Book 740: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (To All the Boys #1) – Jenny Han

We watched this adaptation on Netflix when it was first released and when I noticed the second in the trilogy was released I realized I wanted to go back and read the source. And really, there weren’t that many differences which was refreshing.

The move rarely strays from the book and I enjoyed the opportunity to revisit with Lara Jean and her dramatic junior year of high school. The book, more so than the movie, better captured the emotions of the three young women growing up without a mother at what is obviously a momentous time in their lives. And I really enjoyed the extended family information and few interactions.

Other reviewers have said that the latter books aren’t as great as the first, but I’m sure I’ll read them since this was an easy read and having the actresses to easily imagine made reading it that much easier. I think the actress who played Kitty (or the screen writer) did a much better job of bringing Kitty to life and filling her with a certain amount of sassiness that worked better than on the page.

I can’t remember if sex was discussed in the Netflix adaptation, outside of the ski trip, but I felt the way Han wrote about it and then had Margot and Lara Jean interact after finding out about their choices to be authentic and relatable. The other conversations and trains of thought all seem to be hyper focused on falling in love and first love and they didn’t irk me as much as they could have. There’s a maturity about Lara Jean that is counter to how everyone describers her.

I think the biggest problem I have with the book is the logistical one of why in the hell would Lara Jean address and stamp her letters to the boys she was no longer in love with. I mean that’s just ASKING for trouble and honestly, I’m surprised it took until her junior year to become an issue.

The book ends in a different place than the film so it’ll be interesting to see how the next two books are off set. I’m not sure if I want to read or watch P.S. I Still Love You first. Either way you’ll know when I read it!

Recommendation: This was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The Netflix adaptation stayed surprisingly true to the source material so there were not a lot of unexpected surprises other than the ending which felt like a major cliffhanger for me because I’d watched the film! I’ll more than likely finish out the trilogy (P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean), but I’m not in any particular rush to do so.

Opening Line: “Josh is Margot’s boyfriend, but I guess you could say my whole family is a little in love with him.”

Closing Line: “Just a plain old love letter. Dear Peter . . . “ (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
“He has the look of a Handsome Boy from a different time. He could be a dashing World War I soldier, handsome enough for a girl to wait years for him to come back from war, so handsome she could wait forever. He could be wearing a red letterman’s jacket, driving around in a Corvette with the top down, one arm on the steering wheel, on his way to pick up his girl for the sock hop. Peter’s kind of wholesome good looks feel more like yesterday than today. There’s just something about him girls like.” (38)

“I run up to Peter and launch myself into his arms like a shot out of a cannon. I’ve got my arms around his neck and my legs hooked around his waist, and I don’t even know how my body knows how, because I’ve for sure never touched a boy like this in my life. It’s like we’re in a movie and the music is swelling and waves are crashing around us. Except for the fact that Peter’s expression is registering pure shock and disbelief and maybe a drop of amusement, because Peter likes to be amused. Raising his eyebrows, he says, ‘Lara Jean? What the—?'” (87)

“There are certain outfits you have that make you feel good every time you wear them, and then there are outfits where you wore them too many times in a row because you liked them so much, and now they just feel like garbage.” (179)

“To belong to someone—I didn’t know it, but now that I think about, it seems like that’s all I’ve ever wanted. To really be somebody’s, and to have them be mine.” (190)

“It’s scary when it’s real. When it’s not just thinking about a person, but, like, having a real live person in front of you, with, like, expectations. And wants.” (192)

“When someone’s been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it’s like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you’re just clutching air and grit. That’s why you can’t save it all up like that.” (294)

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I want to be brave. I want . . . life to start happening. I want to fall in love and I want a boy to fall in love with me back.” (313)

“I think I see the difference now, between loving someone from afar and loving someone up close. When you see them up close, you see the real them, but they also get to see the real you.” (354)

“Love is scary: it changes; it can go away. That’s part of the risk. I don’t want to be scared anymore.” (354)