To all the boys....

If you’re like me, you’re a sucker for the Netflix Originals, and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is one I’ve watched multiple times already.  I decided that I wanted to read the books to compare the movies so I snagged the set and read away.

To be completely honest, it took me a bit to get used to Jenny Han’s writing style.  It’s a little jumpy, flashes to the past, and sometimes seems to just end in the middle of what I thought would be more. It gets better and I got used to it but definitely not the style I am used to reading.

If you don’t know the story line, Lara Jean is a teenage girl who gets so consumed with her emotions that she writes it down in love letters - 5 actually, addresses them and then never sends them out.  It is her way of dealing with her crush and then moving past it.  Of course we need more than that to have a good story, so her little sister sends off her letters and that’s where it all begins.

Lara Jean seems childish and immature, but throughout the series she does grow and change, and that was one of the biggest “complaints” I saw when I was looking at reviews of the books before I read them.  Obviously if someone wrote a review on only the first book it makes sense that there is no “ending” because it is a three part series. Make sure you read all three so you get the full development and closure. ​

When comparing the books to the movies I will say that Netflix did a pretty good job in getting a lot of the details. I’ll try to not add too many spoilers but…. We love a good high school jock and Peter Kavinsky was exactly what you would expect. To be honest, book Peter seemed much more real than movie Peter but I loved them both. He was sweet with the little things he did for Lara and the book shows even more with how he was with Kitty when he and Lara “weren’t together” too. Basically he stands up to the stereotypical jock boy that most teenage girls dream about.  I also enjoyed the family dynamic added to the story with their widowed father and her relationships with her older and younger sisters. Her friends on the other hand, book Chris sucks - she is seriously a horrible character and a horrible friend compared to how she was portrayed in the move.  The book was also so much more real with the drama than how the movie romanticized it and I liked that honestly because it wasn’t all fluff.  

Overall these books were an easy read and entertaining movies.  If you’re looking for something cute with “young love” I would say check these out at your local library or used book store.