To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is a 2014 contemporary adult-teen book. The author, Jenny Han, is a renowned author with her book The Summer I Turned Pretty making it to New York Times bestselling list. She has also written I Still Love You and Always Forever Lana Jean.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is about a 16-year-old girl Laura Jean Song who lives with her single dad who is a doctor, elder sister Margot and younger sister Kitty. Laura has a tendency of writing goodbye letters to her crushes. She is scared of entering the dating scene for fear of one day losing her partner as her dad lost her mum.
She has had five crushes and thus has a letter for each of them, which she keeps in a hatbox that her mother gave her. The letters were not written to be read by anyone, but only to let out her emotions. One day, her letters are mysteriously sent out to their respective addresses.
Peter, one of the recipients, confronts her on the letter, which makes her freak out. Josh, her elder sister’s ex-boyfriend, is another recipient of the letter.However, it is the letter that was sent to Josh that makes Laura most uncomfortable. So she decides to fake a relationship with Peter so that she can avoid getting into a conversation with Josh over the letter.
Peter agrees to the arrangement so as to make his ex-girlfriend Genevieve jealous because she left him for a college boy.
As for Laura, dating Peter makes her famous since Peter is the most famous and handsome guy at school.
With time, Peter and Laura develop true feelings for each other to which they confess. However, a rumour that the two had sex spreads quickly and Laura blames Peter for it and they split up. During a party at her house, Josh and Peter get into a quarrel and Margot gets to know that Josh has feelings for Laura, which makes her angry.
The book has some romance scenes between Laura and Peter and it’s therefore not suitable for people under the age of 16. The book portrays a strong family bond and high school relationships. A movie series going by the same title was made from the book.
