REVIEW: TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han

Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1
Genres: YA, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release: April 15th, 2014
Source: Kindle Edition
Pages: 355

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BLURB: 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.

HANNAH'S REVIEW

EXPECTATIONS: Okay so I am a little bit weird when it comes to certain books. Like I see everybody loving a book but then I find out it's contemporary and also looks cheesy so what do I do? I get all judgy and form a negative opinion way before I even get around the book. I need to stop doing this, I really do.

THE WORLD: The world is just like ours except we see it through the eyes of a teenager girl.

CHARACTERS: So our main character is Lara Jean which I think is a very cute name. Yes she is half Korean which is also cool cuz well it makes the book diverse and I like diverse. Okay so let's talk about Lara Jean. To be honest with you...I absolutely love her! She is so so adorable and just makes you want for a friend like that. I love Lara Jean to bits, that says it all. Well well done Jenny Han!

Okay then we have other characters that I want to mention briefly before we get to males. So there is this little sister of Lara Jean which I absolutely adore. I think she is an ideal little sister we all are dreaming of. Jup, perfect little sister - check! And then there is the older sister. Oh man how much I dislike her. Missis I know it all, you cannot live without me. Hrrr. Hate her.

But the time has come to talk about males. So yes here I go: Josh and Peter Kavinsky. Okay okay so before we get to the good past let's get the bad one out of the way. I am obviously talking about Josh. Like blaaaaaah just blaaaah. He is such a whinny teen who does not know what he wants. Basically he likes Lara Jean but when she does not show interest he suddenly starts dating her older sister and when the sister moves to college what happens? Yes, out whinny annoying Josh suddenly want Lara Jean again. Blah, disgusting. Hate Josh.

And nowwwwwww.....Peter Kavinsky!

I don't remember the last time I was rooting for the guy so much in the book. Kavinsky all the way! He is smart, funny, cares for Lara Jean and is very confident. The guy is an absolute catch! And his little notes to Lara Jean....awwwww! Who does not love Kavinsky? Who?!

ROMANCE: Sooooo I think it is pretty clear on which ship I am on. TeamKavinsky all the way! So sweet and so absolutely adorable, perfect couple!

GOOD: There is a lot of Korean culture mentioned in the book which made it extra interesting to me. But biggest plus for me was Lara Jean character. She is just the kind of girls you instantly like, no whiny self centered teenagers, no no Lara Jean is way too cool for that kind of nonsense.

BAD: This series is only a duology. Me not liky.

OVERALL: Cannot wait to get my hands on the second book!

LAURA'S REVIEW

EXPECTATIONS: People hyped it up a bit too much. Expectations were high but found an ordinary book.

THE WORLD: Our normal world. Takes place in the USA.

CHARACTERS: The main character is Lara Jean Dovey-Song but we all know her as Lara Jean Song because yes, the three sisters are Songs forever! So Lara is the middle sister, her older sister is Margot who is going to college in Scotland and her little sister is Kitty (a sassy little girl I tell you). They live with their single dad because their mom died when they were younger. Sad. Gotta mention: their mom was Korean so they are all half American-half Korean. Moving on to the boys we have Josh Sanderson, their neighbor and Margot's boyfriend but whom Lara has been in love with for ages and then Peter Kavinsky. I'm just going to say Peter is better and Josh was in the book exclusively to whine and complain about life.

ROMANCE: This is a teen book. There's romance.

GOOD: Probably the best were the characters. I really liked the lead characters Lara and Peter and the secondary ones were okay too. I thought Lara was a good narrator with lots of funny puns and stories. Characters I didn't like hmm Josh.

BAD: Story-wise there was nothing I really liked? I don't know I found her obsession with crushes and letters creepy. So that's right in the very beginning, but after her letters are sent out it's even worse as she doesn't make any logical and right decision. It's just mess after mess after mess. Please Lara you are 16 not 6. Then we have the fake dating to actual crush/love thing. Cliché. Nothing else really happens... the sky trip and that's it. It's all about the romance and dating and I hate those types of books so yeah this one is not the worst but you can watch the movie and that's it. Be done in 1h 30min.

OVERALL: 3 stars. Right in the middle. It's okay. Nothing good story-wise but with good characters and a fun style of writing. It's easy to read.

What do you think about TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE?