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

The Details

Title: To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Number of Pages: 368
Publishing Date: April 15, 2014
Publisher: Simon + Schuster Inc.



The Fact

The Synopsis

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them... all at once?

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.

The Talk

So the story revolves around Lara Jean Song, a Korean-American 16 year-old girl. She has two sisters- Margot "Gogo" Song and Katherine "Kitty" Song. Their dad is an ob-gyn and yep, all in all Lara's family is well, NORMAL.

First off, the characters. Lara Jean Song for me, is very childish. From the way she speaks, to the way she acts around people, you could really say that she has much more to learn in life-or LOVE life for that matter. Next is Margot, the eldest sister. Unlike Lara Jean Song, she is very mature. She wants others to think of her as a woman, not a girl. She also happens to be the BEST sister that ever existed. She also acts as the "motherly" figure among the Songs. Then we have Kitty Song, who is also mature. She's 9, but she acts like she's Lara's age. Even older. I think Lara's the only immature kid in the group? I wonder why... 

For the boys, we have Josh Sanderson. He is/was the love interest of Margot before she moved, but even before all of the stuff that happened, he was hanging out in the Songs' house very often. He is very cheery and he likes to help out with the family. Next is Peter Kavinsky, who is the high school heart-throb. He is very vain, and he cares deeply about how others think about him.

I think that the characters were very well written & expressed, so kudos, Jenny Han! I just don't like-like the immaturity of Lara Jean Song, and I hope she learns sh*t in P.S. I Still Love You.

Let's move to the story! For this one, I'm really impressed by the astounding fact that it has two climaxes. In my thinking, per se. There's Chapter 16, where it all really happens, and Chapter 68, where the repercussions of the thing in Chapter 16 are dealt with. I also almost cried because of the love story of Lara and a certain-boy-I'm-not-gonna-mention. It was really engaging. But like what Newtonian Physics preaches, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So here are the negative points. Lara Jean was really childish at times, but not necessarily all throughout the book. Also, there's this cliche b*tch named Genevieve, and the also-cliche dude Peter Kavinsky. I think that minus the thing in Chapter 16, this would be a cliche story altogether, and a disappointing first Contemporary read for me. 

The Rating

I will give 3 out of 5 grenades! Many people are bashing over this, because Lara Jean was so childish. I think that this is really cute, and I felt gooey inside while reading this. It was nice, but not great. :)