Thursday, June 12, 2014

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

There are some books that you can pick up and put down and read at leisure...Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before is that one of those books...at least not in my case!  I could not stop reading this one! So many FEELS!! Once I started it was full steam ahead, all engines a go and I ended up staying up into the wee hours of the morning just to live in Han's world a little longer!  This is such a great coming-of-age story that will hit the hearts of so many - definitely not one to miss!

Summary Courtesy of Goodreads:
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

I ADORED the characters! There is so much of me (and every girl who went through middle/high school) in Lara Jean. She goes through so much change when her older sister Margot moves away for college.  I loved reading about the ever shifting dynamic of this cross-cultural family and their interactions throughout.  You will absolutely fall in love with this family.  Reminded me a bit of an updated version Little Women (all the sisters, Kitty is SOO little Amy and Josh is so Teddy-ish)! And can I just mention Peter for a second?  I seriously have a crush on this fictitious character.  Bit by bit I really ended up falling for Peter as I moved further into the depths. He's really well developed (character-wise) and wow...he surprised me!  I was not expecting to like him as much as I do.

The Plot was engaging, realistic and really kept things moving along. I can only imagine the series of events that would take place if all of the sudden all of my crushes read my Diary or something like that...ahhh! Gives me heart palpitations just thinking about it! And the sub-plot of the story, date one guy to get the other jealous, it has been done before, but let me assure you, this is so much more than that! What starts off as a solution to a problem that was set off by Lara Jean's letters going out ends up as so much more. There are some serious twist and turns that you don’t see coming, and some that you do but they're still every bit as wonderful!

All in all I really enjoyed reading this one.  Surely one of the top contemporary reads of the year.  This one is light and refreshing with a dash of real life to keep us all grounded. I HIGHLY recommend this one and cannot wait for the sequel (which I did not realize was a sequel until about 5 mins ago - EEE!). So what are you waiting for?! GO!

1 comment:

Emily @ Forever Literary said...

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this one so much! I agree that the plot is so realistic - I love the way Jenny Han includes little day-to-day details like what characters eat for dinner without making it boring. And yes, if I ever had to go through what the protagonist does... I'd like to think I'd handle it in a more rational way than she does, but I'd be devastated.