Perfectly Imperfect Love
Ava Lourie
To All The Boys I've Loved Before
By Jenny Han
“Do you think there’s a difference? Between belonging with and belonging to, I mean?” “Sure. One implies choice; the other doesn’t,” (Han 190).
The realistic fiction novel To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han is about a young girl in high school named Lara-Jean Covey. She is filled with imagination and creativity. She has had 5 main crushes in her life: Peter Kavinsky, Josh Sanderson, John Ambrose McClaren, Lucas Krapf, and Kenny Donati. These boys have no idea that Lara Jean has had a crush on them at some point in her life, and to cope with her feelings she writes fake love letters to them and puts them in her late mother's hat box. She does this as a way to express her emotions without actually confronting the boys: “When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he’ll never read it. Because he never will. Every secret thought, every careful observation, everything I’ve saved up inside me, I put it all in the letter. When I’m done, I seal it, I address it, and then I put it in my teal hatbox” (Han 1). One day, her younger sister Kitty mails them out because she is angry with her sister. The letters get out and Lara-Jean panics. She is too scared to admit that she has a crush on Josh because Josh is her older sister’s ex-boyfriend. Lara-Jean spontaneously decides to pretend that she is dating Peter Kavinsky, the popular boy in school, so Josh doesn’t think that she likes him. Peter agrees because he wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. They establish rules that they have to both commit to in order to convince everyone that their relationship is real, although it truly is not. As time goes by, Lara-Jean realizes that she may not want to just have a fake relationship with Peter.
Personally, I enjoyed this book very much. It wasn’t too challenging to read because it went into detail a lot which helped me imagine what was occurring throughout the whole novel. For example, Lara-Jean describes Peter as “a Handsome Boy from a different time. He could be a dashing World War I soldier, handsome enough for a girl to wait years for him to come back from war, so handsome she could wait forever…Peter’s kind of wholesome good looks feel more like yesterday than today. There’s just something about him girls like" (Han 38). The deep use of imagery helps to create a very accurate image in my mind on what was going on and it helps any reader to connect further to the characters. Also, there are many realistic situations in the story that readers, including myself, can associate with. At the beginning of the novel, Lara-Jean’s sister goes away to college and Lara-Jean reflects on her new responsibilities and says, “I brighten up and then I remember how Margot said I’m in charge now. I’m pretty sure taking responsibility for one’s mistakes is part of being in charge,” (Han 41). This theme of coming-of-age is prevalent throughout the book in which Lara-Jean struggles with growing up and becoming more responsible. I can relate to this feeling of having to look out for others whether it be my friend, family member, or even just an acquaintance so it is enjoyable to read about someone who is experiencing similar emotions and thoughts. Furthermore, I enjoyed this book because of how the author demonstrates a positive character arc in many of the characters. One of these characters is Peter. At the beginning of the book, Peter is thought to be a popular stuck up boy. As the book progresses, Peter’s true personality and insecurities are shown throughout, like how he has minimal experience with girls and how his dad left his family at a young age. It shows how everyone is fighting their own personal battles, and I think that this is a strong and powerful message to portray. Overall, this was a very great book, and its qualities made me want to not stop reading it.
I recommend this book to anyone in high school who enjoys realistic fiction books that include love, humor, and even sadness. The whole book takes place in high school and it revolves around love and romance. It has some funny moments like when Lara-Jean realizes the letters were sent to her crushes, and there are also sad moments, like when Lara-Jean explains that her mother passed away. A similar book to this one is The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles and anyone who likes its storyline will most likely enjoy To All the Boys I've Loved Before.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before
By Jenny Han
“Do you think there’s a difference? Between belonging with and belonging to, I mean?” “Sure. One implies choice; the other doesn’t,” (Han 190).
The realistic fiction novel To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han is about a young girl in high school named Lara-Jean Covey. She is filled with imagination and creativity. She has had 5 main crushes in her life: Peter Kavinsky, Josh Sanderson, John Ambrose McClaren, Lucas Krapf, and Kenny Donati. These boys have no idea that Lara Jean has had a crush on them at some point in her life, and to cope with her feelings she writes fake love letters to them and puts them in her late mother's hat box. She does this as a way to express her emotions without actually confronting the boys: “When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he’ll never read it. Because he never will. Every secret thought, every careful observation, everything I’ve saved up inside me, I put it all in the letter. When I’m done, I seal it, I address it, and then I put it in my teal hatbox” (Han 1). One day, her younger sister Kitty mails them out because she is angry with her sister. The letters get out and Lara-Jean panics. She is too scared to admit that she has a crush on Josh because Josh is her older sister’s ex-boyfriend. Lara-Jean spontaneously decides to pretend that she is dating Peter Kavinsky, the popular boy in school, so Josh doesn’t think that she likes him. Peter agrees because he wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. They establish rules that they have to both commit to in order to convince everyone that their relationship is real, although it truly is not. As time goes by, Lara-Jean realizes that she may not want to just have a fake relationship with Peter.
Personally, I enjoyed this book very much. It wasn’t too challenging to read because it went into detail a lot which helped me imagine what was occurring throughout the whole novel. For example, Lara-Jean describes Peter as “a Handsome Boy from a different time. He could be a dashing World War I soldier, handsome enough for a girl to wait years for him to come back from war, so handsome she could wait forever…Peter’s kind of wholesome good looks feel more like yesterday than today. There’s just something about him girls like" (Han 38). The deep use of imagery helps to create a very accurate image in my mind on what was going on and it helps any reader to connect further to the characters. Also, there are many realistic situations in the story that readers, including myself, can associate with. At the beginning of the novel, Lara-Jean’s sister goes away to college and Lara-Jean reflects on her new responsibilities and says, “I brighten up and then I remember how Margot said I’m in charge now. I’m pretty sure taking responsibility for one’s mistakes is part of being in charge,” (Han 41). This theme of coming-of-age is prevalent throughout the book in which Lara-Jean struggles with growing up and becoming more responsible. I can relate to this feeling of having to look out for others whether it be my friend, family member, or even just an acquaintance so it is enjoyable to read about someone who is experiencing similar emotions and thoughts. Furthermore, I enjoyed this book because of how the author demonstrates a positive character arc in many of the characters. One of these characters is Peter. At the beginning of the book, Peter is thought to be a popular stuck up boy. As the book progresses, Peter’s true personality and insecurities are shown throughout, like how he has minimal experience with girls and how his dad left his family at a young age. It shows how everyone is fighting their own personal battles, and I think that this is a strong and powerful message to portray. Overall, this was a very great book, and its qualities made me want to not stop reading it.
I recommend this book to anyone in high school who enjoys realistic fiction books that include love, humor, and even sadness. The whole book takes place in high school and it revolves around love and romance. It has some funny moments like when Lara-Jean realizes the letters were sent to her crushes, and there are also sad moments, like when Lara-Jean explains that her mother passed away. A similar book to this one is The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles and anyone who likes its storyline will most likely enjoy To All the Boys I've Loved Before.
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