'To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1)' by Jenny Han, published in August 2014 by Scholastic.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Are you looking for a cute contemporary book? Maybe one that has loveable characters? A fast read? With an extra layer of 'cute-ness' added on top?
If you are, then this is certainly the book for you!
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a contemporary romance novel that explores the troubles and enjoyments of young love. It follows the life of cute and quirky, Lara Jean Song, a girl with a simple and quiet life.
Lara Jean has a habit of writing letters to boys she has loved, but no longer loves. These letters are written as more of a goodbye letter than a love letter.
One day, Lara Jean finds out that these private letters have been sent out to the boys they were addressed to.
One of these boys happens to be Lara Jean's next door neighbour and her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. When this realisation comes, it causes great distress for Lara Jean, causing her to make irrational decisions.
She finds herself caught up in something messier that she would have imagined with a boy she never would have thought to speak to again.
This novel will send you on an emotional roller coaster. You will find yourself falling deeply in love with so many of the characters, feel hatred for those who are hurtful towards others, and you will also get very hungry as the characters seem to have endless conversations about food!
There is an enjoyable humour to the story that makes even the serious scenes feel light and fluffy. It is a great achievement that Han has made, to be able to include so many aspects into the same novel while still making it feel light and not too 'full on.'
Yes, this is a romance novel, but inside of this love story, there is a deep family relationship story that unfolds, taking this novel to a new level.
We see Lara Jean attempt to tackle many obstacles as she takes on the new position as 'head of the house,' as her older sister has left and her father is incapable of completing simple tasks.
Their relationship as a family stays strong throughout the novel as they support, encourage, and joke around with one another, which is something that I am able to relate to as my family is much the same.
I believe that this family relationship is just as important as other relationships in novels, so it was great to see this being represented in a romantic story.
I loved every one of the characters in this story! Every one of them seemed to have so much thought put into them which made them all feel so much more real!
I especially loved Lara Jean as she was just the right amount of cute and quirky that made reading about her adventures so enjoyable. She had so many levels to her and learning about every one of them was like a new story in itself.
I found that there was a slow story line progression, but this didn't make a huge impact on me because this isn't actually a slow book. I found it to be a very fast read, where all of the short chapters had something eventful happening in them. This made it feel like there was a lot of story progression where there wasn't.
One thing that did let me down in this book was the writing. I found that it was just too simple to the point where it was more telling the story than showing. The moments when there was great description of the scene were made too obvious because they came out randomly, make it clearly obvious compared to the rest of the novel's writing style.
I do believe that Han has the ability to be a sophisticated writer from these little moments that were shown throughout the book. I hope that the author has improved and that we'll get to see it in her novels to come.
Apart from the writing, I really did love absolutely everything about this book! It did not disappoint me at all!
I will definitely be reading more of Jenny Han's books in the future and I can't wait to see where this story goes in the second instalment, P. S. I Still Love You!
Are you looking for a cute contemporary book? Maybe one that has loveable characters? A fast read? With an extra layer of 'cute-ness' added on top?
If you are, then this is certainly the book for you!
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a contemporary romance novel that explores the troubles and enjoyments of young love. It follows the life of cute and quirky, Lara Jean Song, a girl with a simple and quiet life.
Lara Jean has a habit of writing letters to boys she has loved, but no longer loves. These letters are written as more of a goodbye letter than a love letter.
One day, Lara Jean finds out that these private letters have been sent out to the boys they were addressed to.
One of these boys happens to be Lara Jean's next door neighbour and her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. When this realisation comes, it causes great distress for Lara Jean, causing her to make irrational decisions.
She finds herself caught up in something messier that she would have imagined with a boy she never would have thought to speak to again.
This novel will send you on an emotional roller coaster. You will find yourself falling deeply in love with so many of the characters, feel hatred for those who are hurtful towards others, and you will also get very hungry as the characters seem to have endless conversations about food!
There is an enjoyable humour to the story that makes even the serious scenes feel light and fluffy. It is a great achievement that Han has made, to be able to include so many aspects into the same novel while still making it feel light and not too 'full on.'
Yes, this is a romance novel, but inside of this love story, there is a deep family relationship story that unfolds, taking this novel to a new level.
We see Lara Jean attempt to tackle many obstacles as she takes on the new position as 'head of the house,' as her older sister has left and her father is incapable of completing simple tasks.
Their relationship as a family stays strong throughout the novel as they support, encourage, and joke around with one another, which is something that I am able to relate to as my family is much the same.
I believe that this family relationship is just as important as other relationships in novels, so it was great to see this being represented in a romantic story.
I loved every one of the characters in this story! Every one of them seemed to have so much thought put into them which made them all feel so much more real!
I especially loved Lara Jean as she was just the right amount of cute and quirky that made reading about her adventures so enjoyable. She had so many levels to her and learning about every one of them was like a new story in itself.
I found that there was a slow story line progression, but this didn't make a huge impact on me because this isn't actually a slow book. I found it to be a very fast read, where all of the short chapters had something eventful happening in them. This made it feel like there was a lot of story progression where there wasn't.
One thing that did let me down in this book was the writing. I found that it was just too simple to the point where it was more telling the story than showing. The moments when there was great description of the scene were made too obvious because they came out randomly, make it clearly obvious compared to the rest of the novel's writing style.
I do believe that Han has the ability to be a sophisticated writer from these little moments that were shown throughout the book. I hope that the author has improved and that we'll get to see it in her novels to come.
Apart from the writing, I really did love absolutely everything about this book! It did not disappoint me at all!
I will definitely be reading more of Jenny Han's books in the future and I can't wait to see where this story goes in the second instalment, P. S. I Still Love You!
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