Series rating: ✫✫✫
Seeing as the film adaptation of To All the Boys I've Loved Before has just been released on Netflix, it seemed only appropriate that it was time to do a review of Jenny Han's series. Coincidentally, I read this series only a few weeks ago, and so the story is still fresh in my mind.
I should start by saying that this series wouldn't win any literature awards, and it is very predictable in the way only a young adult read can be. However, it was really enjoyable, and I thought the entire story was adorable. I'm not sure this necessarily needed to be a series - one standalone book, or two at most, would have felt more structured and cohesive. Yet the characters were endearing and sweet, despite their immaturity at times. I read the whole series in just a couple of days, and it put a big smile on my face.
✼
Lara Jean is a fan of love letters, and she keeps all her love letters in a hatbox that was given to her by her mother. But these aren't love letters that Lara Jean has received. These are love letters that she has written to all the boys she has loved: five boys over her sixteen years. Five letters, written but never delivered, hidden in her hatbox, secret, and destined never to be read.
Secret, that is, until the day that these letters find their way to five very unexpecting boys. Suddenly, Lara Jean's feelings are exposed, and her love life becomes very complicated. Especially seeing as one of the recipients just happens to be her sister's boyfriend, Josh. If she wants to protect both her sister and herself, Lara Jean may just have to come up with an imaginative way of avoiding the issue. Enter boy #2, ex-crush Peter Kavinsky.
*spoiler alert*
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| Taken from the Netflix original, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, adapted from Jenny Han's series |
Book 1: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
I really loved the idea of this plot - it has all the cutesy elements of young adult fiction, but with a little bit of a twist. The premise of the fake relationship with Peter being established to stop Lara Jean's relationship with Josh becoming complicated was different, even if the ending was very predictable. The characters are so sweet that it makes the predictability a non-issue, and it was still very effective.
What was most enjoyable was getting to see how Lara Jean and Peter's relationship grew over the course of the story. There were a lot of interactions between them at the beginning that were actually fairly mundane. The build up to their inevitable relationship is good, and it is written in such a way that it feels very natural. It's also addictive! I just wanted to read more and more about them, especially because I knew exactly where their relationship was headed. Just sitting around waiting for two fictional characters to fall in love, you know, like you do. Too cute.
The love triangle between Josh and Peter was just a classic teenage drama, but it did add a lot to this story. Josh discovering that Lara Jean had loved him but that they had missed each other was heart-breaking in a way, and in an alternate version of this story, the pair could easily have ended up together. However, Peter's charisma meant that he was always going to steal the show. The scene towards the end of the book where Margot discovers Josh's feelings for Lara Jean is teen drama at it's very best, and I thought it was a fantastic climax to the story. I really felt for Margot, and for Peter. But it's the nature of a plot like this that there has to be a believable fallout, and I think that was handled very well. However, I'm not sure I find it very believable that Kitty was the person who sent out the letters. I can't imagine a child being able to manage that so neatly, but it wasn't too much of a concern.
I surprised myself with how much I loved this plot. It was so simple, but the characters made it beautiful. Peter in particular is hard not to fall in love with. Although I did find the ending a bit of a surprise. The whole situation at the lodge isn't actually resolved at the end of the book, which is frustrating. It did make me start reading the next instalment immediately, but it sacrificed the integrity of the novel's structure. The plots of the two books bleed into each other, which I'm not convinced is necessarily a good thing. However, it was a really lovely read, and I found myself unable to put this book down for most of my time reading it.
Verdict - Book 1: ✫✫✫✫
This book was so cutesy and it killed me. It isn't a fantastic piece of literature, but it has a lovely story, a cast of very endearing characters, and it's so feel-good that I have to give it the credit it deserves.
Book 2: P.S. I Still Love You
The second book was a direct continuation of the first, which has both benefits and downfalls. It means that the reader is so desperate to discover the outcome to the story that they are already right in the action. However, it also means that this story felt like it was two different books. The first half felt like it belonged to the first book, and the second half felt like it was just tagged onto the end of the sake of it. It was a very bizarre structure, and I don't think it worked in the story's favour.
In terms of the overall plot, P.S. I Still Love You had a lot of very important messages. The book deals largely with the aftermath of Peter and Lara Jean's scene in the hot-tub, and the way their privacy is exposed and judged.
"This is what Margot was talking about, this double standard. Boys will be boys, but girls are supposed to be careful: of our bodies, of our futures, of all the ways people judge us."
It is such an important message. It made me so angry when the school counsellor told Lara Jean she was better than that; better than being caught up in that scandal. It is such a powerful message that being vulnerable and intimate with somebody you care about is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm glad this plot touched upon that message. However, it was a huge deal for the first half of the book, and then it ceased to be part of the story at all. It was like having two plots thrown together just for the sake of it. Josh, I should point out, was near enough non-existent in this book, even in the first half, which directly led on from To All the Boys I've Loved Before. For somebody who was so important to be so easily cut out of the story was a little weird, but never mind.
If the first mini-plot was a follow-up of the hot-tub scene, the second mini-plot revolved around the treasure capsule, the game the characters play, and the reintroduction of John Ambrose McLaren. I thought it was quite a funny twist that John was Stormy's grandson, but I had to question whether the use of his character was successful. He was a wonderful character, and I really liked him in every scene he appeared in, but it was a little forced. His return to the neighbourhood, his fast connection with Lara Jean - it was all so rushed that it didn't feel natural, and that made the entire book feel even more confused in my eyes. His relationship with Lara Jean had so much potential, but it fell flat.
The ending of the book was also problematic. It just ended. They fell out, then made up again, and that was that. It was so rapid that it was quite disappointing. We've spent two books building up to their relationship finally becoming real, and this moment seemed like a wasted opportunity! I did, however, love Peter's declaration to Lara Jean:
"Let's do it fucking for real, Lara Jean. Let's go all in. No more contract. No more safety net. You can break my heart. Do whatever you want with it."
And it's for moments like this that, despite all the criticisms I've made of this book, I still adore it.
Verdict - Book 2: ✫✫✫
This book had issues right from the very beginning, because it was playing catch-up to the plot of the first book. It spends half it's story wrapping up what should really have been wrapped up in To All the Boys I've Loved Before, and the rest of it consequently feels rushed. This being said, despite of these immediate flaws, the story continued to be sweet and effective. It was still cute enough for the fundamental problems to be pushed to the background, and I still really enjoyed this book.
Book 3: Always and Forever
This was by far the worst book of the trilogy, and I continue to question whether it should actually have been written in the first place. I enjoyed it purely because I already liked the characters, but even they could not save this one. They danced the line between young and naïve, and whiny and annoying for a lot of the time. I really struggled to connect to this book as much as the other two.
However, I do think it's quite a good message for young girls out there: that you can't live your life for other people. Not even a little bit. Although I must confess that at first, I rolled my eyes at the cliché story of the teenagers going off to college and being ripped apart. Eugh. But it wasn't too painful. Lara Jean decides she needs to commit to attending UNC instead of pursuing a transfer to UVA to be with Peter. That's really important, although it's quite tedious for somebody a little older to read through this. However, for somebody of a similar age to Lara Jean, I imagine it would have resonated a lot more strongly. I just found that the way all of the characters dealt with these themes was bad. They seemed to grow more and more annoying over the course of this book, and I was really disappointed that their youth had transformed into immaturity.
Verdict - Book 3: ✫✫
This book was unnecessary, and I really think it let the whole series down. The story, in my opinion, wasn't very original, and the characters all became increasingly annoying. It was such a disappointment, as, even though the story was cutesy and predictable, it was also really enjoyable up until this point.
The Characters
There are so many characters in this series who make the story what it is. To discuss them all would be never-ending, but there are a few key characters who do deserve attention...
Lara Jean:
Lara Jean:
"I'm always wondering about the what-ifs, about the road not taken."
Lara Jean is a dreamer. And also, utterly adorable. She's a classic sweet, naive character to lead a story such as this. And I think for the most part she does it justice. I did often find her a little tedious, because she does have quite a high level of emotional immaturity. The way she deals with situations shows her young age, and it's quite difficult to connect with a character who is so naive at times. However, it was very rare that this became an issue; for most of the story, Lara Jean's vulnerability is sweet rather than annoying.
It's also quite nice to see Lara Jean's growth over the series. She's so private and closed off at the beginning of the series that she refuses to deal with the fact that Josh has received her letter. And when she chooses her cover - her fake relationship with Peter - she is largely blind to the developing feelings she has for him. It's great to see that by the end of the series, she has been through a lot, both with and without Peter, and she's far more willing to embrace life. I think that's a really important part of the story for younger readers.
Peter:
Peter Kavinsky is an absolute sweetheart, and it's no surprise to me that thousands of readers have fallen in love with him. He's the popular boy, but he falls for Lara Jean, who is very much under the radar. Hardly original, but his charisma means it's still very effective.
His relationship with Gen makes it more problematic, and Han does use this to cause barriers to his relationship with Lara Jean. In some places, I do feel that unnecessary barriers are fabricated, which, instead of adding to the plot, just make Peter seem like a bad person. There are a number of occasions where Peter tells Lara Jean that he wants to support Gen, and this often comes at the expense of Lara Jean's happiness. Once or twice and this is a carefully considered plot move, but this happens so regularly that it just started to irritate me. It became repetitive and I felt Peter's character deserved to be written better.
What I do also wish is that Han had explored more exactly why Margot and Josh thought Peter was no good. Josh's perspective on this can be put down to jealousy, but Margot seems very hostile and it's never really explained. She just doesn't like Peter, and the reader is expected to go along with that without being provided with the background information to support the fact.
Margot:
Margot is a bit of a problem for me in the confines of this story. I spent most of the series unsure of what to make of her. She is definitely the mum of the sisters, but this is pushed too far sometimes. She has an air of superiority and judgement that is frustrating, especially when considering Lara Jean's relationship with Peter. Nonetheless, it does make a really nice contrast to the character of Lara Jean, who has her head in the clouds and relies heavily on her older sister. I appreciate that the story needed a 'Margot', but I just wanted to roll my eyes every time she opened her mouth. I suppose that shows the success of the way her character was written.
Josh:
Josh and Lara Jean could so easily have been. In so many ways, they were so right for each other. It's clear to see they had a connection, and yet, in many ways, Josh could never compete with Peter. I thought Josh was very sweet, but he was also very annoying. As soon as he finds out about Lara Jean, he seems to assume that she should be his. But really, he has no right to think that. Until a few days before, he was torn up about Margot, and it just made him seem, to me, very fickle. He criticises Lara Jean for never telling him about her feelings, and yet he kept silent as well. Why does this fall on Lara Jean's shoulders?
I also find it very bizarre how Josh just falls from the story after the first book. Once his character has played his part, he is dumped from the story. I wouldn't necessarily have minded, but it was so blunt and blatant. I feel like Han should have made his fade to the background more natural. That way, the plot would have felt a lot more organic.
Kitty:
I mean, Kitty is just the sweetest. She has the wonderful perspective of a child who sees and says things exactly as they are, and she is also a great counter-balance to Lara Jean. Her relationship with Peter is particularly enjoyable to read about, and I like that so much was made of her character. In similar books, young characters are there as an afterthought and pop up only when necessary. This series really made a full character of Kitty, and some of the best scenes included her lively personality.
I'm not sure if it was quite believable that Kitty was the person who delivered Lara Jean's letters. She is, after all, a child, and her capability of delivering these letters to different people is questionable. However, I could see why Han took the story in this direction so it didn't bother me too much.
The rest:
I felt like Gen added some necessary sass and bitchiness to the plot. She was an absolute pain in the neck, but I think the whole series would have been too sugary sweet without her in it. My only problem with her was that she was written as your token bitchy high schooler. There were no other dimensions to her, and this made her insertion into the story feel overly fabricated.
I loved John Ambrose McLaren. I mean, I love Peter, of course I do. But John is just so smooth and so sweet. I'm really glad that he was added into the series in book 2. Josh is the additional member of the love triangle in book 1, and John is created to take over this role in the sequel. But I'm not mad about it. He was a sweetheart, and I think he and Lara Jean connected very well together on the page.
Lara Jean's dad is adorable. He actually features very scarcely considering Lara Jean does still live at home; Kitty is more prominent as a character. However, when he does appear, you can only say good things about him. Plus, he buys Kitty a puppy, which recommends him further...
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| Taken from the Netflix original, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, adapted from Jenny Han's series |
A Netflix Original
I had no idea when I started reading this series that the film was about to be released on Netflix. I'm a great believer in always reading the book before seeing the film, and my timing here turned out to be perfect. On the whole, I thought the film was a really great adaptation, and it managed to capture the gentleness of the characters while still being sharp and witty throughout.
Similarities to the book series:
I think the most obvious aspect to comment on is that the characters are spot on. The way the characters were written is very in keeping with the personalities that Jenny Han created, and it really did feel like Lara Jean in particular had come to life. She carries the film in the same way she carries the book. I also felt that Chris in particular was portrayed really well; book Chris felt a little standoffish, but in the adaptation she maintains her rebellious nature whilst being far more endearing.
In fact, the only characters who I wasn't entirely sure about were Margot and Josh. I felt that Margot's maternal nature was captured perfectly and effortlessly, but there wasn't an awful lot else about her character to give her any depth. In the book series, Margot is vocal with Lara Jean about her future, and especially her disapproval of Peter. However this was missing from the adaptation. I appreciate that smaller details often need to make way for larger plot points, but it was a shame that her character was condensed so much. I also felt that Josh could have featured more prominently. In the series, although a little bit bland, he was very sweet and you could see exactly why he and Lara Jean had connected so well. His on-screen persona came across to me as a little bit of a wet blanket. I feel it did his character a disservice to only focus on his serious side.
What I think was most important was for the adaptation to capture the whole feel of the story, and this was done really well. The easiness and the dreaminess of Lara Jean's story was maintained, and the integrity of the story was looked after. The on-screen Lara Jean has regular daydreams which go a long way towards helping maintain this. However, the whole atmosphere of the film channels this dreaminess, and I really liked that the adaptation was true to the series that is loved by so many.
Differences to the book series:
Another difference that I really liked was that the character of Lara Jean was a lot more sassy than in the book series. Our heroine in the books is very vulnerable and shy, but the live-action Lara Jean is far more feisty. Admittedly, the focus of her character was still on her timidness, but I think Lana Condor did a really fantastic job of giving her an edge, without sacrificing the fundamental basis for her character.
Film Verdict: ✫✫✫✫
I surprised myself by really enjoying this film. I think it's very difficult to make a successful adaptation of a young adult book that is as emotional and girly as this. It could so easily be boring or overly soppy. This film, however, had a really great balance. It kept all the important aspects of Han's series, while adding in a definite edge to make it really modern and fresh.
The Overall Verdict
"You're in love with love."
This is what Margot tells Lara Jean during the series, and I think that sums her character up perfectly. That's the whole point of this series. Because who isn't in love with the idea of love? The idea of having somebody who'll love you unconditionally, who you'll do anything for. I know I'm in love with love.
And I think once you accept that these books are written just on this basis, you can enjoy them for what they are. This series isn't going to move mountains or change lives, but they're heart-warming and comforting, and they leave you feeling good about yourself. I've been fairly critical of this series over the course of this review, but I devoured the books in only a couple of days, which shows just how much I enjoyed them. The plot is really just your classic high school drama, but it's the characters that really stand out. Lara Jean is a romantic; a dreamer. She likes to fade into the background and keep adventures for her imagination. Peter is the popular guy, but with a heart of gold. They complement each other perfectly, and you can't help but root for them.
I also think Netflix did a wonderful job of adapting To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Lara Jean and Peter were cast perfectly, and Lana and Noah did a fantastic job of staying true to the characters that Jenny Han created.
As a whole, I think this series deserves to be rated three stars out of five. As much as I genuinely enjoyed the series, I think the books did get progressively worse as they went on. The first was a wonderful read, the second, although misguided in some areas of the plot, was still good. The third was disappointing. However, Lara Jean manages to prop the story up. She's a dreamer, and she speaks to me.
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