Review: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

It’s finally here! Ok so fun fact: I found this book completely by chance, in one of the aisles at Kroger to be exact, so I was thoroughly pleased that I enjoyed it so much. The story is revolved around sixteen year old Laura Jean Covey and the whirlwind of a mess she gets into when her secret love letters are sent out. There are five in all. And then on top of it all her older sister Margo has left for college, halfway across the globe. With it just being her dad and little sister Kitty, now that Margo is gone, Laura Jean is now juggling the aftermath of her love letters and the responsibilities of being oldest sister.

I enjoyed Han’s writing style and the whole coming of age type theme. Laura Jean at times is so totally clueless and you either love it or hate it. In certain situations I found her character to be a little immature and naive. She also cried a lot. I kept waiting for her to grow up but the closest she got was realizing that loving someone from afar is completely different than actual obtainable love, which was still a good lesson but I was hoping for more.

The love story was kind of jerky. One minute you think it’s really about to take off but then it pulls back almost like taking two steps forward and one step back. I was rooting for Laura Jean and her fake boyfriend Peter but never saw much of any real action with one exception that quickly turned sour.

While I do believe that the plot could have been a bit thicker it was still a good read. Not bad for a contemporary young adult novel. I hated the halted ending but there is a sequel which I plan to read in order to find out where it all ends.

As far as characters go I absolutely LOVED that each character so well drawn out that you felt like you knew them. They all had their own personalities and it was so pleasant compared to those books where you get a jumble of characters not really understanding who is who. I adored the family dynamics of the book as well, it made it feel more real. Even as conflict arose among the sisters they always come back from it. My favorite character was Laura Jean’s sassy nine year old sister Kitty. She reminded me a bit of my own sister.

If you’re looking for some richly thick love story then this isn’t the book for you. If you are looking for a light coming of age story then pick up a copy and get to reading.

Yay I did it. Review is done amidst a crazy week of impending doom. (Dreaded finals are approaching quickly) Happy Reading!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15749186-to-all-the-boys-i-ve-loved-before