Friday, August 1, 2014

Book Review: To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

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.

~~From Goodreads~~
 



MY THOUGHTS

It was a long but fun read. It was cute. Lara Jean didn't sound like the usual 16 year old girl in most American YA books. She sounded younger than 16. It must be because she's half-Korean. I have to admit but Asian teenage kids are really childish. That goes the same with Filipino kids as well. I was still childish at 16. He-he.

Anyways, back to Jenny Han's book which I think means "to all my crushes before"  but still has an amazing and catchy title, is a smart piece. The "Lets-Pretend-to-be-in-a-relationship-to-make-my-girlfriend-jealous" is already used-up plot but Jenny Han really gave it a nice twist and I like it. For a moment, it was like I was living the life of Lara Jean. I felt her panic when the letters were lost. I felt the vavavum and zsazsazsu with Peter that Lara Jean didn't felt with Josh and I felt the fun with Kitty. Reading it reminds me of the importance of family. The Song girls are really cute. Kitty was really funny that I never thought she was the one responsible of starting every complications Lara Jean experienced. I thought it was Chris since she always sneaks in to Lara Jean's room. In all fairness with Chris, I agree with her on the perception that Margot was a bit of a control freak. She was so controlling and I hated the part when she rat about the rumors about Lara Jean and Peter. It was definitely frustrating. I understand that she was upset about what she found out about Josh and Lara Jean but if there is anyone she should be upset with, it should be Josh. Lara Jean was not the one who made an attempt with Josh. She was quiet the whole time about her feelings for Josh. Well, until the letters were sent.

Photo from Tumblr
I adored Josh and Peter but if I'm going to choose between them, it would be Peter. Why? Because I think he was the one who really is sure about his feelings. He turned Lara Jean to braver girl. Josh on the other hand was confused of his feelings for Margot and Lara Jean. He liked Lara Jean, then he liked Margot, they got together, when they broke up, he liked Lara Jean again and I was like WHATTTT? Can you just make up your mind dude?



Photo from Xclusivetouch
The sad part is that, no matter how cute the story is, I was still kind of upset with the ending though. I was looking forward for a Peter-Lara Jean final confrontation but all I got was a hanging "Dear Peter" in the end. Opppss.. SPOILER ALERT. Did I just spoiled the moment for the other readers? Sorry! :) But I heard there's a part 2 so maybe we'll have another Lara Jean-Peter moments.

I was also curious for the other 2 guys Kenny and John. Maybe the story would be more chaotic but fun if the other 2 came into the picture. I wish Lara Jean turned when John called her. :( I wonder what he's going to say.

I love the quote...

“Love is scary: it changes; it can go away. That’s the part of the risk. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”

I think everyone should take risks in love. I think it's what Love is. Taking risk. No one should be afraid of it. And for that, even when I'm still upset with the ending, I still find this book a nice read. Sometimes, it's not the ending that matters, it's the experience in between the first and last page of the book. :)


-A Four Star for Jenny Han-



View all my reviews

16 comments:

  1. Interesting read, ImaVee. You piqued my interest. Will check this book out soon. Take care. Miss you!

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  2. Oh I like this (slightly) different cover version! I really thought the ending was cheap...I agree ahha, Josh was so confusing and I mostly didn't like him so much. anyway, love the review Ima and glad you liked it. :D

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    1. Yeah. You're right about the ending. It was frustrating.

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  3. Lol, this one is collecting dust on my bookshelf. Thanks for reminding me! Fantastic review! Can't believe you're just 16. Look at your blog!! :D Keep it up! <3

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    1. Hi Paula... How I wish I'm still 16. I'm not. That would be 7 years ago. Haha. Thanks for dropping by. :)

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  4. Hey, Vee! I read the Summer trilogy a few months back and I didn't like the main character. She sounded whiny. After that, I just stayed away from other Jenny Han books. But your review made me interested. Might pick it up someday. :)

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  5. oh really? I'm planning to read that trilogy but I'm on a hiatus on another book series since I'm still not done with Michael Scott's The Alchemist series so I'm going to ignore her Summer trilogy for now. :)

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  6. Did you went to her book signing event last June? this is the only book i bought and had it signed by her. although i have read her Summer series. It was drama filled with loss and mostly her love triangle affair with brothers. The only reason i pushed through with that series was for Conrad and the MC was mostly grating my nerves. Jenny really portrays her female characters as childish in attitude. such is being a teenager sometimes had me rolling my eyes. this is me at a more mature age already viewing such young characters. Otherwise, nice review on this book. I kinda like the sound of ur view on this book from ur age :) I also happen to like Jenny's writing style so it made the annoying characters tolerable.

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    1. No. I wasn't able to go to her book signing. My office mates and I were having an island escapade that weekend at Medellin so no Jenny Han for me...:(

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  7. Yayy for Jenny Han creating a believable and refreshing storyline regardless of it's "been there, done that" vibe! Pretending to be in a relationship with someone else DOES sound cliché but I'm glad it was not! Great review :DD

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  8. Nice review! This book sounds really cute, and I'm glad you found it enjoyable :) Everyone tells me that Lara Jean is a great protagonist~

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  9. I completely agree with your review. I thought that Lara Jean was actually quite a childish character but, I just loved her relationship with Peter. This is the first book I've read by Jenny Han and I'm excited for the next book.

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  10. Hi, Really great effort. Everyone must read this article. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Naa pud ka ani nga book? Borrow ko beh. :)

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