TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE book review!

It's been a hot minute since I wrote a book review (or anything)! But the other day I found To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han at Half Price Books, and I finished it today, so I can't resist sharing my take on it.

As will be customary with my book reviews, I will review the plot, the characters, and the overall style/readability, without spoiling everything about the story (but please, do proceed with caution. Some aspects are revealed, but no major spoilers). All stars given are out of five!

I am seriously SO excited to review this book. Let's dive in, shall we?

First, here's the plot as written on 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.

Sounds good, right?

Plot - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This plot is so clever. It's unlike anything I've ever read! 

Lara Jean writes these letters with ZERO intention to send them, and then what happens? They get sent, she has no idea how, and now she has to deal with the repercussions.

..the repercussions being that these five boys now know about her feelings at the time she wrote the letters, including popular, arrogant lacrosse player Peter Kavinsky, to whom she now has to play fake girlfriend so that he can make his ex-girlfriend jealous and she can make her crush--Josh, her sister's ex--jealous.

But the plan, as always, doesn't end up being that simple, as she and Peter spend more time together. People disapprove, things happen, teenage drama, the works.

There's also some plot with her family as it interacts with her love life, which is fun to read.

I love the romantic plot in this story. It's so sweet! The way they get to know each other and fall in love/like is precious. In this case, I'm a sucker for the dislike-to-like trope. While fake-dating isn't all that unique, the way Han writes it is so fresh and entertaining.

Overall, the plot is amazing. So unique. 5/5 stars!

Characters - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The characters in this really are amazing. There's no better word for it! They are consistent and fully fleshed-out.

Han includes some intricate, intimate details of Lara Jean's life, to really make her and her family feel real. Lara Jean and her sisters identify as the Song sisters, after their deceased mother. Margot and Lara Jean both take care of their younger sister, Kitty, as well as their father, Dr. Covey. They have family traditions, such as not playing Christmas music until December 1st and making a bunch of Christmas cookies. The little touches like this made the book even better.

Lara Jean is a sweet character. She's an introvert who likes to stay in with her family, bake, and knit. She is timid and dislikes public speaking. She doesn't like sarcasm or cursing. Lara Jean is friendly and kind, and she cares deeply about people. (I think we'd be friends, lol.)

Peter Kavinsky is arrogant and sarcastic. But underneath that, he is really a big sweetheart. He listens to what Lara Jean says and cares about. He likes Lara Jean's company and treats her respectfully. Throughout the book, he loses some of his 'cool guy' demeanor and becomes kinder.

Margot, Lara Jean's older sister, is the responsible, unemotional (or so she shows others) one of the Song sisters. She's bold and honest. (She's--my least favorite of the Song/Covey girls. She just--acts kinda stuck up or unfriendly, I guess.)

Kitty is exactly how you'd expect a nine-year-old to behave. She is crazy and independent. She also holds a certain level of power over her family, but not annoyingly so! (So often kids in books/movies/TV are irritating, even when they're not supposed to be. I only found Kitty to be like that when she was supposed to be, which, truthfully, was not very often.)

Chris, Lara Jean's friend, is a wild, flaky, unreliable free spirit, but Lara Jean loves her anyway.

The characters in this are so distinct and realistic, and without that, any story would be unreadable! These characters--especially Lara Jean--are the reason why this story was so good.

Characters, 5/5 stars!

Readability and Style - guess what? it's ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story is told in first person. I love the style of Han's writing. She tells it like it's Lara Jean's stream of consciousness, which I am not used to, but I really liked.

I liked that as Lara Jean thought of or remembered something, we saw it like we were thinking it or remembering it. I loved seeing her process of thinking--what she thinks about others, herself, and more. 

The storytelling wasn't so complex that I got lost in the narrative. It was quite clean-cut about the things that were happening. Han also was able to convey emotion without being too wordy. She didn't have to use excessive adjectives or adverbs to describe what was going on how someone was saying or doing something--it had been set up so well that you could know for yourself what you were witnessing.

The fact that we were basically living in Lara Jean's brain really just made the story that much more engaging. 5/5 stars (big surprise there, amiright?)

Overall Grade - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this book. Anyone who loves sweet romances will definitely like this. The plot was unique, but not complicated. The characters were well-thought-out and consistent. It was very well-written, with a great point-of-view in Lara Jean. I am so excited to read the next two of these!

If you are concerned about content, I highly recommend going to https://commonsensemedia.org
to find out more!

Have you guys read this book before? What did you think? Did my review make you want to (re)read it?

Let me know here or on Instagram @witandlitblog !