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

Title:  To All The Boys I've Loved BeforeAuthor: Jenny Han 

Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers

Publishing Date: April 15 2014

Pages: 355

Genre: YA Chic Lit/ Contemporary Romance

Series: To All The Boys I've Loved Before #1

Source: Audio

  

Lara Jean 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 can pour out her heart and soul and say 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. 

I really didn't have any intentions of reading this book, but I have seemed to get along with chic lit and contemporary romances lately and heard many good things about this book and wow I am so glad I read this book. I really enjoyed this book. I have heard many good things about the book but wasn’t sure if it was for me. I finally decided to give it a try and I liked it…. a bunch. It was funny, it was sweet, it was emotional, it was fun. It was a very feel good read with just the amount of depth. I liked the characters, the writing, the story. It was just all good.

Lara Jean is 16 going on 17. Her two best friends are her older sister, Margo and Margo’s boyfriend, Josh. Margo is 18 graduated and is now heading to college in Scotland. Lara Jean and her single father must figure how to run the household and take care of 9 year old Kitty without Margo there. Lara Jean must also figure out how to find her place in the new family dynamics, she must figure out her place in the trio of best friends without Margo. Things are weird now because Margo was the piece that put it all together. Lara Jean had feelings for Josh and stuffed them away once Margo and Josh started dating… now Margo isn’t here and things happen. Like letters to the 5 boys she has loved in her life… she wrote them letters to say goodbye…kind of like I loved you and now I am over it. All the boys… including Josh got the letters. Now things are super strange between Lara Jean and Josh and her feelings resurface. Lara Jean decides to have a fake boyfriend to keep things from getting out of hand between her and Josh. Her fake boyfriend is her first crush, Peter… which also got a letter. Yes its all a bit mixed up and this is where the fun and complications really begin because of course… fake boyfriends never work out the way you think they should or will.

Where to start with this book. I'm really not sure. I loved it I really did. It was good, laughs, tears, awe moments, growth, romance, great characters. It was very well written. I feel that everything I am going to say has probably been said before. This seems to be a very popular read. For good reason. 

I really didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did. It was pretty awesome. What stood out to me the most was the family dynamics in this book. They changed dramatically from beginning to end of book but stayed the same in a way too. There was a ton of growth for the main character, Lara Jean, and for her family. 

Three girls, sisters, losing their other at a young age, this is never easy. This is the story about the middle daughter growing up, experiencing love, loss, and then truths about growing up. Lara Jean was a strong character for me. She was actually shy and quiet but her heart  was big, dramatic, and a little crazy. She was a sensitive soul, a dreamer. Her main issue was not living in the real world. She was her older sisters shadow and had to figure it all out one that sister shipped off to school in Scotland. 

This is the story of Lara Jean and her journey through what she felt was love in the past and finding love in the present. The story of of Lara Jean and her place in the family unit and learning the balance of taking care of others, being taken care of, and taking care of herself. This is the story of sisters, friends, an love. 

I loved Lara Jean and her character was by far the best in the book, but there were many good ones and they all had their faults, none blameless or perfect. I got along well with her kid sister and her father. The older sister, Margo, did get on my nerves some but had some redeeming qualities. 

The one character I had the hardest time with was the love interest, Peter. I liked him, I didn't like him, I loved him, I hated him, I felt for him, I wanted to slap him, he grew on me, and in the end I cared for him. 


The romance was great, well developed from past friends, to partners in crime, to friends, to more than friends, to heartbreak, then to possibly more. I didn't like the open ending but I didn't read this til I found out another book was coming out and soon. So I hope to get resolution soon. 

I did love the narrator and think that for sure she added to the story and the characters and I loved the book all the more for the wonderful voices she gave to this read. 


A great read full of all kinds of feels. Simply a lovely book.

Jenny Han (Han like Han Solo, not Han like hand)
was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. She went to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and she went on to graduate school at the New School in New York City, where she received her MFA in Writing for Children. She lives in Brooklyn.
What's in your bag? pens, Tom Ford lipstick (one red, one pink), lip balm, mini notebook, eyeglass cleanerWhat's your favorite city? New York in the fallWhere do you write? in cafes, on the subway, in other people's housesMorning or night? Night
Which Hogwarts house are you? Slytherin
Favorite books? I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.