[Book Review] To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

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.

3.5 STARS

Okay this was pretty cute. I wasn't sure if I'd really be into this book because I don't read a lot of YA contemporary romances (that aren't queer stories). With the Netflix movie coming out I decided I wanted to give it a shot and I really enjoyed it. This review may have some spoiler moments, so if you plan on reading this completely blind I'd stop reading here! If you're interested in my quick non-spoilery thoughts: I liked it, but I didn't love it. It's a sweet quick summer romance that I think is fluffy and fun but didn't really deliver what the synopsis makes you think you're getting yourself into. Also, the writing wasn't my favorite and could sometimes be a bit clunky and not at all smooth. However, I do plan on reading the next two books because I want to know what will happen next.

At first I wasn't a fan of our main character, Lara Jean. She is supposed to be sixteen years old, but I honestly feel like she acted like she was a few years younger than that. The overall tone and voice of her character was very immature and young. Now as the story went on I definitely warmed up to her and although her tone was immature and young throughout the entire story, I did also find her sweet and endearing. I both thought she was absolutely adorable and I wanted to slap her because of her incredibly bad decisions. I just didn't love that I had to constantly remind myself that she was supposed to be sixteen. Peter was a favorite character of mine in this story. At first, he seems like this typical cocky overconfident teenage boy (which he most definitely is) but his character arc from the beginning to the end of the story as a whole was one I liked a lot. I really loved him with Lara, not just romantically (fake or otherwise) but also just them becoming friends. I thought they had a lot of great chemistry and they brought out the good parts of each other. I loved all of Lara Jean's family members. I thought Kitty was going to get on my nerves but I even loved her. I felt for Margot, having to step us as the main woman of the house after their mother passed is such a huge responsibility and I felt for her especially at the end of the story when she comes back from college. I also loved their dad, who was an adorable guy. I love that having the girls stay connected to their Korean side, even after the passing of their mom, meant so much to him and he tried new things with them. It's so cute. Honestly, the only character I really hated was Josh. He's in this long term relationship with Margot and then they break up. He seems to kind of get over that fairly quickly the moment he finds out that Lara Jean once had feelings for him. I feel like 1. treating your ex-girlfriend's sister like a rebound seems like a jerk move and 2. maybe don't go after your ex-girlfriend's sister.  He's jealous and territorial over her, and he feels like he needs to constantly butt in with his opinions when he finds out Lara is dating Peter. I just really hated Josh.We also have Chris, Lara Jean's best friend. I mostly disliked her, but there's a scene in particular that made me respect her a lot more than I had at first. I think I would like to see more moments of them together so we can see their friendship more. 

The plot was pretty predictable and generic for a young adult contemporary romance, but I don't think that's an awful thing and I did enjoy myself. It's a sweet story but it doesn't have much originality going for it. I love that the girls are half Korean, and I hope to maybe see more of that in the next books because  I am always up to learn about different cultures. And of course I am a sucker for some great descriptions of foods, but the romance and the plot itself was standard. It's a perfect beach read. Dramatic, fluffy, light, and easy to speed through. However, it does have it's heavy moments, especially when it comes to the sisters and the relationships they've had. Also how they all handled the death of their mother and how it affected their sibling relationships. I love how close they are and I love their family traditions.The whole  Covey family is charming. 

My biggest problem with this book is the fact that the readers are told this story is centered around Lara dealing with the aftermath of her private love letters being sent out to boys she's had feelings for in the past. But that is only in the beginning of the book, and the problem gets resolved fairly quickly. Which is fine, but I almost didn't even see a point of there being five letters/boys when only two of them actually matter. At least right now, since there is one boy we got no closure on at all. So we will see how they come into play in the next books. 

The writing was okay, but not my favorite. The sentences, especially at the beginning of the story, were clunky and had hard stops at the end of each sentence. So it didn't flow very well and it felt choppy. I think it's a mixture of the writing but also the way the audiobook narrator narrated the story. So I am not sure if it was only the writing, but either way the story didn't seem to flow well. I am  not sure if it improves as the story progresses or if I've gotten used to it or got so caught up in the story that I didn't notice it as badly. But it's definitely jarring at first. I think the writer is a fantastic storyteller and great at writing believable complex characters, it was just the sentence structure and Lara's immaturity that were negative aspects for me as a reader. However, none of this is stopping me from reading books two and three. 

I also definitely recommend the movie!! It only spans through the events of the first book so there aren't any spoilers for the rest of the series. I think the movie did a lot of things better than the book, and I ended up enjoying it a lot more. For one, Lara Jean definitely acts her age. She's young and inexperienced but she doesn't react or have the tone of a character a few years younger than her like she did in the book. I actually both loved Lara Jean but I also loved the way the actress, Lana Condor, portrayed Lara. She's absolutely adorable. All the actors & actresses played their characters perfectly. It was so well done. So if you liked the book, definitely watch the movie. I think you may like the movie even if you didn't like the book. It makes me even more excited to continue with the trilogy. 

Overall, if you're in the mood for a really cute summer romance this would be one  I'd definitely recommend. It's the perfect mixture of lighthearted with serious family/romance drama mixed in. It's just so pure and innocent. I want to finish the next two soon because I need to know what will happen next! These are definitely more addicting than I anticipated.

Thanks for reading!