend. In an attempt to avoid him, she asks Peter to be her pretend boyfriend. He agrees because he also wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. In this contract fake love, feelings get confused and neither can tell if it’s fake or real.
Review
This was a quick read and a quick pump of kilig to the heart. This contract love feels different than usual love of the same manner, but still the same. If this book wasn’t a series. The end is so open, you would have to create your own ending. In fact, I feel sorry for the early readers who read it upon its release because they’d have to wait to see what happened between them next.
Lara Jean Covey is a sweet and thoughtful person. So when she unexpectedly is in a relationship with Peter Kavinsky, those closest to her don’t think is a good fit. No one believed that the relationship was real until Lara Jean and Peter convinced them–and by that time, it was real.
Something I realized about this book, which is similar in The Hate You Give, is the voice of Lara Jean. While reading this, I realized that I like young adult fiction because of the voice and the first person point of view that it seems to always be written in.
This story is no different. In this book, we hear about how Lara Jean feels about Peter. She slowly allows herself to be comfortable with her feelings and to not fear showing them.
The Best
- Voice-Getting into the thoughts and feelings of Lara Jean
- The relationship between Lara Jean and Peter
- I like the friendship with Chris. I’ve had friends like that. Ones that are completely different than me.
- The overall story–it was different, but yet the same
The Worst
- The characters Margot and Josh were cool at first, but then they got annoying later on.
- The friendship with Chris, even though I liked that they were so different, there wasn’t very much in common.
- I kind of like-hate the ending. It’s so open and leaves you hanging. My reaction,”Nooo….”
Quotes
“Life doesn’t have to be planned. Just roll with it and let it happen.”–Peter to Lara Jean
“Love is Scary: It changes; it can go away. That’s the part of the risk. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”–Lara Jean
After thoughts
The fact that I watched the movie first influences how I feel about reading this. For one, I had the characters from the movie in my head as I read. Also in the movie, we get a resolution while the book leaves the ending open.
Recommendations
- Young Adult Fiction: The Hate You Give
- Fake Relationships/Contract: Fated to Love You (Taiwanese, Thai, Korean, Japanese), Full House, Because This is My First Life, Goong, Lie to Me
Book-to-Life Connections
As a person who loves to read or watch shows, but rarely has the funds for travel, I like to spend time taking adventures through those avenues. So after or while, I am reading a book or watching a show. I find things that I don’t know much about or haven’t tried and I do them. The following are some things from this book that I am interested in learning more about and I will do them, share them, or whatever it may be.
Tomato Soup and Snickerdoodle Cookies
Music list
Snack and food list
Book list
Movie List
Games/Activities
Learning about culture