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A review by ruth24
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
3.0
I've really enjoyed reading the 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' series by Jenny Han. Apparently I didn't review the other two books but gave them both a rating of 4/5 stars. I didn't like this third one as much and kind of regret not re-reading the first two before launching into it as I didn't really remember everything that happened. BUT, the first book comes out as a movie next month and I wanted to finish reading the series before the movie ruined my imagined version of the characters and locations.
While I didn't like the final book as much as the first two, it was definitely worth reading. I absolutely love the Song-Coveys. Lara Jean's family life is definitely the best part of all three novels. I wish I was one of the Song girls! Han's characters feel real and relatively three dimensional, similar to some of my favourite YA books by authors [a:Sandhya Menon|14834224|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1512667116p2/14834224.jpg] and [a:Becky Albertalli|7579036|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392414949p2/7579036.jpg]. And bonus - they're diverse! Lara Jean and her sisters are half white, half Korean. Though I like Lara Jean in the book, I don't think I'd like her in real life - she is way too much of a perfectionist!
*Side note - do you imagine the settings of books as locations that exist in your own life? I do! In this book, the Song-Coveys lived in my old house in Kingston. Other books I've read have been "set" in a childhood friend's house or my grandparent's house. And some others are completely made up.
I definitely recommend this series if you're into young adult books, teen romance and cute family dynamics. It's a great summer read and if you read the first one soon, you can go see it in theatres in August!
While I didn't like the final book as much as the first two, it was definitely worth reading. I absolutely love the Song-Coveys. Lara Jean's family life is definitely the best part of all three novels. I wish I was one of the Song girls! Han's characters feel real and relatively three dimensional, similar to some of my favourite YA books by authors [a:Sandhya Menon|14834224|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1512667116p2/14834224.jpg] and [a:Becky Albertalli|7579036|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392414949p2/7579036.jpg]. And bonus - they're diverse! Lara Jean and her sisters are half white, half Korean. Though I like Lara Jean in the book, I don't think I'd like her in real life - she is way too much of a perfectionist!
Spoiler
I was glad that, through Margot and Lara Jean, Han was able to show two different perspectives on the whole 'going away to college with or without a boyfriend' thing. Margot ultimately decided to go off to Scotland unattached, while Lara Jean decided that Peter was worth at least trying long distance. While I'm inclined to be cynical and say that they would probably have broken up, Peter was actually a good boyfriend and he was involved with her family in a way that suggests that it might have worked out.*Side note - do you imagine the settings of books as locations that exist in your own life? I do! In this book, the Song-Coveys lived in my old house in Kingston. Other books I've read have been "set" in a childhood friend's house or my grandparent's house. And some others are completely made up.
I definitely recommend this series if you're into young adult books, teen romance and cute family dynamics. It's a great summer read and if you read the first one soon, you can go see it in theatres in August!