To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1
Author: Jenny Han
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 22nd 2014
Review Source: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?
Lara Jean Song 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 pours out her heart and soul and says 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.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before was a refreshing sweet and an easy read. It kept a smile on my face the whole time I read it. To All The Boys I've Loved Before is slightly different from Han's Summer series (The Summer I Turned Pretty) which I also loved. Less antsy with an extra dose of teenage love. Definitely a book I would share with teenage girls to read. It's what I call a safe book in the young adult level. Jenny Han did a wonderful job without having to add risqué scenes that might have been to over the top in the YA world. This book put me in a very happy state of mind during and long after finishing the book.
The book follows along the Song sisters, but mainly its focus is on Lara Jean Song. Lara Jean is a hopeless romantic and she isn't even out of high school yet. The trouble with Lara Jean is that she doesn't express her love to the boys she has liked in person. She writes them each a love letter after they are not a part of her life anymore but she doesn't share these letters ever. She simply expresses her feelings and then addresses the envelopes and saves them in a hat box her deceased mother gave her. So when Lara Jean is approached by one of these love letter recipients about the letter he got in the mail, she almost has a coronary. How the heck did he get the letter that's suppose to be sitting in a hat box in her closet? Does this mean every other letter was sent out also? She comes to find out that Yes, they all were mailed out. The hat box is now missing and no one to take the blame for mailing the letters out. Poor Lara Jean will now have to deal with the love letters and the boys that she wrote them to that includes her current crush that's unavailable to her for specific reasons. Will Lara Jean finally express herself without a letter? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Han wrote such a great book here, when I tell you I get happy every time I think about it and when I read it, that's a big deal in my world. Han's book came to me at the right time. I need that HEA and then some. The book teaches you about love, never giving up and family bonds between sisters. I also enjoyed that the Song sisters grew up with two cultures and they embraced both. This book truly captures everything a contemporary romance should have. Han knock this one out of the ballpark.
Oh this makes me very happy, I've been looking for a good review of this by someone I trust and I trust you girls here, so this is very good indeed. I'm glad you enjoyed this, your review is great!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like such a cute idea. So often in life we do not express our feelings so it is sweet that she wrote them all letters even if she didn't intend on mailing them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review!