Book Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

December 16, 2016


Author: Jenny Han

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Blurb: Lara Jean's love life is about to go from imaginary to out of control.

Lara Jean Song keeps love letters in a hat box her mother gave her - one for every boy she's ever loved. She can say anything she wants, because the letters are for her eyes only. Until the day they're sent out...

Intermission: I knew who sent those letters. Way before Lara did. Basically, I'm a genius. And who knows if the person will be able to escape my wrath.

I found this book very light and refreshing.

We have our protagonist Lara Jean Song (Covey) and the other Song sisters Kitty (younger) and Margot (older). Their mother died when they were young and occasionally, Lara Jean would reflect on lovely memories of her late mum.

The theme of family is very prevalent in the novel. Ever since their mother died, Margot tried her very best to take care of her younger sisters and tried to make sure Lara Jean wasn't left out while she was dating Josh. For reasons like this (and more) I grew quite fond of her as I admire sensible characters.


Lara Jean struggled a lot when her sister was abroad spoiler:  (In a college in Scotland. Why Scotland? I don't even know). Unfortunately, Lara Jean had issues with her best friend Josh. Spoiler:  (turns out she still liked him after Margot broke up with him and avoided him because he received one of her love letters. But she pretend to be in a relationship with Peter Kavinsky to avoid Josh. WHY?!).

Hm, Kitty. Kitty... could be quite sassy at times. Though she seriously needs to chill because she was pretty bratty most of the time. I thought my younger sibling was a bit extra but I'm just glad I don't have a Kitty in my life. The lack of regard she has for Lara Jean is irritating. Someone said the Song sisters were like the March sisters and that Amy (my least favourite sister) was like Kitty (that fits!). She may only be nine but still... and Lara Jean was almost always so patient with her because she's an SWG basically.


Gracie_ee
Sweet Wholesome Gal...



"I bet I'm going to be a better driver than you, Lara Jean."
 I grip the steering wheel tighter. "I bet you are." Brat.

 Lara has this friend called Chris (who's a girl by the way). She's the complete opposite of her. She's rebellious, smokes, drinks, the whole shebang. I don't think she's a particularly important character (though this is only the first book in this series) and I don't know why Lara Jean is her friend. What do they even have in common except for being girls and childhood friends? Oh, maybe it's because they're both not the biggest fans of Chris' evil cousin Genevieve. Boy was she evil.

Lara Jean also talked about being Asian and how their father attempted to preserve the Song sister's Asian side e.g. making Korean food for them when he's off work.

I like how food is often mentioned. And how Lara Jean's favourite food is cake.

I also liked how Kavinsky wasn't the typical bad boy. He was alright.

I found the story pretty cliché (though I don't usually read these about things) but I adored it. Also, it was kinda like a Korean drama which is a guilty pleasure of mine, okay? Let me live!



Blossoming friendships 

                                        





To awkward attraction....


ALMOST PARADISE........



And asfdfgfgjj DANG IT!


Recommendation: 15 and above

Content: Swearing, innuendo, kissing


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6 comments

  1. I didn't love this book when I first read it, but when I read the second book I started to appreciate it a lot more. Lara Jean is a lot like me (half-asian(although different part of asia), SWG (I'm kinda this maybe idk), likes to stay at home (me too), likes to pretend she has a fake boyfriend just to avoid one awkward thing (jk-I've never done that kind of thing lol)). And I agree that chris is kind of useless to the story. It's kind of cliched but then also relatable in a lot of ways and I just liked it :)

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    1. Oh. I didn't know you were biracial. (You learn something new everyday!)

      Ayy, fellow SWG (except for the hating Kitty bit but shh).

      I like staying at home, too!

      Yeah, it encourages me to bake more. I'm really looking forward to the second book now you mention it...

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  2. I really liked this book when I read it earlier this year *cue existensial crisis about how the year is almost over* I loved the food and the general cosiness of this book. I thought the whole multiple boys things was a bit dramatic, but Lara Jean is such a lovely character, and I really liked her dad and family.

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    1. Yeah, a very cosy read :) Yay, I'm glad you like her family. Thanks for commenting :D

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  3. Dude I've been seeing this book everywhere and I've really wanted to pick it up but it's not the type of book I usually read so *cue crisis*. But it sounds pretty good and I'll probably have to take it out of the library or something because I trust your opinions :)

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    1. Haha, you can blame me completely if you hate it xD

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Keep it all clean, man. Well, if you really wanna curse, use minor swear words. And I mean the minorest of minor ones.

"Or what?" you ask in indignation.

"Or else."