Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #1)
By Jenny Han
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Lara Jean’s life is about to change in some big ways—the start of a new school year and the departure of her beloved older sister for college abroad in Scotland. Nothing can prepare Lara Jean, however, for the horror of seeing the secret letters she’s written to every boy she’s loved somehow mailed out to the recipients. In an equally bizarre twist, Lara Jean finds herself pretending to be the girlfriend of one of the addressees, Peter Kavinsky. At first she thinks she’s long over him, but as their supposedly fake relationship continues, Lara Jean realizes that she just might want it to be real.

Review: Once again, I’m way behind the curve in reading a massively popular book, in this case Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. This book had been on my radar even before the release of the equally popular Netflix adaptation, in part thanks to the gorgeous cover. I don’t read much contemporary and so didn’t make this much of a priority read until Twitter exploded with all the love for the film. And then it still took me a while to finally read the book.

Seeing all of that love for the movie on social media made me feel like I already knew Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky before reading a single page. It took reading maybe five pages to fall in love with MC Lara Jean’s narrative voice. It was instantly engaging, and I also loved the immediate sense of closeness between her and her sisters. When the novel opens, eldest sister Margot is preparing to head off to college in Scotland, leaving Lara Jean to step up to being a mother figure for their younger sister, Kitty. Margot took on the role of looking after her sisters and their father a few years before after the death of their mother. Taking on more family responsibilities, having her sister in another country, and starting a new school year end up being the least of Lara Jean’s worries, though, when something unthinkable happens. The letters she’s written to every boy she’s loved and keeps hidden in a hatbox her mother gave her somehow get mailed to each boy.

Enter Peter Kavinsky, a past love of Lara Jean’s and therefore the recipient of one of her letters. In order to do damage control with another letter recipient, Lara Jean enters into a pact with Peter to fake being a couple, an arrangement that benefits Peter, too. At first Lara Jean finds him to be true to his reputation around school—arrogant, egotistical, and the kind of guy who eats the last slice of pizza. Peter is also pretty unfiltered and unapologetic about it, which may not appeal to everyone, but which I often found hilarious.

Part of Lara Jean’s growth in the novel is discovering that there’s more to Peter K.’s handsome face and too-cool-to-care attitude. He does, in fact, care about a lot of things. I thought that Lara Jean’s character development was well done. She can be petty and even mean at times and makes some less than wise decisions, but she has the self-awareness to call herself out.

I was very much enjoying this book until the end. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with how things were left. I’m not into Hallmark Channel Christmas movie-perfect endings, but I felt this one could have some more closure, even if it is the first book in a series. On the upside, now I absolutely have to read the sequel to see if my questions are answered.

All in All: I typically don’t go for contemporary YA romance, but this was a sweet, winning read. Perfect if you love breezy novels like Stephanie Perkins’s Anna and the French Kiss.

Review: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn #1)
By Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

To Sum It Up:

Kat, Lillia, and Mary are unlikely allies, but they unite when they realize they share a common goal: revenge. Each girl has a different target and a different reason for seeking vengeance. The trio make a pact to see their plans through to the end—no one can bail on the other two once her phase of the scheme is over. The girls’ designs get off to a smooth start, but some unanticipated developments make them realize that payback may not be the solution.

Review:

Burn for Burn is a tale of three teenage girls out for revenge, and it is a compulsively readable one at that. I’ll admit right now that my morbid curiosity about how the trio would exact retribution propelled me through the pages of this book. I’m not saying that I approve of the girls’ actions, the goal of which was public humiliation more than anything—never physical harm. I must concede, though, that their plotting made for some riveting reading.

Lillia is a model student and daughter whose traumatic experience over the summer makes her extremely protective of her younger sister, Nadia. When Lillia fears that Nadia is being taken advantage of by an older boy, Lillia wants to teach him a lesson. Kat used to be best friends with another girl named Rennie until Lillia came along and Rennie saw better social opportunities being by Lillia’s side instead of Kat’s. Now Rennie delights in spreading vicious rumors about Kat, whose quick temper always causes her to rise to Rennie’s baiting. The third member of the future alliance is Mary, a recent returnee to Jar Island. She’s come back to show how much she’s changed to a single person—Reeve, the star of the school football team.

At first glance, all three girls make convincing cases for pursuing vengeance. I found Rennie instantly unlikable; she’s your archetypal mean girl, and not just to Kat. Rennie is also selfish and shallow, and really, I looked forward to seeing her get her comeuppance. Tied with Rennie in that department is Reeve. The details of what happened between Mary and him aren’t revealed until toward the end of the book, but they’re perhaps the most startling and repugnant, especially in light of the aftermath. As for Alex, the object of Lillia’s revenge, I never truly believed that he was capable of the behavior that she suspected him of. He’s not perfect, but he certainly isn’t in the same category as Reeve and Rennie.

Burn for Burn reads like a contemporary novel except in a few spots where there’s this very oddly placed paranormal element. I think it’s supposed to be subtle, but it’s not very well integrated into the story at all, thus making it stick out like a sore thumb. To me, the book stood fine as a contemporary. I wonder where the authors plan to go with the supernatural thing in the next book; it definitely needs to be fleshed out better.

This was a quick read for me, mostly because I wanted to see how the trio’s plans played out. (So very wrong of me, I know, but then I’ve always been a grudge holder and could relate to the girls to an extent.) The writing and the characterizations are on the ordinary side; the plot is what makes this worth a read.

All in All:

If revenge stories interest you, Burn for Burn fits the bill. I am a little curious about the direction the story will take in the upcoming sequel, Fire with Fire, which I’ll probably get around to checking out; it’s not a high priority read, though.