Book 16/30.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead 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 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.
I have always said that my top three genres are Romance, Young Adult and Mystery/Thriller, in that order. But the older I get the more I question whether that stance is still valid. Not because of the genres, but because of the order. And it is books like this that make me convinced I need to switch out Young Adult and Mystery/Thriller the older I get from being… well, a young adult.
I probably would have enjoyed this Jenny Han book a lot more if I read it in my teens… or maybe even as a new adult. But I turn 40 in just over two years and so I no longer resonate with YA the way I did even a decade ago. Do not get me wrong, there are some fantastic YA books out there that I will probably love even when I am old and grey. But this is not one of them as I found 90% of the characters immature and could not relate to any of Lara Jean’s dilemmas and subsequent choices. To make matter worse, I found her to be immature and naïve, and there was not a single instance in the entire book where she did not behave (and think) a lot younger than she actually is.
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 