To All The Boys I've Loved Before

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Author(s)

Jenny Han

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

12+

Release Date

April 15, 2014

ISBN

978-1442426702

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Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series. 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.

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5 reviews

Overall rating

4.2

Plot

3.6(5)

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4.4(5)

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4.6(5)

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The Movie is Better

April 14, 2019

Overall rating

4.0

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This is one of the very few times I will ever say this but here we go.... I preferred the movie. Yes, I said it. I LOVE the movie, seen it at least 6-7 times since it came out and I even watched it again while writing this review. The Netflix movie is perfect. This novel.....

Let's start from the beginning, this books follows Lara Jean as she slowly comes into herself and realizes her own feelings for certain people while taking over her older sister's spot. It's cute a story. I fell in love reading about her and Peter and loved them together. The writing is great, the flow of the story is great. Honestly, if not for the ending, I would have given this a five star rating but the way it just left me hanging...

The whole book is really based on this plot point that never gets settled. Never. All the subplots are neatly wrapped up with a little bow and that's nice but I'm left hanging on the only thing I really cared about when reading the freaking book!

It really kind of ruined it for me, that ending. I hate to say this, but I doubt I will continue this series because I'm just bitter. Maybe over time I will change my mind.

Overall, I'd say skip this and just watch the AMAZING Netflix movie because it was so satisfying and just one of my favorite movies of all time.

Carrie Artrip Top 50 Reviewer 113 reviews

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So good

December 06, 2016

Overall rating

4.7

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i'm finally done! i read this with a very slow start which i think is becoming a routine for me. but once i sat down and read it, i just couldn't stop!

i like Lara Jean. we're the same in the sense that we're homely and sheltered. but i also like how she grew here. her character development is definitely, i would say, one of the best in the YA contemporary genre. the secondary characters i like too. i love the fact that they are not black and white. like Peter's friends are really decent and funny guys to Lara Jean even though stereo typically, they are not. one is also Josh and Chris! the family members are pretty awesome too!

the book, though romance, has much more to convey which are family and friendship. i like the fact that the book can be surprising. i like the level of drama too. like i said it's not black and white.

i'm not really into the part that it's one of the stories that are pretend relationships. but this time, it really has a cool plot on how they got into the situation. i love the plot of it all, but the flow in the start of the book is quite slow. which is why i dropped the book for awhile.

this book will definitely leave you wanting more. i'm very glad there's a sequel. yet, i am satisfied of how the book ended... quite realistic.

in general, this book is so good! i'm looking forward to reading the next one. i really would love to know what will happen to the main and minor characters!

i've won this book in a sweepstakes! and i am truly grateful.

Good Points

~ amazing flow of story
~ the best character development in a YA contemporary so far
~ minor characters are so good
~ would make you want more

alyssa Top 500 Reviewer 30 reviews

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Very cute and light reading

November 15, 2015

Overall rating

4.0

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Lara Jen Covey has a secret. She writes letters to the boys she’s crushing on, seals them, and hides them away in a box. No one is meant to see them. Until the day her letters get mailed out and she has to deal with the consequences.

This was a light, cute read that left me with a smile. It wasn’t a book full of twists and surprises and the plot was fairly simple, but I really enjoyed it. It was a perfect book for a summer read.

Lara Jean came off as a very young sixteen, naive and a little needy, but it made sense to me. It felt like her older sister Margot had sheltered her from most of the world while giving her jobs to make her feel like she was more of an equal. When it came time for Lara Jean to step into Margot’s shoes, she simply wasn’t ready for the responsibility. Her growth from that young girl into someone who was ready, someone who could be depended on, was really nice and I loved that it was a struggle. She wasn’t suddenly an adult because circumstances needed her to be.

I loved the contrast between the three sisters. Margot was the overly responsible one who acted like an adult most of the time, though she could have her own childish moments. Lara Jean was more immature for her age while Kitty was a mix of the two, she could be a brat at times and others she was very responsible. I also appreciated that their father, a very busy man, was still present in their lives and made an effort to make sure their mother’s Korean heritage wasn’t forgotten.

The development between Lara Jean and Peter was really sweet. First pretending to date due to circumstances, it slowly turned into friendship until the feelings Lara Jean thought she’d gotten over returned. It definitely wasn’t insta-love. There was a small triangle with neighbor Josh and at first, it was hard to choose but Peter won me over in the end.

This book could have stood on its own but there is a second one coming. Unfortunately it won’t be for months. Long, long months.

Trista Roddick Top 50 Reviewer 182 reviews

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Review To All The Boys I've Loved Before

November 05, 2015

Overall rating

5.0

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I ended up finishing it in one night. I was immediately in love with this book. To all the boys I’ve loved before has got to be one of the cutest, most adorable book that I have ever read. Jenny Han really makes you connect with the characters in this book. When I was reading it I kept thinking ” Wow! I’m just like Laura Jean” or at another time one of the characters would reminded me of one of my sisters which made the book a little bit more special to me. Laura Jean is such a realistic and relate able character that everyone would want to be her friend with. I mean who else would write a letter to a boy they love? This book to me feels like a rarity in the YA genre because there are hardly any with a character that comes from a loving family. Laura Jean cares deeply about her family and they are an integral part of the book which just gives me all of the feels. The boys were nice and thank god none of them are “dark, brooding and mysterious” they were just normal like most people are. I think that Laura Jeans relationship with Peter Kavinsky is just perfect I could not love it anymore than I already do. Peter is also the best book boyfriends EVER!!! When I wasn’t laughing out loud I was in awe of how adorable this book is. I could talk about To all the boys I’ve loved before all day long but, I think that it would be better if you just read it because I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone. Overall, To all the boys I’ve loved before is really just one of those special books that you just can’t help but love and I would recommend this to everyone. Also I need P.S. I Still Love You right NOW!!!!!.

My favorite quote;

“Oh, I used to lie all the time as a kid.” I didn’t think of it as lying, though. I thought of it as playing make-believe. I told Kitty she was adopted and her real family was in a traveling circus. It’s why she took up gymnastics.

Victoria Top 500 Reviewer 12 reviews

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To All The Boys I've Loved Before

October 28, 2015

Overall rating

3.3

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Favorite Quotes:
• “I don’t have to be so afraid of good-bye, because good-bye doesn’t have to be forever.”
• “Do you think there's a difference? Between belonging with and belonging to?”
• “I wonder what it's like to have that much power over a boy. I don't think I'd want it; it's a lot of responsibility to hold a person's heart in your hands.”

I would recommend this book for a younger audience and someone looking for a light read.

As of June 2014 it was declared that they intended to make this book into a movie but nothing else has been announced since. Except, that Will Smith was looking to produce it.

Good Points

?To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han is narrated from the point of view of Lara Jean, a junior in high school who is the middle sibling of the “song sisters” Margot, Lara, and Kitty. Lara always writes boys she has had feelings for letters where she spills her innermost thoughts and instead of sending them she puts them away in a box her deceased mother passed down to her. One day her letters are sent out and she has no idea who did it. Meaning, every boy she has had feelings for received a letter, including her sister’s boyfriend Josh and her first kiss Peter. The book is about how Lara deals with the repercussions of her letters.

This book gave me really mixed feelings. At first, I wasn’t really a fan because I felt it was for a more immature audience, which often happens with some young adult books.

It was written in a very Clique (the book series) like way, which I enjoyed when I was in middle school, but not so much now. However, the book took a positive turn for me because of how endearing the characters were. I especially loved the younger sister, Kitty, because she reminded me of what everyone’s younger siblings are usually like and her sassiness was adorable. I also found myself rooting for the couple that developed in the book (which I’m not going to spoil) and Peter, one of the boys who received the letter, sounded like any high school girl’s dream guy.

I didn’t particularly like how Margot’s boyfriend Josh is portrayed as this perfect, sweet guy. Would someone that great really act the way he did? No. Also, when I read a preview of what the book, I got the sense that the letters were written about serious relationships and deep emotions… but it was just a young girl who wrote about her superficial crushes on boys. Some of who didn’t even know her.

I enjoyed how both Lara and Peter were dynamic characters, since I got to see them evolve throughout the novel into more mature people. Also, many of the characters were so endearing that you couldn't help but care for them. The ending irritated me because I wanted more closure; however, that is just me, the hopeless romantic.