Review of The Book to All The Boys I’ve Loved before by Jenny Han

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is about a girl named Lara Jean who writes letters to all the boys she’s genuinely liked. Until one day when she finds her letters missing that they’ve been sent out to all of them. There’s five total and they are Peter Kavinsky the lacrosse player, Josh her best friend, Josh Ambrose McClaren a childhood friend, Lucas Krapf from homecoming dance, and Kenny from camp. Although she was fearful about them coming out, something amazing happened. In this book, there are many problems that are realistic and need solutions. The author is Jenny Han who is Korean-American and was born on September 3, 1980. The book was published on April 15, 2014.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before takes place in a suburban town and school in Virginia during modern time that is positive and bubbly. The main characters include Lara Jean Covey a shy, somewhat stubborn and nice girl, Peter Kavinsky the jock and popular boy everyone wants to be around, and Josh Sanderson who is the geek that’s nice and caring. The protagonist is Lara Jean because she was the one who wrote the letter, has relationship and family problems. In “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” Lara Jean states “When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he’ll never read it. Because he never will. Every secret thought, every careful observation, everything I’ve saved up inside me, I put it all in the letter. When I’m done, I seal it, address it, and then I put it in my teal hatbox. ”

Lara Jean cares about the letters that she wrote. She didn’t want them to get out, but somehow they did and led her to discover something good. The antagonist is Genevieve who is Peter’s ex-girlfriend and Lara Jean’s ex-best friend. She bullies her after wanting to get back together with Peter, but Peter is over her. In addition is the theme. Without the theme, you are left not knowing what the story is about. The theme of the book is always looking at the positive side of things. Even though Lara Jean was worried about the letters were about, she still looked at the positive things, through the bad times.

In “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” Lara Jean states “Life doesn't have to be so planned. Just roll with it and let it happen. ” This is a perfect quote to explain the theme because life can be like a rollercoaster there’s up and downs and smooth times, but it’s never perfect. Many readers would find this book interesting and maybe even helpful. Jenny Han the author did an astonishing job at writing a book that many readers such as teenagers and even adults will find relatable. She made a book that everyone can relate too on a different level about love, family, and coming of age. If Jenny Han didn’t give so much emotion throughout the book who knows how different the book would be without them.

Personally speaking, this book was hands down one of my favorites to read due to the amount of emotion, how the characters developed, and even the romance was portrayed. I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a light and happy scene similar to “Love, Simon” because in that book Simon’s email ends up with the wrong person and could expose his secret before he even can. Although that doesn’t seem light and happy the ending was truly sensational, just like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.