"To all the boys I've loved before"

After I bought "To All The Boys I've Loved Before", I was excited to sit down and cozy up with this book.  I wanted to get lost in the romance of it all. No one I knew had read this, so i was excited to be the first.

My feelings for this book are a little mixed.  I'll start with a few things that left me feeling a little "Meh" about the novel.  First of all ... Laura Jean.  Laura Jean is a sixteen year old girl who, in my opinion, acts like she is twelve.  At times, it was hard to remember that she was a junior in High school.  Maybe the author did that on purpose to show her growth throughout the story.  However, it was very distracting and made it hard to like her enough to care.

The romance was a hard one.  I thought "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" was going to be a cute romance about a dreamy girl who writes goodbye letters to the boys she loves to close the door on the relationships.  Then the letters get sent out to the five boys she wrote them too, and in the end, she finds love and they live happily ever after.  If that's the book your looking for, you will be disappointed.  I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil the book, but the letters started the book and it wasn't really what the book was about. Of course there are two love interests (as is the trend in books today).  I love myself a good triangle, but you didn't really get to know either of the boys.  It was hard to know who to root for.  You couldn't have the big debate on "who is the better choice" with your fellow book nerd because you don't feel attached to either and they both almost seem like a bad choice. (Both boys are on the rebound from their long term girlfriends.)  How can you be Team Peter or Team Josh when it almost seems impossible that it will be a lasting relationship.

This brings me to the last thing that made me feel just "Meh" about the book ... how it ended.  If I didn't know there was a second book coming out ("P.S. I Still Love You" - coming out April 21, 2015) I probably would have thrown the book at the wall and swore never to read it again.  The ending did however leaving me wanting to know what's next and because of that, I will be reading the second book.

Now the things I loved about the book.  The best part of the novel is the relationship she had with her sisters!  Growing up in a family where family is number one, I loved to see a fictional family that is the same way.  Throughout the book they have fights, and one sister goes off to school, but everything comes back to family.  It was refreshing to read.

I think the author did her best to make it true to High School.  It reminded me of what crushes were like.  It reminded me of the feeling of thinking I was in love with every boy I had a crush on ... and the feeling of my world ending when the boy liked someone else.  It was a sweet reminder of first crushes and the teenage girl's emotions when it comes to boys.

Overall, I have a love-hate with this book.  I wish the romance was the sweet light romance I was hoping for when I picked up the novel but I love the family dynamic between the sisters. 

Do I recommend "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"?  I sure do.  I think everyone should read it and form their own opinion.  Some will agree with me and some may purely just love it. 

Here's a quick glance at what "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" is all about:
"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."