“Love is scary: it changes; it can go away. That’s the part of the risk. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
When sixteen-year-old Lara Jean has a crush so in intense and consuming, she writes a letter to let out her emotions and put it to rest. In her life she has loved five boys and written five letters that she keeps in a hatbox given to her by her late mother. Her letters are her most prized possessions. They are personal and honest and not meant to be seen by anyone, least of all her former crushes. But one day the letters get out and Lara Jean’s love life is no longer just imaginary.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a sweet and charming little book. I love the idea of writing out your emotions in order to let go. As a premise it is compelling and Lara Jean is a lovely character who is relatable and easy to root for. She has two sisters and a dad who has been raising them on his own since the passing of their mother. The dynamics and sisterly relationships were the highlight for me, and I loved this tight-knit family.
The book was recently adapted to a movie on Netflix, and it was after watching the movie that I was compelled to read the book. I fell in love with the movie, which is absolutely adorable and took me back to the days of great rom-coms (I really miss those). There are a few changes made in the movie adaptation and after reading the book, I think the changes were the right ones to make and work well to create a good movie. Actually there are many things I prefer much more to the book version, the main one being the reason the letters got out. I also found I liked certain characters a lot more in the movie as opposed to their book counterpart (ahem, Peter).
Overall I feel this is a great contemporary YA novel that is a sweet and entertaining read. The movie is wonderful, so make it a must watch! Now, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is part of a trilogy, with two more books that continue Lara Jean’s story. I have to say I like this book as a standalone and I am not sure if continuing on is something I am interested in doing. If they make two more movies, then maybe? 😉
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