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books-to-add-to-your-tbr · 4 months

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Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2014

Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary

Blurb: Lara Jean has never openly admitted her crushes. Instead, she wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed...but one day, Lara Jean discovers that somehow, her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all of her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face-to-face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

#to all the boys i've loved before #ps i still love you #always and forever lara jean #jenny han #series #2014 #fiction #romance #contemporary

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dreamytreasure · 2 years

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peter kavinsky definitely has a praise kink

#to all the boys ive loved before #always and forever lara jean #lara jean x peter kavinsky #lara jean #peter kavinsky #p.s. i still love you #jenny han #books #bookworm #booksbooksbooks

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inlovewithquotes · 2 years

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Peter will love Lara Jean with all his heart, always.

- Always and Forever, Lara Jean

#literature #quotes #books & libraries #book quotes #relationship quotes #love quotes #jenny han #to all the boys series #to all the boys: always and forever #always and forever Lara Jean #peter kavinsky #lara jean covey #lara jean x peter

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fangirling-throughlife · 10 months

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I have just sobbed my way through Always and Forever, Lara Jean, as if this wasn't the fifth time watching, and as if I hadn't sobbed the four previous times.

#always and forever lara jean #lara jean covey #peter kavinsky #to all the boys i've loved before

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notexactlyrocketscience · 2 years

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Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Overview

You know that particular kind of contemporary YA that's really popular right now? A diverse character cast that lives and grows through their experiences together and through heartfelt conversations, and ends up as more developed human beings while their complex interpersonal relationships evolve?

Well, this book is kind of the opposite. More precisely, it's written in the kind of mystical, dark, lucid YA voice that was more popular before the light-hearted, uplifting kind took over. It does have complex teen characters and some form of (questionable) coming-of-age, but it lacks in representing healthy relationships. Often, it takes itself (and compulsorily cisheterosexual teen "love"/destiny) too seriously. Many younger readers would love that, but past that age it just feels toxic and pretentious.

A lot of Belly’s inner monologue is super relatable. It reminds me of how insecure I felt as a teen girl, how I strived for particular kinds of beauty and male approval. (It came hand-in-hand with my “I’m not like other girls,” phase, and so does Belly’s.) The three other teen main characters, Steven (Belly’s brother), Conrad, and Jeremiah are all older than Belly and spent most of their summers hazing her with mysoginistic undertones—she’s left out because she’s too much of a girl, and at the same time she’s not deemed womanly enough to respected as a real girl. (Other girls either fall into the f*ckable or non-f*ckable category … and that’s it. That’s all women are to these boys.) The way the mixed messaging has turned her into an incredibly anxious individual is palpable, and relatable, and painful to read about.

Understandably, at 15 (and possibly the kids' last summer at their Cousins beach house), we find her still trying to prove herself, by forcefully pretending to be tough by enduring hazing (so she’s part of the bros) and then nervously micromanaging herself to look “effortlessly” beautiful (to be f*ckable by Conrad, but also not too “full of herself” like the other women he hung around with). The boys (unsurprisingly) respond by mocking her and trying to manipulate and police her back into her “old” (ie weak + unf*ckable) self.

(Note: The couple other teen girls lightly highlighted here are self-obsessed, brainless man-eaters.)

Characters

Conrad is basically your next door teen f*ckboy. Moody, selfish, emotionally unavailable to the degree that a tiny spark of vulnerability or attention from him makes women swoon for him. When he’s secretly in love with someone, he’s overly possesive, controlling and hot-and-cold mean towards her, and sabotages all her relationships. : ) That’s how to get the girl, folks.

We’re told that Jeremiah, Conrad's brother, is Belly’s “pal”, because he’s more decent and open about his emotions than Conrad and he shares (most of) what he’s going through with Belly, and vice versa. But he’s also shown to be incredibly disloyal. He doesn’t take sides during conflict (he only tries to “dissipate the tension” by joking around, even when serious sh*t is going down), and he either idly watches or actively participates when the others are treating Belly badly.

(Can I just add here—I find love triangles in which the two alternative love interests are SIBLINGS just … gross. There, I said it. But I suspended that personal ick feeling for the sake of giving this well-loved book a chance.)

Steven is the sibling edition of Jeremiah. Less *bosom buddies*, a little more detached (but attached in a familial way), a little more protective in an annoying, controlling way. Still a bully. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Just another flavour.

✨ SPOILERS IN NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS ✨

Cam (Belly's summer boyfriend) is the only teen that I liked in this book. He is gentle, sweet, and has a healthy approach to dating. He is the ultimate non-judgemental soft™️ boy that will find you beautiful despite no matter how you look, who is vegetarian because to avoid animal cruelty, who will always ask before he touches you.

The other boys jeeringly respond by indicating he's obviously not macho enough, and Belly is so easily influenced by them that she is immediately embarrassed of Cam instead of being supportive of him, even though she initially liked his positive traits. She eventually decides he is unexciting; totally not toxic enough for her. : D She leads him on to make Conrad jealous, sends him a bunch of mixed messages, and then outright ghosts him. So much for the one decent man in this book. (I would read a spinoff on him in a heartbeat.)

✨ DONE WITH SPOILERS ✨

The moms of these characters are BFFs and perhaps the only similar-age healthy relationship portrayed in the book. However, they either ignore or laugh off the boys' bad behaviour, not only towards Belly but towards Cam as well ... which is literally just bad parenting???

(My sister joked that the moms should’ve gotten together, and that would’ve turned it into the ultimate K-Drama star-crossed enemies-to-lovers fiasco. Made me laugh so hard.)

Conclusion

With all of the above set up, I still held out hope for a satisfying ending. I wanted to see Belly realize the boys were all trash, gain true confidence in her self-worth, and open herself up to other, better romantic relationships. (Our girl had repressed bi vibes for sure, too.) There was a powerful, relatable statement in the beginning where Belly said now that she was older (more in-tune with her own body and tastes), she truly felt pretty for the first time. I wanted her to lean into that power, and realise it was never about how she objectively looked but about how she felt about herself; that the boys were just sh*tty human beings scared of confident women, and had hence done their utmost to gatekeep her from becoming just that. I was hoping that would be the theme of the book.

✨ MILD SPOILERS IN NEXT PARAGRAPH ✨

The book leads us slightly in that direction, and then Belly explodes into a few monologues, finally speaking her mind to Conrad and Jeremiah, but then within a couple pages she’s already forgiven them both, despite not getting any proper apologies. In fact, I'm pretty sure neither of them really heard her properly, or cared. I felt like the romance theme needlessly overshadowed the main concerns of the plot. The end left me uneasy. (I know a lot more drama goes down in the next two books. I looked up some summaries and ... yeesh. Ick factor intensifies)

✨ DONE WITH MILD SPOILERS ✨

A GR community review for the final installment in Summer said that there's a difference between an author truly caring about the characters growing through challenges and an author just using their characters as pawns to create trashy digestible drama, and I agree. The book’s redeeming qualities turned out to be in its little descriptions, relatable emotions, and how beautifully the language flows. (I effortlessly read it in a couple sittings.) So much lost potential. I adore Jenny Han's To All The Boys I Loved Before trilogy, perhaps because it's newer, but also perhaps because she put more of herself, and more affection, into her characters.

Adaptation

I picked up this book because there's allegedly going to be not one, but TWO Taylor Swift rerecordings in the adaptation. I really love the TATBILB adaptations (the aesthetic! the wholesome characters!), and seeing that they've already made a few changes to TSITP (Belly is Korean American! Like the author!) and that it's coming out in 2022 (plus I have to grudgingly agree “This Love” is a stunningly good fit), I'm going to hope for the best. <33

/end rant! thanks for reading!

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quotestrove · 2 years

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love is about making brave choices every day.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

#Always and Forever Lara Jean #book quotes

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lunarrumor · 2 years

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maniacally consuming every bit of tsitp since the show came out has made me realize how disappointing tatbilb was in comparison. sure i was excited but i didn’t feel This way. the way the books made me feel. this series might have to be my favorite book adaptation i just feel like it got everything right that it needed to. it’s not perfect but it’s so so good and i just wish we got something like this with tatbilb. with the same amount of time to explore the characters and actually flesh out the plot. cause tbf the whole story kinda got bungled in the movies. it wasn’t Bad by any means, but i think the song girls deserve just as much as the fisher boys

#tatbilb #tsitp #the summer i turned pretty #to all the boys #to all the boys i’ve loved before #ps i still love you #always and forever lara jean #jenny han #jenny han adaptations #tatbilb adaptation #tsitp adaptation #tatbilb movies #tsitp show #also if you try to tell me the tatbilb movies were a great adaptation i will simply point you to movie number 2 and the lack of assassins #aka you’re so wrong it hurts

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myhikari21things · 7 months

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Read of Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (2017) (325pgs)

#always and forever lara jean #jenny han #fiction #paperback #2010s #reread

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mamiinmiumiu · 1 year

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Latest Reads:

1. To All The Boy's I've Loved Before by Jenny Han -- 5/5⭐️

2. P.S I Still Love You [TATBILB #2] by Jenny Han -- 5/5⭐️

Currently Reading:

1. Aways and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

2. Ethic by Ashley Antoinette

#badbitchesread #randomthoughts #to all the boys trilogy #tatbilb #books #book review #currently reading #booklr #book reviews #booktok #ps i still love you #always and forever Lara jean #Jenny han #Ashley antoinette

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thebestbookrecommendations · 2 years

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Always and Forever, Lara Jean - Jenny Han

(To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #3)

Lara Jean is having the best senior year. And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends. Life couldn’t be more perfect! At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks . . . until she gets some unexpected news. Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

Read if You Like:

Romance

Young Adult Fiction

Contemporary Fiction

Coming of Age/High School

Recommended if You Enjoy:

Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park)

To All the Boys: Always and Forever (Movie, 2021)

4/5

First Book in Series:

Previous Book in Series:

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llilychen · 2 years

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why did movie!lara jean not apply to a single safety school or an in-state school?? there was a pretty decent chance she was not gonna get accepted to any of the four schools she applied to and i know movies can only name big name universities but they could easily have made her say “i applied to uc berkeley, stanford, ucla, nyu, and a couple of safety schools” and that would have saved me so much frustration

#i was working on my college list around the time this movie came out so maybe this is only a personal thing #but read the books and her college list in the books made sense!!#and also #these are all incredibly expensive universities and her family seems to be doing okay which means #she was probably not gonna get any good financial aid #two of these are public and she’s an oos student and the other two are private #maybe her family is super well off and she just doesn’t care but why didn’t she apply to any public schools in oregon 😭#for a movie that puts so much emphasis in choosing a college they should have thought about this more #i loved the book because it felt somewhat realistic #yeah she got rejected from uva but she got into unc and they’re very similar schools but the college application process is so #unpredictable #and i loved loved loved that jenny han included that in the books #im done ranting #always and forever lara jean #jenny han

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inlovewithquotes · 2 years

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She always picked love; she always picked adventure. To her they were one and the same.

- Always And Forever, Lara Jean

#book quotes #quotes #literature #books & libraries #life quotes #love quotes #adventure #jenny han #to all the boys series #to all the boys: always and forever #always and forever lara jean

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reputayswift · 8 months

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TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE x ALL OF THE GIRLS YOU LOVED BEFORE

fake love out on the town crying in the bathroom for some dude whose name I cannot remember now secret jokes, all alone no one's home, sixteen & wild we're breaking up, making up leave without saying goodbye...

↳ happy birthday @declanwidow (insp) ✩⋆˙ ˖⁺‧₊˚