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

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BOOK review

Started on: 24.April.2015
Finished on: 25.April.2015

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Title : To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Author : Jenny Han

Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Pages :  368 pages / 268 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication : 2014

Price : $18.64 (www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 4/5

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"Of all the things I save, I guess you could say my love letters are my most prized possession.... 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 is going through a hard time when her older sister, Margot, will be going away to college in Scotland. Since they lost their mother, Lara Jean always depended on Margot on a lot of things—but now Lara Jean's supposed to be in charge. But a bigger problem arises when her secret love letters that she kept in a hatbox suddenly got sent out to the boys she's ever loved. The crazy situation made her feel utterly embarrassed, especially a boy named Peter Kavinsky who bluntly asked her about the love letter he received. But thing that worries her the most is a letter that she wrote to a certain guy; and that guy is Josh, Margot's ex-boyfriend that Lara Jean had a crush for.

"I turn on my side and close my eyes. What must it be like, to have a boy like you so much he cries for you? And not just any boy. Josh. Our Josh."

Lara Jean tried to get out of the awkward situation by pretending that she's in a relationship with Peter. By doing that, she's trying to convince Josh that she doesn't have feelings for him anymore. However things got a lot more complicated as Lara Jean spent a lot of time with Peter and she started questioning her feelings. And what Lara Jean dreaded the most happened eventually. She then had to face the consequences of keeping her feelings secluded all this time.

"I feel faint. I actually feel faint. Please let me faint right now, because if I faint I will no longer be here, in this moment. It will be like in movies when a girl passes out from the horror of it all and the fighting happens while she is asleep and she wakes up in a hospital bed with a bruise or two, but she's missed all the bad stuff. I wish that was my life instead of this."

image source: here. edited by me.

This was a very hyped book in 2014 and I finally get to read this book with a really cute cover on it :) I've only read one Jenny Han's book before this one, which was The Summer I Turned Pretty—but I never had the urge to continue reading the whole series. I was intrigued to read this book because the premise sounded really interesting to me, which is about Lara Jean and her secret love letters that got sent out unintentionally. And even though the story is not exactly what I expected (and I do feel that some parts are quite cliché), I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. This book is probably a typical young adult story in which the conflict includes family, friendship, and mostly romance. Although I didn't really care much about the conflict in this book, I have to admit that I really like Jenny Han's writing. She was able to make me feel like I know the characters personally. I love how there are various characters with different personalities in the book, because I think that really makes the story a lot more compelling. As for the ending, I'm not sure whether it satisfies me or not—but I would've been okay with it even if Jenny Han didn't write the sequel. If this was a standalone, that open ending will leave the rest of the story to the readers' imagination. So, since I'm not all that curious as to what other dramatic things could happen in Lara Jean's life, I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel. But maybe I will, who knows.

"Margot doesn't see the point in wondering. This is our life; there's no use in asking what if. No one could ever give you the answers. I try, I really do, but it's hard for me to accept this way of thinking. I'm always wondering about the what-ifs, about the road not taken."

I have mixed feelings towards Lara Jean's character. Sometimes I could relate to her thoughts and decision, but sometimes I also feel like she's a bit of a drama queen. My favorite character in this book is probably Peter Kavinsky. His character always managed to make me laugh with his cockiness that's annoyingly adorable. I liked Josh's character as well in the beginning, but he doesn't show up as much in the middle of the book. So by that point, I was swept away by Peter's charms and forget about Josh completely. I find it really interesting how everyone's opinion about Peter is not very positive; but as Lara Jean get to know him better, he actually has a lot of good qualities that not all people know about. However, I was a bit annoyed by his relationship Genevieve. Now I'm thinking about reading the sequel, just to find out more about Peter Kavinsky. Oh, and I can't forget to mention how much I love Kitty—Lara Jean's younger sister! She's a very adorable character and I love her dialogues in the book ♥

"He's not what you'd think. People are so quick to judge him, but he's different." I'm surprised to find I'm telling the truth. Peter isn't what you'd think. He is cocky and he can be obnoxious and he's always late, true, but there are other good and surprising things about him too.

"I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to be brave. I want... life to start happening. I want to fall in love and I want a boy to fall in love with me back."

I did have my disappointments towards this book but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's quite a light read. I'm going to wait for the reviews on the sequel to see whether I'm going to read it or not. But I will definitely try to read Jenny Han's other books because I liked her writing in this one. I do recommend this book if you enjoy reading young adult romance books and if you're looking for something light to read :))

by.stefaniesugia♥ .