To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Catfairy's First Thoughts Presently at this moment, I am writing this review and swaying to my Lara Jean Motown playlist on Spotify and eating an oatmeal raisin cookie. (I know…I know…Lara Jean…could make much more creative cookies…such as those cowgirl cookies and don’t forget those snickerdoodles!) If I could sum up my feelings for this book in one word, I would simply use a word that isn’t listed in the Cambridge English Dictionary and that word would be…adorbs! To all the boys I’ve loved before made me want to be the fourth Song sister and I just loved all the things about the main character of Lara Jean! I want to live in the world of Lara Jean and raid her adorable vintage outfits and use her heart hole puncher! After all, how can you not love a girl who has a heart hole puncher? description “Because after I write my letter, I’m no longer consumed by my all-consuming love. I can eat my cereal and not wonder if he likes bananas over his Cherrios too: I can sing along to love songs and not be singing them to him. If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcisms. My letters set me free. Or at least they’re supposed to.”-Lara Jean Catnopsis description To all the boys I’ve loved before is the first contemporary romance book of a trilogy who introduces the dainty character of Lara Jean. Lara Jean lives with her father and two other sisters named Margot and Kitty. The sisters call themselves the Song girls because their mother’s maiden name is Song and the sisters have a strong connection to their mother. Their mother died at an early age and they also share more of their mother’s physical features which is Korean and their father is Caucasion. “We are the three Song girls. There use to be four. My mom, Eve Song. Evie to my dad, Mommy to us, Eve to everyone else. Song is, was, my mom’s last name. Our last name is Covey-Covey like lovey, not like cove. But the reason we are the Song girls and not the Covey girls is my mom used to say that she was a Song girl for life, and Margot said then we should be too. We all have Song for our middle name, and we look more Song than Covey anyway, more Korean than white.” The Song girls are an absolute trip! Margot is the responsible and smart sister who plays mom to the whole family. Kitty is the baby sister in the family who is always causing trouble and is way too smart and spunky for her own good! They have so much fun together and have so many cute traditions that they share like the CHRISTMAS COOKIE BONANZA! When Lara Jean falls in love with a boy she writes them a love letter professing her adoration and that’s how she gets these boys out of her system. After she finishes writing the love letter she methodically hides them in a charming teal vintage hatbox that her mother bought her. Until one day the letters are gone and all the five boys “she has loved before” receive her love letters and this is the one moment where all the boys of her past come out of the woodwork and Lara has to make a choice to either hide in her world of love letters or face the truth of her emotions, and finally live her life. Meet Lara Jean played by Tiffany Hwang description Lara Jean is your proverbial dreamy eyed teenager who is in love with love but is terrified of it at the same time. Although she has a dramatic and individualistic style down to her vintage clothes and her innate attention to detail. The character of Lara Jean is someone who fantasizes about love and sees it through rose colored glasses more than the real reality of it. She would rather love the boys from afar and obsess over them but never fully commit to them. Lara Jean truly walks to the beat of her own drum and that's what makes her full of awesomeness! “I think I see the difference now, between loving someone from afar and loving someone up close. When you see them up close, you see the real them, but they also get to see the real you. And Peter does. He seems me, and I see him.” -Lara Jean Meet Peter Kavinsky played by Harry Styles description “That’s when I see him. Peter Kavinsky, walking down the hallway. Like magic. Beautiful, dark-haired Peter. He deserves background music, he looks so good.” -Lara Jean Peter Kavinsky’s is one of the five boys that Lara Jean professed her undying love to. Peter is that quintessential guy in school that one loves to hate and hates to love at the same time. He is a popular jock who everyone is friends with and who everyone wants to be friends with. Peter has such a self-assurance about himself that it can make anyone feel that all is good and right with the world. “I think you’re cute. In a quirky way.” –Peter Kavinsky If I was in high school Peter would be one of my fictional high school boyfriends! He is just the most appealing, irresistible, and infuriating character that I have ever read about! Peter is someone you want to kiss and slap across the face at the same time! The back and forth banter between Lara Jean and Peter is just priceless and he brings out the feisty side of Lara Jean. Peter brings Lara Jean out of her shell and makes her realize that love is not a sugar-coated fantasy and in order to love someone you need to first be honest with yourself. Meet Josh played by Skyler Astin Josh is part of the love letter debacle as well and also part of a love triangle between Lara Jean, Peter, and Josh. Josh dated Lara Jean’s sister Margot and when they suddenly broke up Josh receives Lara Jean’s love letter. Lara Jean is horrified by the fact that he received this love letter because she would never admit her feelings to Josh since he dated her sister. In order to avoid conflict, she pretends to date Peter Kavinsky. This also benefits Peter because he is currently breaking up with Lara Jean’s ex-friend mean girl Genevieve for the millionth time and wants to get her jealous. And so the plot thickens… Josh is your typical do-gooder guy that is always there for you when you need it. Josh is like the Dawson Leery in your life that is always there to lend a shoulder to cry on and yada, yada, yada…Honestly, the character of Josh didn't really get my attention. He seemed to be a very dry and humdrum character to me. I felt like I didn't know enough about Josh for me to genuinely like him as a character. There just wasn't enough depth to the character of Josh which leads me to definitely be Team Peter. Now Lara Jean has a choice. Does she want the bad boy Peter (aka Pacey Witter) or the do-gooder Josh (aka Dawson Leery)? description description Jenny Han’s Writing description Catfairy and Jenny Han Book Signing Overall, it’s great to see that YA novels are representing more diversity than ever before. The author Jenny Han who is herself Korean perfectly exemplifies the Korean culture. She also beautifully describes the struggle that Lara Jean goes through with being half Korean and Half-Caucasian. This book is written in the first person and it’s a very character-driven novel and it’s what makes this book come alive! To all the boys I’ve loved before would not have been the same book if it wasn’t for the unique characters that she had in this novel! It is easy to get lost in the world of the Song sisters! When I read this book, I felt like I was personally invited to the home of the Song sisters and I got to know them so well, that I grew attached to each of them. Catfairy Final Thoughts “When someone’s been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it’s like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you’re just like clutching air and grit. That’s why you can’t save it all up like that.” -Lara Jean Each of the Song sisters will have a peace of my heart and I am so happy that there are two other books in this series so I don’t have to say goodbye just yet! Even though, I love all the Song sisters it is "obvi" that Lara Jean is my favorite of them all! I love how she is an individual and doesn’t change for anyone or anything! Most teenagers have the pressure to conform to what is cool and what is not cool. Lara Jean is her own person and she doesn’t care about that which is an inspiration for all teenage girls. Being yourself is the coolest thing you can be! This book is the kind of book that makes you reminisce on what it is like to truly fall in love for the first time, how you romanticize it in your head, how scary it is, and how amazing it is all at once!

4.5 This was my first Jenny Han book and I am really glad that I read it. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was really good. The story was interesting and really had me hooked from the beginning. I read this book pretty much in one sitting. I could not put it down! The Story: This story isn't really realistic, but it was still a nice cute read. I liked the premise of the book. It sounded really interesting and unique. I can't think of a book with a story quite like this one. I was a fan of the "love letter" idea for the story. I think it is great that the character writes a letter to her crush to get all those feelings out, without having to put herself out there. I am a shy person, so I definitely know the feeling of not wanting to confront a crush. (I definitely wrote about it in a diary instead.) So I found this part to be real. The letters get mailed out to all of these boys and instantly Lara Jean's life gets a little bit more complicated. Yet these complications seemed to be handled quickly and not with much drama. But I was still interested in finding out what the other boys would say when we got to their letters. A lot of things happened in this story and it kept me pretty engrossed in wanting to know what was going to be happening next. But I was left with questions at the end of the story. And I was so happy to realize that there is going to be another book! So I am really looking forward to finding out what comes after the ending of this part of the story. The Characters: I liked that Lara Jean was shy and quirky. It made it easier for me to relate with her. I don't have any sisters, so I don't have the personal connection with the story in that sense, but reading the relationship between these three sisters, really touched me. The relationships felt realistic. It was my favorite character relationships in the story. And their relationship with each other really made me think about my daughters and how happy I am that they have each other. They might fight and get on each other's nerves now, but at least they will (hopefully) be there for each other in the future, when they are older. I also liked the girls relationship with their father. He is busy with work, but still seems to be able to make time to spend with the girls and are a part of their lives. And I really liked that he was apart of the story. It seems like there are times when I am reading a book where the parents aren't in the story much, so I liked seeing the loving relationship between father and daughters. (And it wasn't a huge part of the story, but I was happy to feel like it was included.) I had a love-hate feeling towards the boys. There were times where I liked them, then times were I was sure I didn't want her to end up with either of the two boys. There is a love triangle. And I know what side I am on, but I am still really curious to see how it plays out in the next part of the story. My Recommendation: If you like contemporary stories that have romance and don't mind a love triangle, then I highly recommend this book. It was a cute, fun, and quick read. It grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading. And when I finished, all I could think was "I want more".

I wasn’t sure what to expect from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Rachel from Paper Cuts reviewed it and rated it highly. And it just so happened that Amazon had it on sale for $1.99 at the time so I snagged it. And it turned out to be the perfect read for me on my beach trip. I needed a quick, fun, contemporary read and this one fit my mood perfectly. I will say quickly that for some reason I was thinking our main character, Lara Jean, was older. I guess because the title indicates that there are multiple boys that Lara Jean has loved before which indicates a full life. Yet this is more of a crush kind of love—at least her earliest letters. As the description says, Lara Jean hasn’t told any of the boys she’s had a crush on before that she’s actually liked them. She writes a letter to each one, seals it, and hides in in a hat box that her late mother gave her. One day this guy at school, Peter, comes up to her and confronts her about the letter he got in the mail. Which was amusing and awkward. Poor Lara Jean. I cannot imagine how embarrassed I would have been had I been her. And so she rushes home to find that none of the other letters are in her hat box either. As a matter of fact her hat box is missing. And while it would be embarrassing enough for all her past crushes to get a letter from her, what she’s really concerned about is her friend Josh. He’s actually her sister’s recent ex-boyfriend. They broke up right before she moved to Scotland to attend college. Lara Jean and Josh were friends before Josh ever started dating her sister, Margot. And Lara Jean kept her feelings about Josh to herself for the sake of her sister. I really loved the way Jenny Han approached this book. Lara Jean has these feelings that she can’t ever act on. A guy that your sister dated, even if you had feelings for him first, is just off-limits. That’s part of the girl code. You wouldn’t date a guy that a friend dated under normal circumstances and that goes doubly for a guy that your sister dated. But Lara Jean wants to be Josh’s friend too so she has to find a way to make it back to normal with him. Peter comes up with the idea of doing a fake relationship with her. He can use her to make his ex-girlfriend Genevieve jealous and Lara Jean can use him to help her get things back to normal with Josh. I loved the relationship that Peter and Lara Jean had. There was no slight romantic tension between the two of them. They were both on a mission, but I loved how they slowly got to know each other and by default their relationship with each other changed. It felt a bit unoriginal, but in one of those ways that is done so well that I can’t find it in me to care that the idea isn’t completely original. Not only was this book about a girl who’s dealing with past feelings and new, changing romantic feelings, but this book is also about a family. It’s about sisters. Margot, Lara Jean, and Kitty’s mother passed away several years ago. Their father is a doctor and works crazy shifts. Margot really stepped up to take responsibility for her younger sisters and to help her father out around the house. But now Margot is getting ready to move overseas to go to college. Lara Jean is going to miss her so much, but she also has to step up to the role that Margot’s been filling in order to help her father out and take care of Kitty. I loved seeing the relationships between this family. Their father isn’t as present as I would like, but it felt like he wanted to be. And I loved seeing Lara Jean in the middle of her two siblings. So we’ve got the relationship with an older sibling and the relationship with a younger sibling. And sisters no less. Considering I have a sister, this story was especially dear to me. This felt like the best sister relationship story that I’ve read—at least when it comes to being even remotely similar to my own sister relationship. There’s love and friendship, but there’s rivalry and fights as well. My favorite quotes: -I’d hoped I wouldn’t cry, because I knew Margot wouldn’t, and it’s lonely to cry alone, but I can’t help it. -…it’s a lot of responsibility to hold a person’s heart in your hands. -If you were mine, I would never have broken up with you, not in a million years. -I want to be his lighthouse keeper while we wait for Margot’s return. But it’s hard. Harder than I thought. -To belong to someone—I didn’t know it, but now that I think about it, it seems like that’s all I’ve ever wanted. -When someone’s been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it’s like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you’re just clutching air and grit. That’s why you can’t save it all up like that. Because by the time you finally see each other, you’re catching up only on the big things, because it’s too much bother to tell about the little things. But the little things are what make up life. … Now everything feels like you had to be there and oh never mind, I guess it’s not that funny. -Sisters are supposed to fight and make up, because they are sisters and sisters always find their way back to each other. -There’s a specific kind of fight you can only have with your sister. It’s the kind where you say things you can’t take back. You say them because you can’t help but say them, because you’re so angry it’s coming up your throat and out your eyes; you’re so angry you can’t see straight. All you see is blood. Overall I was so impressed. Fair warning, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ends off in a cliffhanger. It was one of those cliffhangers where I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next. Like immediately. Right this minute. If PS I Still Love You was available now I’d have bought it as soon as I reached the last sentence. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before gets 4.5 Stars from me. Have you read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before? What did you think? Let me know! For more book reviews, check out Somewhere Only We Know - http://sandyfarmer.blogspot.com

The Covey family are extremely close, especially since the death of their mother a few years ago. Now it’s dad and his three Song girls (their Korean mother’s maiden name) – youngest is Kitty, middle is Lara Jean and eldest Margot keeps the family in line. But when Margot leaves for her first year of college in Scotland, the family are thrown into upheaval. Not least because before leaving home, Margot breaks up with her beloved boyfriend Josh who lives next door and has become so much apart of their family. Now it’s up to Lara Jean to keep their daddy and Kitty in line, to be the responsible oldest sister. But it’s hard when everyone has depended on Margot for so long, and when Josh’s new single status has Lara Jean remembering that she liked him first, but stepped aside when he admitted his feelings for Margot. Life becomes complicated when some private letters of Lara Jean’s are mysteriously sent – worse yet, they’re love letters. Lara Jean wrote five letters to the five boys she has loved (from afar) in her life. Josh is one of them, and in the fallout she can barely stand to be around him. Another is Peter Kavinsky – the most handsome boy in school who stole Lara Jean’s first kiss, and has since been linked to her former friend (now frenemy) Genevieve ever since. When Peter reads his letter he’s both insulted and insulting – telling Lara Jean that while she’s “cute, in a quirky way” he’s not interested in her. But when Lara Jean and Josh’s relationship becomes even most strained by her secret, and Genevieve dumps Peter for an older boy, the two of them come up with a plan to fake a relationship and try to make their respective crushes/ex’s jealous. ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ is the new contemporary young adult novel from YA queen, Jenny Han. It’s the first in a duology, with ‘P.S. I Still Love You’ set for 2015 release. I was really, really hesitant to read this novel. I absolutely loved the first two books in Han’s ‘Summer’ series – ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ and ‘It's Not Summer Without You’ – were brilliant, but final book in that contemporary YA trilogy ‘We'll Always Have Summer’ was absolutely awful. I actually still have a bit of a reader’s grudge against Han for making me fall in love with those characters only to do a complete character assassination in the finale. So, like someone who has been bitten once, I went into ‘All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ intrigued by the premise and adoring the cover (diversity!) but wary of this author I’ve been burned by in the past … but I can safely say Han hooked me again, and this book is now a favourite of 2014. Lara Jean Song Covey is a quite shy, awkward and inexperienced 16-year-old. Han finds a perfect pitch for her, so she doesn’t come across as a Bambi-eyed contrived Mary Sue but an endearing homebody with a penchant for baking and scrap-booking (I could see a lot of my high-school self in Lara Jean). Lara Jean lives the wild side vicariously through her friend Chris, a slut-shamed young woman who has a million stories to tell and is whispered about by their classmates. Han’s first-person narration is really quite beautiful and easy to fall into. Lara Jean has such a lot of history in this town, and connections to so many of her classmates that she brings up old anecdotes about kids she used to hang out with in elementary school. I really loved Han’s scene-setting and getting to know the Covey family, particularly the close relationship between the Song girls. Han’s light touch with discussions of being biracial is also refreshing (Lara Jean grouses that she has a strict “Asian characters only” Halloween costume rule now, since people always assume she's a Manga character anyway). The drama with the love letters and Lara Jean’s old crush on Josh is teased out slowly, but hits like a cyclone when Peter Kavinsky gets involved and comes up with a fake relationship plan for him and Lara Jean (with a warning that she shouldn’t fall in love with him in the process). Readers will know where the story is heading from a mile away, but it’s still a fun journey to get there. Though I will say Han does what she did with Jeremiah and Conrad in ‘We'll Always Have Summer’ – ensuring the “love triangle” isn’t all it’s tangled up to be, not when Josh is so dull and wishy-washy compared to charismatic and sweetly charming Peter. If I have any other small complaints it’s probably about the slut-shaming and double-standard sexism that’s sparked in the last half of the book, but is left frustratingly unexplored (doubly annoying because Chris seems such a perfect character to get to know better at this point, when Lara Jean gets a taste of the sexist shaming Chris goes through on a daily basis). ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ is the first book in a duology, with second book ‘P.S. I Still Love You’ set for 2015 release. There’s no information about that second book, and I’m a little bit concerned about venturing into another contemporary YA finale of Han’s … but ‘To All The Boys’ does leave off on a bit of an emotional cliffhanger, not to mention Margot and Josh still have a story in them that could make for an interesting second instalment. I’m totally invested in the Song girls dramas now, so will definitely be coming back for more. ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ is just plain fun, a YA contemporary that’s good for the soul and had me up until 2AM to finish reading. Highly recommend this book that’s definitely a favourite of 2014 for me. 4.5/5

I started out reading this book with a knowing snicker that the author has wiped clear off my face. I admit it- I jumped to a conclusion and mentally mocked a book that's probably going to be a novel that actually sticks with me forever. What a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL story. Ahhh Jenny Han you have stolen my heart! When I began this, two words came to mind: 'Little Women' and I will say that even now that I've finished, I do still suspect that the author may be a Louisa May Alcott fan because so much of the premise of 'To all The Boys I've Loved Before' is reminiscent of Little Women. There are only three sisters in this one and they are Korean and modern, but they have a very similar bond those in the afore mentioned story and a few of the plot elements are the same: the boy next door they all fall in love with in their own way who ends up with the eldest sister, the brave, quirky middle child who is more Anne Shirley than Jan Brady, and the hot-headed, mischievous little sister manipulating the eldest ones and every situation behind the scenes. This kid is an absolute handful and if she were my sister well, I would have gone on a cupcake-baking strike for what she does in the beginning of this story. It's not as bad as burning something precious in a fire, but it is akin to it by modern standards. <img src="https://reelclub.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/lw3.jpg"/> The sisters have a lovely bond but off the bat, I'm not the biggest fan of Margo. She's just a bit bleh in the way that little Kitty is a bit overbearing. Margo is the oldest who has been the mother figure in the home since their biological mother died, and she's leaving now to go to college in Scotland and leaving the middle sister in charge. Not only that, but she's leaving the boyfriend behind too. Look I don't know if it's possible to actually dole out spoilers with a book like this that everyone won't see coming already, but Lara has always been in love with her big sister's boyfriend and once the sister leaves well, you can imagine what notions occur to her. <img src="http://thesadadventures.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/tumblr_lasu2ikxkq1qeolcio1_500.gif"/> It's pretty predictable but I will say that that's where the predictability ends. Basically, Lara has written five love-letters in her life to silently farewell a boy once she's over her crush on them, but instead of sending them to the boy, she'd held onto them. It's cute and it's something I have done so right off the bat, I feel like this character is a bit of a soul-mate of mine. But, shock and horror, those letters end up finding their way into the boys hands and though this probably could have been played out with a bit more mortification involved (come on! they wouldn't all take it so well!) it sets up an exciting beginning to a story that DOES NOT FAIL TO DELIVER. I love how this novel develops. The things that you think are unexpected are the things that you end up hoping for without realising that you're hoping for them, and the things that happen that you see coming hit you square in the gut even though you see them coming. I once had a very nice reviewer use the word 'Tummy Butterflies' to describe one of my own novels and I have to say that I felt like I'd feasted on butterflies once I got into this. I just love love LOVE this heroine, and I love the male characters and Peter ohmigosh he's my new underage sexy book boyfriend. he reminds me like a modern day take on Gilbert Blythe when he was young and clumsy with his ego. <img src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh58xhUUAV1qafy2do1_500.jpg"/> This story is just beautiful and moving but never too shocking or too predictable. Some of the 'touching' moments between the sisters made me want to dry-retch a little but I have an incredibly sweet sister of my own so I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to be so tightly bonded. Unfortunately for me, there are seven years between my older sister and I, and sixteen between my eldest and me so we barely got to live together, let alone go through puberty together and I applaud the author for opting for sweet, rather than bitchy for the dynamic between all three of them. This story isn't over and I love that. I love how it ended, not a cliffhanger but with the promise of more, and I love reading a novel from a Korean girl's point of view because it's an absolute first for me. I loved the writing, the pacing, the surprises, the way it made me feel for her, the way it made me feel for everyone involved really, and I'll be getting book 2 the second I can. To All The Boys I've Loved before isn't modern or risky, but it doesn't infantalize teenagers either and I admire how a story can be so sweet and yet so current. Sex is mentioned a lot but never taken too far, there are a few cuss words involved that were used in the perfect way, and it forces you to care for people without shoving it down your throat. Read if you love the old Judy Blume and Caroline B Cooney novels of the 70's to 90's, read if you're a teen, read if you're an adult- just read and have your heart stolen :) <img src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr06/2013/4/30/18/anigif_enhanced-buzz-17981-1367359570-3.gif"/>

HOW GREAT ARE THESE BOOKS?! I’m not actually done with book two yet; that review will come as soon as I am! I had to get my thoughts out about this first one, however. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before made me have a lot of thoughts I hadn’t had before with others. I think that’s why Jenny will, and is, become a very strong force in my reading world. Through Lara Jean, Jenny opened up a lot of my own fears about love, sex, and relationships I’ve struggled with even in my later years in life. On top of that the book also opened my eyes to the fact that change is inevitable. Whether you’re the one changing or the one being left, or feeling like you’re left, behind as everyone else around you is moving forward. As far as the book itself, I have to say screw everyone that thinks Lara Jean is whiny and juvenile. I’m sorry, did we read the same book as everyone else? I know the mantra is not everyone reads the same book the same way, HOWEVER, Lara Jean IS JUVENILE. She’s, what, Fifteen or Sixteen in the first book? She IS a child. She’s a freaking out child who is flipping out because she’s suddenly discovered the letters she’s kept privately are gone. Secondly, she’d now the woman of the house as Margot, her eldest sister, is moving to Scotland to attend college. Being the grown up is TERRIFYING. Even with a parent present, knowing you have to take over is the worst feeling in the world. To some it may be liberating and the jump start into responsibility others might need but to most, it can be a scary place. Lastly, the only other real male influence and relationship reference Lara Jean has had in her life is Josh, (*SPOILER ALERT*) Margot’s, now, ex-boyfriend. Margot and Josh break up so she isn’t doing the Long Distance thing and no one is tied down to each other. Something Margot’s mother drilled into the girls heads and she’s trying to uphold that mentality. With all of this going on I think Lara Jean is an incredibly well handled female protagonist. There’s even times when I think she’s handling things better than I would. There’s also times I wish I could offer her advice of ‘chill out, you’re making things worse, honey.’ Lol! So her letters are gone, her sister is leaving, her sister and the boyfriend broke up which sort of upsets the dynamic of the family, and in all of this Lara Jean still has to be the one to hold the family together while her dad works long hours at the Hospital. Now, Peter Kavinsky, ONE of the boys who received a letter, I have to say I -HATED- him, at first. His pretentiousness drove me crazy! Everyone loves him, he’s a jock, he has a pretty boy face, and he has the hottest girlfriend at school. That seems to be a thing every book writer does once, though. They have to have ONE boy in one of their books thats a pretentious jerk that you wanna smack then later lover. Cassandra Clare did it with Jace, David Levithan did it with Dash, I’m sure there’s a million others. We love to hate them. The one change I did appreciate in Peter that Jenny did was that he came from a wholesome home. Most books I’ve read with a playboy attitude family their home is a wreck. Peter has a little brother, a welcoming and loving mother, a beautiful home, and both sons and mother are close. Which is very important. Despite Peter’s ‘play boy attitude’ he does show that he knows how to take care of a lady. I very much appreciated that side of Peter and it made me grow to like him despite side characters acting, appropriately, to hate him because they don’t know the full personality of him. I don’t want to go too much further into the main plot of the story because I think it’s just brilliant on it’s own. However, the drama that comes out of mailed letters wasn’t something I saw coming. I was fairly certain things weren’t going to go the way it was meant to go. You just have to READ to figure out what I’m talking about! GO! READ! Jenny Han wrote this beautiful duology, now trilogy, from true perspective of clique’s, high school nightmares, first true love, first heart breaks, and anything else you could want in a contemporary read. I’m so excited for the third book, I’m trying my hardest to get the ARC if there is one. Other wise I’ve already pre-ordered the hardcover! LOL! And I have a UK hook up I’m hoping to get the version of since I have the first two in UK versions as well. If you get the chance PLEASE pick up a copy from Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, you’re local indie or any where else you get your books. I promise you won’t regret the read!

I recently discovered Jenny Han with "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and loved the books and show. "To All the Boys I Loved Before" is different than the other series, but it still has great main characters and love story. I was surprised that this story is set in my hometown and also sounds like my neigborhood because one of the streets is near where I live. Lara Jean is a shy girl with three sisters. She is the middle sister and is often overlooked. Margot is the one she looks up to, and she is leaving for college in Scotland. Lara Jean is sad that she is leaving and also that she broke up with her long-time boyfriend Josh even though she likes him too. Inside her hatbox Lara Jean has written several letters to boys that she has had crushes on. They are all sent mysteriously and one is sent to Peter who Lara Jean liked when she was younger, a boy from camp that is returned, Josh, and two other boys. Peter decides to be her fake boyfriend and comes up with a contract between them after his girlfriend ends their relationship. His ex-girlfriend Genieve was Lara Jean's friend, but they ended their friendship over Peter. She also felt that Lara Jean wasn't cool anymore. Peter hangs out with Lara Jean and becomes close with her younger sister Kitty as well as her Dad. Josh doesn't like Peter and it's vice versa since Peter starts to have feelings for Lara Jean. There's similarities between Lara Jean and Belly in terms of personality. Josh has some similarities with Conrad and the same for Peter and Jeremiah. If you liked Belly/Jeremiah together you would like the two characters that wind up together. Lara Jean and Belly both learn about being in a relationship and taking risks. I'm interested in what happens next because the first book leaves the reader wondering what happens next.

My Review I really really wanted to love this book. I've seen so many 4 and 5 star reviews of it, that I went in expecting to be blown away. And maybe that's the problem? I ended up only feeling pretty meh about it, and gave it 3 stars and i'll try and explain why. What I Loved 1. Lara Jean is the middle sister. She has an older sister named Margot, who is going away to college and a younger sister named Kitty. I absolutely loved their relationship. After losing their mom when Lara Jean was small, the three of them have taken care of each other and been each other's support system. Margot especially has taken on a mother role to the other two and have made sure they've always had everything they needed. They laughed together, had fun together, and generally acted how I would have loved a sister to act if I had one. 2. The letters. Lara Jean has written a love letter to each of her past crushes. She did it as a way to get over them and get them out of her head. I absolutely loved the way the letters were addressed once they were sent to her past crushes. It was really unique and Lara Jean reacted how I could have seen myself react. It was cute and funny, and a really neat idea to introduce these past loves to the reader. 3. The culture. Lara Jean's mom was Korean and her dad is white. I really liked how her Korean culture was evident throughout the book, in the food mostly, and also with their family. It was nice to see how her Korean heritage was shown in her day to day life, and I absolutely loved all the descriptions of the food too! What Bugged Me 1. I didn't like any of the love interests. Spoilers after the cut. [spoiler]Josh was Margot's boyfriend who she breaks up with before she moves to Scotland so she doesn't feel obligated to stay in a long distance relationship while she's in college. After Josh gets one of Lara Jean's letters, he decides he's attracted to Lara Jean and maybe has been the whole time. And then when she doesn't really want to do anything about it, he kisses her anyway. First, he was dating her sister, and to me that means it's pretty much off limits anyway. Second, why kiss her when you knew she wasn't convinced that she wanted to give it a shot? Then Peter. He's a spoiled, arrogant jock who we come to find out isn't such a bad guy after all. Maybe. All through the book we start to see him become not so much of a jerk, and start thinking of others needs to. Ok, I can go along with that. But then he's still calling and seeing his ex-girlfriend. Ugh, annoying but Peter and Lara Jean are only in a 'fake' relationship so, maybe. But then at the end - big SPOILER ahead - after Lara Jean decides to not be afraid and give a real relationship with him a shot, they end up kissing. And all of his friends assume what they want to assume and decide that they slept together. Which they didn't, not that that is relevant. But instead of clarifying what actually happened, he pulled a wink wink, we didn't have sex wink wink, to save face to all his friends. And when he sees Lara Jean upset and crying, he doesn't believe that it's a big deal and she's over reacting. That made me so mad. And at the end of the book, we're left thinking that maybe Lara Jean is going to give him another shot. Super frustrating.[/spoiler] 2. Lara Jean's friend Chris. I feel like i'm the only one who didn't like her. She's a troubled bad girl who sleeps around and comes over to Lara Jean's house whenever she needs a place to hide or spend the night. We're lead to believe that she was one of Lara Jean's best friends but just started going down the wrong path. She just didn't seem like a friend at all. She doesn't do one supportive thing in the whole book. Well, once at the end, and she has zero character growth. She just seems like she's put there for. . .I'm not sure what. Lets just leave it that I didn't like her very much. 3. Lara Jean. Her voice to me in this book was very immature. I checked several times in the beginning to verify what age she was supposed to be, because she really seemed like she was maybe 13 at the most and she was supposed to be a junior in high school. I'm not sure if this was my issue, where a lot of the books i've been reading have more mature sounding teenagers, but it was distracting for me at times. Also, I felt there were several big opportunities for her character to grow and they just didn't go anywhere. I was left feeling a little disappointed, like they were wasted opportunities. 4. There is a non-ending. Don't get me wrong, it's not a cliff-hanger but it's definitely left very open to interpretation as to what happens next. In some books, this is fine and I actually like it because the reader can decide which direction they think they book was headed. In this book though, I felt like we had no closure, like the book had been leading up to . . .what, exactly? So don't go in expecting a clear cut ending. I was hoping to like this book a lot more than I did, unfortunately. It's a quick, easy read with a really interesting premise, but it just didn't work for me. It is really well-written and I love the fact that the main character is a POC so there's definitely good things to be said for it. I know i'm in the minority on this one, but I just didn't love it. Maybe you will! Have you read it? What did you think? Read this and more over at [...]

O meu livro chegou em ótimas condições, e é ainda mais fofo pessoalmente. Eu amo a história, é ótima para quando se está necessitado de um romance clichê, porém bem feito. Já li umas três vezes e vou ler de novo hahaha Ah, e essa edição veio com umas receitinhas dos cookies da Lara Jean no final, um amor!

Libro molto leggero e carino. Una lettura molto veloce, divorato in un giorno! Ogni tanto ci vuole una boccata d’aria fresca. Lara Jean è a dir poco adorabile ed è impossibile non innamorarsi di Peter K.

It has taken me way too long to get stuck in to the ‘TATBILB’ book series and once I did, it took me about a little over a week to finish all three. I watched the movie for TATBILB literally the day it came out and fell in love with it, as did pretty much the entire world. It’s a story-line that has been told time and time again, however, Lara Jean, her family, Peter Kavinsky, Josh, all the side characters – you’re just not going to get any better than them and that’s what makes this story-line it’s very own. Something that no one has done before and no one will ever top. If you’ve watched the movie and/or read the books, you will know that TATBILB follows sixteen-year-old, Lara Jean Song Covey and her love letters. Lara Jean has a thing for writing love letters, dedicated to all of her crushes up until the present, however, she will never send them out. She keeps them treasured away for her and only her to read over and over again. When a little teasing at the dinner table takes a turn for the worst, all five of Lara Jean’s crushes receive their letters, one including the beloved and popular, Peter Kavinsky. Two rather big and life-changing events in Lara Jean and Peter’s lives leave them both in positions that they really need to get themselves out of and what could help that more than fake dating? Probably a lot, but this is the story of Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky, that is going to have you head over heels in love with them within seconds. Not only was Lara Jean trying to cover her back from a previous crush that could turn back around on her really hard, she was also having to deal with her eldest sister, Margot, moving to Scotland for University. The Song sisters have such a unique and special bond between the three of them and it did have me a little green with envy throughout, not growing up with sisters of my own (Shush don’t tell my brothers that though, I still love them more than life itself). With Margot having taken on the mom role, after their mother sadly passed away, Lara Jean knew that this was now going to be passed on as her responsibility and she needed to continue the hard work Margot had put in to taking care of their father and youngest sister, Kitty. TATBILB is such an easy read, with chapters only taking up to 1-3 minutes each to read which I L.O.V.E.D!! I absolutely live for short chapters, as my attention span is about 5 minutes – if a chapter is longer than that, there’s a slight chance you’re going to lose me half way through for a little bit. However, that being said, the longest chapters of this book take up to no more than 12 minutes, which is an absolute joy, so thank you Jenny for keeping your books short and sweet. Being as it is the year I turned 22, I always feel a bit nervous reading books based in school’s, like people might find out and judge me? I don’t know, it’s a stupid thought, however, I really just love the simplicity of being taken back to school, where all you had to worry about was whether that boy you like likes you back or getting your homework completed in time or whether or not you was going to be invited to the latest and trashiest party – none of it is really as important as you think when you’re sixteen. The book is so incredibly cosy and I found myself yearning to have the type of dynamic and vibe that the Covey household does. I also found myself feeling determined to be as productive as Lara Jean – with her love for creating scrapbooks, testing new Korean face-masks and consistently baking for her family, I wish I had her self-care routine! I do really admire Lara Jean, not only for her outstanding skin-care routine, but also because she really does prove herself and show everybody that she is more capable of life than they all think. She comes across as the shy girl who loves to make crafts and bake, yet her confidence shines so bright and her ways of dealing with hard situations really make you want to applaud her. Don’t get me wrong, although the book makes you want to believe she is living this perfect life, Lara Jean definitely has her flaws – confrontation being the main one and I really can relate to that, as I am the worst person when it comes to confrontation. I’d rather just run away and not deal with anything than have to face something that could be either painful or just straight up awkward. You’d be crazy to not love the growing friendship between Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky. Two complete opposites, yet they somehow make it work. Rekindling their friendship was really heart-warming to watch, as you learn that they had been friends since their childhoods, yet walked in opposite directions of each other the more the years went by, and the closer Peter got to the wicked witch, Genevieve. The more they were fake dating and getting to know each other, you could see how much they were growing on each other, romantically, however, they still have each other’s main goals in their heads and stop themselves from admitting how they really feel. I really do believe that they are an unexpected couple who are absolutely made for each other.

I don't even know where to begin with this book because I loved it so much! It's such a heartfelt story with incredibly real characters, readers can't help but get sucked into Lara Jean's world. Like Becky Albertalli, Jenny Han transported me back to high school in the best way possible and after the cliffhanger ending of To All the Boys I've Loved Before, I absolutely cannot wait to read P.S. I Still Love You. The Netflix movie adaption was incredible! It stayed true to the characters and did wonderful justice to the story. I even found myself liking how some of the plot points played out in the movie better than the book, and that's a testament to the care everyone involved with the movie took in bringing the book to life. Read this book (and series), and definitely watch the Netflix adaptation. You will not be disappointed.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before ist eine wunderschöne, emotionale und zugleich humorvolle Geschichte, die mich von der ersten Seite an gefesselt hat. Lara Jean ist eine liebenswerte und authentische Protagonistin, in deren Gedanken und Gefühlen man sich sofort wiederfinden kann. Die Handlung ist romantisch, ohne kitschig zu wirken, und voller Momente, die zum Schmunzeln, Mitfiebern und Träumen einladen. Besonders gefallen hat mir, wie realistisch die Themen erste Liebe, Familie, Freundschaft und Selbstfindung dargestellt werden. Die Charaktere wirken lebendig und entwickeln sich im Laufe der Geschichte auf eine glaubwürdige Weise weiter. Jenny Han schafft es, eine warme und berührende Atmosphäre zu erzeugen, sodass man das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen möchte. Am Ende blieb bei mir ein Gefühl von Freude, Hoffnung und einem kleinen Lächeln zurück. Ein absolutes Wohlfühlbuch für alle, die romantische Geschichten mit Herz lieben. Klare 5 Sterne und eine große Leseempfehlung!