“You’d rather make up a fantasy version of somebody in your head than be with a real person.”
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a YA series by the American author of Korean descent Jenny Han. The books were published between 2014 and 2017. Lara Jean has two sisters, Margo and Kitty, and they live with their father; their mom died years ago. Whenever Lara Jean is disappointed in love, she writes a love letter, addresses it and puts it in a box. One day, all the letters get mysteriously sent out, which gets her in trouble.
In this blog post, I compare the books to the movies, giving my opinion on both.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (1)
Book
I listened to the audio versions of the books, and it took me some time to get used to Lara Jean’s voice. It sounded like a very dry, emotionless description of how she likes her sister’s boyfriend. However, I now think that it works, that her way of speaking/thinking is how a 16-year-old would speak and think. Still, the writing tends to be quite repetitive (My whole body went …). Also, Lara Jean acts younger than her age; it seems like her only true passion is baking. I know that people are different, but she’s probably not all that relatable to most teenagers. Lara Jean’s friend Chris, who is categorized as “easy and wild”, seems more like a normal teenager: she parties, flirts and is rebellious. In a way, this is good because we get a variety of different teenagers, but we’re still stuck with Lara Jean most of the time.
The “no sex pact” the sisters made in middle school was just weird to me. Their family isn’t religious, so I just don’t know why they would do that. I also found it funny that they were so appalled by the fact that Peter cheated on a test. They talk about it as if he had robbed a bank or something. I just haven’t met any people like that in real life.
Movie
The movie captured the story well, in my opinion, and was fun to watch (once). I had a bit of a problem with how they made Lara Jean look perfect all of the time. Her outfits are always spot on, as is her makeup and hair. I know that the book version of the character also pays attention to that, but I doubt that she wakes up with fake eyelashes and lipstick every morning. Both Kitty and Margot are much younger in the books, the actresses were too old to play them. Also, Kitty is supposed to be more savage and less quirky, while book Margot is more serious and bossy. As for Chris, I imagined her to be more badass and Gene to be more bitchy. Peter was too nice, nicer than the book version.
P.S. I Still Love You (2)
Book
The worst part of this book is the unnecessary love triangle. It feels like John Ambrose McClaren is added just to create some drama, while Peter is still seeing Gene all the time. I found their relationship a bit odd: it’s unclear at what point he stops being interested in her and whether she’s still interested in him. The main good part of this book is the nostalgia. What I love about Lara Jean as a character the most is how deeply she feels everything, how afraid of change she is and how much nostalgia she feels for middle school and then for high school, even before it ends. I enjoyed reading about the treehouse and time capsule thing, remembering middle school and old friends getting together again.
Film
I think that the film did what it could with the story. In the book as well as in the film it seems like John Ambrose is perfect for Lara Jean, better than Peter. I definitely liked the book version of him better than the book version of Peter. Then again, Peter is exceptionally nice in the film, so he seems like the better choice because he was there first.
[spoiler]What I didn’t like was how the film handled the whole Gene thing (in the third film too). In the books, they’re enemies, and they never become friends again. In the film, they meet to talk and it’s all so honest and emotional, which just never happens in the book. I think they shouldn’t have done that because some friendships just end and there’s no need to sugar-coat it.[/spoiler]
Always and Forever, Lara Jean (3)
Book
I enjoyed the topics in this book (they were more relevant than in book 2): finishing high school, getting accepted to university, leaving home, and long-distance relationships. I love Lara Jean’s anxiety about being accepted to university and about being long-distance with Peter. This is the book in which she finally becomes relatable to me.
[spoiler]However, it was predictable that she wouldn’t be accepted to the university of her choosing. She, however, really grew as a character because she decided not to listen to what her mother said about going to uni with a boyfriend or to imitate what Margot did with Josh (break up). She decided to be herself and do what she felt like, and that’s great.[/spoiler]
Lara Jean’s fear of change and leaving home is probably related to her mother’s death. She doesn’t want to leave her father and sister because she feels guilty and wants things to stay the way they are. As someone who also lost a parent as a child, I can relate to all those feelings. Still, I think death isn’t discussed enough in this book series. Eve Song died from a head injury caused by slipping on a recently mopped floor and hitting her head. If this happened in the house (which I presume it did), everybody would’ve been scared of it happening to someone else, and the place where it happened would’ve never beeen the same again for the family. Also, Lara Jean would’ve probably been paranoid about her dad or one of her sisters dying. The dad would’ve probably have had more trouble handling his job as a doctor and raising three daughters, twelve, ten and three at the time of the mother’s death. This is a lost opportunity for some realness.
The sex issue
[spoiler]There’s this mad scene when Margot comes home from Scotland, where she’s been for almost two years, she’s almost twenty and she brings her boyfriend. Her dad doesn’t want them to sleep in the same room, and Kitty and Lara Jean are shocked because Margot doesn’t agree with or obey him. The dad has literally given Lara Jean, who’s two years younger, condoms.[/spoiler]
Film
The film handles the story well again. Everything else I have to say is spoilers.
[spoiler]I think that losing your virginity is an important topic in a teenage novel. Why did the author decide to leave it out? It’s not like she’d have to give a full description of a sex scene, but the event actually taking place would’ve improved the book. There’s this scene when they’re on holiday and Lara Jean finally decides that she wants it, but then Peter doesn’t want it because he thinks she’s leaving him. At this point, I became convinced that the author just didn’t want to include it, even though she discussed the idea of it throughout the book. I don’t know if this has something to do with the book being YA or with Korean culture, but I really think it wasn’t the best way to handle it. She could’ve done it without being explicit, which the film managed brilliantly: they do it after the wedding, but we don’t actually see any action, which is completely appropriate for a teenage film.
The third film did an exceptionally good job, not only when it comes to sex, but also to wedding planning. The first was included (even though it never happens in the book), while the second was just briefly mentioned. In the book, Lara Jean is extremely annoying with the wedding planning, and I’m glad that I didn’t have to relive this in the movie. As for Gene, they make it seem like the girls will be BFFs in college again because they’re going to the same one. Lol.[/spoiler]
Conclusion
In general, I’d say that the films are better than the books. They leave out some unnecessary things and focus on the important stuff. They also add the unnecessary Gene thing, but I forgive them for it. I guess they just wanted to be cute.
Despite all my negative comments, I did enjoy the books. They were lighthearted, presented a family with one parent, a life with sisters, which I never had, and made me think of elementary and high school times. I also enjoyed all the bits of American and Korean culture that I got out of the books, all these things about food and clothes and cosmetics. I did find some things very predictable, though, like the university thing, all of Gene’s appearances, the love triangle …
All in all, I don’t regret reading the books. I kind of enjoyed watching the films too, even though I didn’t manage to do it without scrolling through my Instagram feed. If you have nothing better to do and want to take a trip back to high school (unless you’re still in one, in which case you’re the target audience), I think both the books and the films are a good choice.
You can read about other book series I liked here.
