I have decided that from now on, I am going to give a brief synopsis of my review right off the bat, then a synopsis of the book. Only then will I take forever telling you about it. Good idea?

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2014) by Jenny Han is YA to the core, and yet I think plenty of readers of romance who are older would also enjoy it. I was annoyed by some things from the beginning (and at the end), but as I read, I was sucked in more and more until I found myself really enjoying the spunky Lara Jean and the complicated and electric romance(s). Plenty of situational comedy and also realistic coming-of-age lessons to learn.

Lara Jean is a rising junior whose older sister is headed off to college in Scotland. After their mother died earlier in their childhood, Margot has been the one to hold everything together. In a parting shot, Margot breaks up with her boyfriend of two years, a boy that is the third leg of their best friend group of Josh-Margot-Lara Jean. How is life going to work with no Margot and no Josh? Then, just as the school year is getting off to a rough start, someone mails Lara Jean’s secret, old, good-bye-and-good-riddance love letters to the five boys she has loved over the years. And one of them was Josh! Does she still have feelings for Josh? Obviously he can’t know because he’s going to end up back with Margot someday soon. And the boys who received those letters… well, things get complicated.

First impressions matter. I was not pleased with the cover—it looks a little cheesy to me—but I started reading because the book was frequently referenced in the class I am currently taking (on novel revision). My first impression with the text, then? Sigh. I have a pet peeve when it comes to prologues/introductions, whatever. Not only does this book have a one-page prologue, but it is unlabeled. As I reader, I am pretty likely to skip a prologue or introduction, but a page of random, un-headed writing before “Chapter 1”: almost completely likely to skip it. I only later noticed the thing, actually, and when I realized it was part of the book, steam started leaking out of my ears. What the heck? Epilogues, fine: if you liked the book you’ll want to read more. But anything before Chapter 1 is basically a weird lie. And hidden introductions? Grrrr (with smoke wafting out of my nose). Pet peeves are weird, but there you are. Make sure you read the bit of writing before the first chapter.

Unfortunately, by then, I had encountered another personal barrier to book enjoyment. The POV is first person. This can be justified at times, especially in YA, but this narrator is also speaking in present tense. I do not like reading in present tense. I find it awkward, at best, and very difficult to justify, especially when paired with first person (which is already a little bit of stretch for the reader). I tolerated it in the Hunger Games trilogy, but I didn’t exactly like it, even there. There is an immediacy that happens when a story is very high stakes (consistently) that might justify present tense, but certainly not in all the realistic YA that is being written in present tense these days. I find it distracting and monotonous. Tell me a story, author. Use some present tense now and again to reel us in nose-to-nose close, if you have to (but you probably don’t). Otherwise, trust the story-telling process: the reader will slip into the story and feel its closeness despite its being just that: a story.

But I kept reading, because I did. And despite the weirdly hidden intro and the first person, present POV, I began to enjoy reading the book. I never got over wanting it to be past tense, but I read faster and faster and more and more invested in the characters and in the romance(s). Speaking of, the nuances of the romance(s) were pretty close to pitch perfect. There’s the right amount of sizzle, the right amount of give and take with the hints and the reader being able to see things that even the voice of narration can’t see. The main character, Lara Jean, is realistic and spunky and surprising and fun. I can see why this is a YA modern classic, and I think many adults who want a fun, romantic read would also enjoy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

But one last thing, one last warning: the book does not have a traditional ending, exactly. Modern authors seem to be afraid of the traditional ending, but I think it is very difficult to pull off a nontraditional one and still leave your readers satisfied. I have been guilty of this in my own writing: just giving a hint and then writing “THE END.” But as a reader, I am not happy with that sort of ending in 99% of what I read. In Boys I’ve Loved, things are implied, but the storyline drops right before the resolution. (Han is just really good at finding my reading pet peeves and going for it.) I don’t feel there’s a reason for a hint-and-don’t-tell ending in this case. (Ted Lasso spoiler in the next sentence.) I can be persuaded that, say, Ted Lasso ended with neither team Roy nor team Jamie winning because then it reinforces the girl power theme, but here? Not taking the one extra step to wrap up the romance in this book? Nope. Perhaps Han wanted us to read the sequels? No thanks, partly because we all know what should have been written, and it wasn’t. It’s pretty obvious. See “MOVIE,” below. (Okay, I might read the sequels. It would be a nice beach read and they are consistently rated the same as the first book in the series. The rest of the trilogy is P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean.)

So back to it: I do recommend this book for YA, for YA romance, and for romance. It’s a fun, engaging read to relax or kick back on the beach, and most readers will enjoy the spunky character and the great situational, romantic tension written in solid prose. It’s quite tight introspection and sometimes immature because, um, it’s YA and it’s supposed to be that way. But it’s good fun with plenty of little lessons along the way and both a memorable plot and memorable characters.

QUOTES:

“Because Margot is fine, even when she’s not” (p4).

“This is our life; there’s no use in asking what if. No one could ever give you the answers” (p10).

“…to that I say looking on the bright side of life never killed anybody” (p82).

MOVIE

I already mentioned the movie above because I was not at all alone in assuming the ending to this no-ending book. I did like the movie (2017), and my daughter loves it, but as with many pairs, the book was better than the movie. But wait! There’s a caveat here: the ending in the movie is better. However, the character was better in the book and the interactions were way cuter. In the end, I would actually recommend both, but the book has more spice, more magic, more depth (they did change some pretty big things for the movie and some small things that fell flat after the read), but I held out on hoping there was going to be an actual ending… and there was! Cute. Very YA. I liked putting faces to the characters. Another modern classic, ya know, for Gen Z.