By: Jenny Han
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #1 | 355 Pages | Pub. 2015
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before at a Glance
- Overall Rating: ★★★1/2
- Heroine: Queen of Awkward Drama
- Dude: Modern day Freddie Prinze Jr.
- Steaminess: We all saw that hot tub scene
- Emotional: *plays garbage on repeat
Pairs Well With
Chris’s Shampoo Bottle Tequila
Our Review
Since Netflix announced a movie, this book has been EVERYWHERE. We don’t review contemporary YA for the most part, because it just isn’t necessarily our thing. But we had to make an exception for our good friend @ReadbyDev because she has a serious obsession with Mr. Peter Kavinsky. Honestly, I think she just wanted more of my text rants. What can I say, they can be EPIC.
Taking my brain back to high school wasn’t that hard. Laura Jean is hilarious and I feel a serious connection with her level of awkward drama.
“I collapse on the floor. This is a horror movie. My life has become a horror movie.”
I was SUPER dramatic as a teen and I adore her drama. When I finished reading this I had to listen to “I’m Only Happy When it Rains” on repeat for at least 2 hours.
But Laura Jean is so relatable, I think this is an awesome book for teen girls. She stands up for herself and knows how to ask for forgiveness when she needs it. Plus, she is correct that Prisoner of Azkaban is, in fact, the best of the series.
Peter is such a stereotypical high school guy. And I guess he is supposed to be, but I was still only mildly impressed with him. He does some really sweet things, like drive his mom’s minivan so that Kitty can go with them to school, but he is also a super jerk sometimes. In no way are you allowed to just ditch plans with her for your ex girlfriend! Hard No. DO BETTER PETER.
I go back and forth on Chris. She was a terrible friend, but then would do something hysterical and amazing. Courtney love Halloween outfit…. AMAZING.
“I almost got into a fight with this girl who kept saying I was wearing extensions. It’s not my fault my hair is fabulous.”
If she was less of a jerk she would be my forever spirit animal.
Margot was way harsh in the book. She is better represented though, as she reacts to the drama unfolding and you can see more of her feelings. In the movie she smiled and said everything was okay. Not realistic for an 18 yr old girl. So while, Margot was a jerk, it was understandable.
Josh. You do not get any of my words. Go figure your brain out dude.
At some point, I will finish these off because I don’t like to leave a series hanging and I promised Dev that I would. The PK love is REAL and I have to decide if it’s for me too.
In the meantime, I will be listening to Shirley Manson and reliving all of my teenage angst.
Have you read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before? Let us know what you thought in the comments!
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Garbage on repeat…that’s some dark tunnel you’re going down! Go baby, go, go!
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Hahaha I LOVE IT!
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I am a new follower but I love the short summary thing at the start, it is hilarious and the review is awesome!
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Thank you! And thank you for following us.
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I just read this book last week and gave it three stars as well. I actually prefer the movie!
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I also preferred the movie!
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YES! I adored movie Peter so much better!
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I’m exactly the same! I don’t usually do contemporary, but since this movie was AMAZING, I am willing to give the book a shot.
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Wonderful and fun review! I read this book quite a while ago and loved it, I also adore the movie! And I am well over teenage years, but I was an extremely dramatic teen myself, so I loved Lara Jean in this! Movie Peter is better than book Peter, in my humble opinion!😉😍
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So even though I hadn’t read the book, I jumped on the movie the day it was released on Netflix. It was pretty cute & EVERYONE keeps telling me that the movie is better so I think I’ll probably skip reading it. I actually already Googled what happens in the next two books. Haha. I’m the worst. 😀
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I did the Bad Thing and watched the movie on Netflix without having read the book. My TBR pile is just too damn high and I felt like I was missing out!! It was gloriously cute, like snuggle-up-and-turn-your-brain-off cute (if a little frustrating because I wanted to thrust a grown-up head with better communication skills onto all of their young shoulders).
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Honestly, unless you want to read the whole series, the movie was better. Especially for those of us who want to yell at the young ones about communication!
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I just re-read the book when I watched the movie and I am in total agreement – the movie was actually better than the book (what? Yes!). I didn’t like Peter in the books (John all the way – you’ll understand in the second one 😉 ) but I loved him in the film. I think I’ve watched it three times now!
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Now I’m really going to have to finish all of the books and I’m not ready!
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I still haven’t read this book and it’s sad. Everyone has read it but me and I need to see the movie.
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The movie is great!
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