Book #67: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

I have heard about this book for YEARS, even checked it out from the library before but never cracked the cover, but I was finally convinced when I kept hearing rave reviews about this trilogy. And I am so so glad I read it. It was so cute and really sweet. I think I was put off by the premise of the novel, because it seems so cliche: Lara Jean writes love letters to the boys she has ever loved and they accidentally get mailed out, and she has to deal with the fallout (especially since one of the boys who got one was her sister's boyfriend). However, those letters getting mailed out were not really the main point of the story, and didn't cause as much drama as they seemed like they should. They kind of become the impetus for Lara Jean to start getting out of herself and stop being afraid of things, which is the real point of the story, I felt. I liked how it was more focused on her and her family and also the boy she likes all together.

I feel like so many YA romance novels have these headstrong, quirky heroines with drama they're dealing with, and I really liked how Lara Jean WAS quirky but was very self-aware of it and owned it. I loved the family dynamics in her family too--she was very close with her sisters and dad (after her mom died years ago) and how they were very responsible and trying to help out a lot. I didn't always love her love interest, but I think that's pretty reasonable, because neither does Lara Jean--as she makes it clear to him, there are lots of reasons why she doesn't like him. He's a typical popular teenage boy, very concerned about how things make him look, and it sometimes comes back to bite Lara Jean (particularly in the dramatic climax of the story). But I liked the cliffhanger ending (knowing that there are two books left to answer what happens) and I am excited to finish off the trilogy, although it will have to be after our trip because there are only hard copies at the library.