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nerdinthelibrary 's review for:
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
by Jenny Han
content warnings: loss of a parent, bullying, slut shaming
representation: main biracial (korean-white) character, side biracial (korean-white) characters, side gay character
I'm going to start this off by saying that the movie adaptation is a million times better than this book. That might be controversial, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about this book that the movie did much better. Honestly, most of this review is going to be me talking about the characters because I don't really have much to say about the plot or writing other than they were fun.
I understand people who were annoyed by Lara Jean's naivety and innocence, but I actually really liked her for that. We don't get enough protagonists in YA who are kind and see the world in a more bright way, and I really wish that we wouldn't immediately write off those characters as dumb just because they're not GrimDarkâ˘.
This is where I regret to inform you that Lara Jean was the only character I liked. Again, the movie did this much better.
Peter Kavinsky is, in the words of It'sJaneLindsey, "a fuckboy and he can choke". He was the perfect example of the Dickish Bad Boy trope, and while 13 year old Jaime would have loved him, 17 year old Jaime wanted him to just fucking leave. That being said, I didn't like Josh either, which I think this is more of an unpopular opinion. He was just always acting as if he was so superior because he's a Nice Guy, which is a trope I hate very equally with the Dickish Bad Boy. If they had both just straight up died at the end of the book I would have been okay with it.
More unpopular opinions: I really didn't like Margot or Kitty. Well, actually, I didn't mind Kitty; she was annoying, but she also reminded me a lot of one of my younger sisters so I found a lot of her brattiness weirdly endearing. But Margot, oh my god, I hated her so much. As a big sister, I could not imagine treating my sisters with so much bitchy condescension as she did. She acted as if she was so much better than Lara Jean because she's so much more ~~mature~~ and she couldn't go a fucking page without criticising one of her sisters, while also not only acting as if her dad was completely incompetent but also never giving him a chance to prove her wrong. I understand that after their mum died she felt like she needed to fill a parental role, but literally every single time she was on the page I would start seething with rage.
Anyway, other than the cast of unlikable characters (I did like the more minor characters - their dad, Chris, Lucas, etc.), I did find this book to be really fun and addictive and while I'm not sure if I'm going to complete the trilogy, I will definitely be reading the sequel.
representation: main biracial (korean-white) character, side biracial (korean-white) characters, side gay character
I'm going to start this off by saying that the movie adaptation is a million times better than this book. That might be controversial, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about this book that the movie did much better. Honestly, most of this review is going to be me talking about the characters because I don't really have much to say about the plot or writing other than they were fun.
I understand people who were annoyed by Lara Jean's naivety and innocence, but I actually really liked her for that. We don't get enough protagonists in YA who are kind and see the world in a more bright way, and I really wish that we wouldn't immediately write off those characters as dumb just because they're not GrimDarkâ˘.
This is where I regret to inform you that Lara Jean was the only character I liked. Again, the movie did this much better.
Peter Kavinsky is, in the words of It'sJaneLindsey, "a fuckboy and he can choke". He was the perfect example of the Dickish Bad Boy trope, and while 13 year old Jaime would have loved him, 17 year old Jaime wanted him to just fucking leave. That being said, I didn't like Josh either, which I think this is more of an unpopular opinion. He was just always acting as if he was so superior because he's a Nice Guy, which is a trope I hate very equally with the Dickish Bad Boy. If they had both just straight up died at the end of the book I would have been okay with it.
More unpopular opinions: I really didn't like Margot or Kitty. Well, actually, I didn't mind Kitty; she was annoying, but she also reminded me a lot of one of my younger sisters so I found a lot of her brattiness weirdly endearing. But Margot, oh my god, I hated her so much. As a big sister, I could not imagine treating my sisters with so much bitchy condescension as she did. She acted as if she was so much better than Lara Jean because she's so much more ~~mature~~ and she couldn't go a fucking page without criticising one of her sisters, while also not only acting as if her dad was completely incompetent but also never giving him a chance to prove her wrong. I understand that after their mum died she felt like she needed to fill a parental role, but literally every single time she was on the page I would start seething with rage.
Anyway, other than the cast of unlikable characters (I did like the more minor characters - their dad, Chris, Lucas, etc.), I did find this book to be really fun and addictive and while I'm not sure if I'm going to complete the trilogy, I will definitely be reading the sequel.