With February 14th recently past and the new release of the Netflix film To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, I have decided it would be fitting to review the very popular To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before made its big debut April 15, 2014. After completing the romantic trilogy May 2nd of 2017, the beloved Han signed with Netflix, bringing To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before to the big screen. The all American teen romance saw the screen August 17, 2018 and has captured both the hearts of book nerds and movie buffs alike.
The book follows sixteen year old, half korean, half white, Lara Jean Song Covey (portrayed by Lana Condor in the films) through her pretty ordinary life in Virginia. Lara Jean, like most teenagers, has had a crush or two in her lifetime. This being said the young hopeless romantic finds solace in writing letters to each of the boys she has ‘loved’ throughout her years. Never having openly admitted her feelings to any of these crushes, Lara quite literally stows them in a box and stuffs them away. To her own bewilderment Lara one day finds that her secret kept letters have somehow disappeared from their hiding and been mailed off. This, as you may already be able to guess, causes quite the stir in Lara’s normally still life. From her first kiss, to the boy from summer camp, to even her sister’s ex-boyfriend Josh, Lara Jean finds herself confronted by each of her letters recipients.
Already juggling being a teenager, the middle child of three girls, and the passing of her mother, Lara finds herself in a panic at the thought of not only her letters being released, but at her older sister discovering her feelings for her ex-boyfriend. This is where the oh so dreamy Peter Kavinsky (portrayed by Noah Cantineo) comes into play. Struggling with the recent break up of his high school girlfriend, Peter, being a recipient of one of Lara’s letters offers her a partnership. The two find themselves making a secret pact to fake a relationship. Not only will this deal prove to the other letter receivers that Lara no longer has feelings for them, but it will also work in making Peter’s ex realize she wants him back, or so that’s what the plan was anyways. As Lara learns to deal with her past loves, opening up and finding herself, and her growing feelings for her fake boyfriend Peter, she discovers that she can’t hide away from the world forever.
While these books and the films have melted the hearts of millions of fans, some on Goodreads exclaim that the plot can be “too dramatic and childish” at certain points. Nevertheless the book still received 4.17 out of a possible 5 stars on Goodreads and raked in a whopping 97% approval by rottentomatoes. I personally can’t say I have many complaints for this feel good teen romance.
