P.S I Still Love You Review

P.S I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Title: P.S. I Still Love You

Author: Jenny Han

Series: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #2

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: May 26, 2015

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Fiction; Contemporary; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 288

Format: ARC: Bound Manuscript

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.

IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!!! *sobs*

Lara Jean is back, and she is ready to face all the cute boys, hopeless romanticism, and heartbreak in the world. Okay, maybe not all the heartbreak out there, but she is definitely going to get her fair share. After (unexpectedly) falling for Peter and coming this close to losing it all, Lara Jean is back to writing letters. This one, however, is singing a different tune. She wants Peter back no matter how much work it requires. They had something real, and Lara Jean wants it. That is until– well–she doesn’t anymore. After a surprise visitor appears, Lara Jean is suddenly forced to face some serious problems of the love triangle variety. Not to mention, Genevieve (a.k.a the evil witch) is up to her meddling exploits, and she just may succeed this time. Lara Jean and Peter have undeniable chemistry, and yet, is it really worth risking it all?   

I have been waiting for this book for SO LONG! I was fortunate and lucky enough to receive a magnificent ARC of it a whole two weeks before the publication date. EEP! It’s a good thing too, because I’m pretty sure any further waiting would’ve given me an aneurism or something. Yeah, this ARC saved my life.

I’m just going to say it: this book, no matter how you look at, is not of the ruminative, hard-thinking, or mature persuasion. In fact, it is quite literally the exact opposite. It is immature, juvenile, childish, cheesy, hopelessly romantic, and sweetly simple, and I love it all. It makes me feel like I’m ten again, all dreamy-eyed at the idea of a first kiss or a boy holding my hand. This book is the quintessence of summer reading and/or cheesy romance. I can’t get enough of it. I just want to lie on the beach under the sun and read about Peter and Lara Jean all day long.

When I first laid eyes on the first book in the series, it was love at first sight. I mean, come on, the title? To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before? Is that, like, not one of the best titles you’ve ever heard? It is up there with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (both of which I love). From the first moment I cracked open the cover, I was hopelessly devoted to Lara Jean’s story, which is why I picked up this copy of P.S I Still Love You at the first available opportunity. Much to my delight, it did not disappoint.

There were times in the book where I was right there alongside Lara Jean. I was so conflicted. Was I still Team Peter or had I converted to Team John? I really had no idea. Peter just has so much chemistry as a character, but John is perfection (maybe too perfect?). Two mesmerizing pieces of male character specimen; how am I supposed to root for one or the other?

Just at the first book did, this highly anticipated sequel of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before left me wanting MORE! While there is no word on a third book, if Jenny Han chooses to write one, she has a devoted and ready reader available. Every single girl should at least give Jenny Han’s cute, lovey-dovey series a go, and they probably won’t regret it (unless they have an aversion to swoon-worthy romance, which, frankly, I just don’t understand why they would). Oh, and P.S. I love this series and probably always will.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Review

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Series: Summer #1

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: May 5, 2009

Genre: Romance; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Young Adult

Pages: 276

Format: Hardback

goodreads

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Summers are what Belly waits all year for. Summer means swimming. Summer means tans and beaches and bikinis. And most of all, summer means Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. Spending summer at her mother’s best friend’s beach house is what Belly looks forward to all year. But this year is going to be different. With her everlasting crush on Conrad spiraling out of control and new summer loves blooming, Belly must figure out how to hold her life together, even when it’s falling apart at the seams.  

First off, what is with the name Belly? Belly is a weird name, isn’t it? I mean, you have to read half the book just so you can finally learn that Belly is not her actual name. (It’s Isabel, by the way. Just thought I would save you the trouble.) Secondly, the boys. Conrad is, shall we say, a jerk. He’s moody and dark, and in the book they play that up to be a good thing. Maybe it’s just me, but I would like my boys to be a bit nicer. Like Jeremiah is in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Just a note to the author, if you want one love interest to be the one all your readers are rooting for, don’t make the secondary love interest so much more likable! I was rooting for Jeremiah the whole entire time. I wanted him to win. Not Conrad the Jerkish. Jeremiah was perfect, and I mean perfect, boyfriend material.

The main problems that I had with this book mainly involved the characters. Belly was, throughout the entire book, immature. As in, spoiled little kid immature. And she was constantly complaining about how she was treated like she was immature. Which was simply annoying. Conrad was, as previously mentioned, a huge jerk. Jeremiah was perfect, but undermined and ignored. While the characters left a lot to be wanted, the plot was okay. I liked how this was not just another summer romance. The subplot that dealt with family and devastation and real-world problems left this book with a few more degrees of realism.

I don’t count on reading the sequel, but if the opportunity presents itself and I have nothing else to do, I may. Maybe. Probably. I mean, this book wasn't absolutely horrible. Just not absolutely fabulous. 

It’s Not Summer Without You

To All The Boys I've Loved Before Review

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Title: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han

Series: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before #1

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: April 15, 2014

Genre: Romance; Contemporary; Realistic Fiction; Young Adult

Pages: 288

Format: Hardback
goodreads

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.

“When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he’ll never read it. Because he never will.”

Let me just start out my saying that I loved this book far more than I thought I would and a lot more than anyone should ever love a book. I’m not saying this is the next Fault in Our Stars or Eleanor & Park. I am just saying that this book was the highest level of good that you can give a summer read.

Lara Jean is the middle sister of three, second daughter of an Ob-gyn dad, and was practically raised by her semi-aloof big sister Margot. The book starts out with Lara Jean dealing with the fact that her big sister is leaving for an overseas college, leaving behind her two sisters and a recently broken-up with ex-boyfriend Josh (who Lara Jean is not-so-fortunately hard core crushing on). When letters that Lara Jean had written to all her past crushes are mysteriously sent to all the boys they were addressed to, her love life goes from nil to chaotic and awkward.  

“This is our life; there’s no use in asking what if. No one could ever give you the answers. I try, I really do, but it’s hard for me to accept this way of thinking. I’m always wondering about the what-ifs, about the road not taken.”

While it may not a product of genius or the next mind-imploding novel, I really liked it. I liked it so much that when I turned the last page and saw the word “Acknowledgments” instead of another chapter number, I was this close to throwing my book at the wall. Thankfully, I contained myself until I figured out that there was a sequel. Even if it is coming out in 2015. (UUUHHHH!)

The relationships between the sisters was true, well written and sweet. I was about half-way through the book before I guessed what was going to happen. And I was right. Which made me unexplainably happy. I loved the romance; it fed my girly-girl, romance-obsessed heart.

The writing was awesome, the characters were interesting and the romance was spot on. The sequel cannot get here fast enough. The all-time perfect fluffy and fun book for summer.

  P.S I Still Love You

April 21, 2015