(To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #2)
Publication
Date: May 26, 2015
Hardcover, 337 pages, Simon and Schuster
Genres:
YA, Contemporary
Lara Jean didn’t expect to really
fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending.
Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past
returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in
love with two boys at once?
In this charming and heartfelt
sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean.
Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.
My Review
To All the
Boys I’ve Loved Before is a
beautiful story. I had barely finished it before I was ordering its sequel—that’s
how good it is. Plus, I absolutely HAD to know what happened! I don’t
understand how people who read the first book when it came out could wait so
long to know the ending. I was dying just waiting two days! Despite my anticipation,
I was let down when I read this book. I guess Jenny Han and endings just don’t
mix.
The book starts out right where its predecessor left off.
Lara Jean is trying to fix her relationship with Peter. And that was totally
what I wanted to happen. What I didn’t want to happen was the sex tape drama. I
LOATHE contemporary books that involve anything where private situations are
shared online via social media. I cannot stand reading about it. I’ve figured
up some reasons for this:
1) In my high school we only had one instance of this
happening and it was immediately dealt with and no one actually saw anything.
2) Going along with my high school thing, most of the
teachers and students would have been aggravated by the culprit or the post-er,
not the victim.
3) I think this trope is overdone by authors who are older
and don’t really understand what it’s like for teenagers in high school. They
think that it’s all bullies and mean girls with phones and internet access. And
that’s just not true.
So, once I knew that this book would be all about that
ridiculousness, I immediately lost some enthusiasm.
I also didn’t like that this book made Lara Jean seem a
little less like a regular teen girl and more of a girl set on revenge. Her
entire storyline just didn’t add up to what I had pictured her personality to
be.
I did like the part about the childhood friends getting back
together, but the way it played out made me hesitant. John just wasn’t a
character I cared to get to know about, I mean we’d already been introduced to
two guys—Josh and Peter—and I didn’t want a third one in the mix.
All in all, this book let me down. Jenny Han always comes up
with these amazing first and sometimes even second books but the finale always
leaves me disappointed. I’d still say that you should pick up this sugary sweet
duology, if only because the first book is so tooth-rottenly delicious!
*Note: I purchased
a copy of this book for myself.
I agree the sequel's vibe was quite different from the first one! To All The Boys I've Loved Before made me melt with how sweet it was. And I actually missed Josh in the second book. Even though I prefer Lara Jean and Peter, I still wish Lara Jean and Josh could have maintained their friendship better.
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