To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
by Jenny Han
Young Adult
355 pages
Published 2014
I picked this up mostly because the trailer for the Netflix adaptation looked AMAZING. It’s the first book in a trilogy, and I really want to read the other two now! (Update: I’ve now read PS. I Still Love You.) Lara Jean is the middle daughter in a house of three daughters, being raised by their widower father. The relationships between the four of them play a large part in the book, as they are all adjusting to the eldest daughter being away at college. Everyone’s roles are changing, and in the middle of that, Lara Jean’s private love letters get mailed to the boys she wrote them to, throwing her love life into chaos as well.
I loved almost every character in this book – even Lara’s troublemaking best friend has a good heart. I definitely need to watch the Netflix show now, because I really want to see how Chris – aforementioned best friend – is represented!
The family scenes around Christmas really tugged at my heart – Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the author absolutely NAILED the nostalgic, slightly dreamy, loving holiday atmosphere.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was a cute, sweet read, and really my only negative thing to say about it is the ending left me hanging! Which is part of why I really need to read the other two books, so I suppose it was a good strategy. But man I hate cliffhangers!
From the cover of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before:
Lara Jean 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 can pour out her heart and soul and say 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.
Goddess In The Stacks 
I read all of these after watching the movie and they’re such good reads! I especially appreciated the way the sequels dealt with Laura Jean’s relationships, both with her boyfriend and members of her family.
Excellent. I want to read the sequels but have so much else on my plate I haven’t even requested them yet. I’m glad to know they’re worth the time!
Yeah, and they’re pretty quick reads so totally worth checking out.
This is one of the rare cases where I’ve only seen the movie and not read the book! And on top of that, the movie was so good, I’m a little nervous the book won’t live up to it. The fact that you mention loving all the characters makes me more excited about the book though, because that was definitely my favorite thing about the show.
I haven’t watched it yet! I just got the sequel from the library, actually, and I’m pretty excited to be revisiting the characters. The previews I saw for the movie looked like they did justice to the book, though! I just haven’t really had time to sit down and watch a movie!