Common Sense Media Review
By Kate Pavao
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sassy sisters steal the show in well-told romantic read.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 12 parent reviews
Based on 83 kid reviews
Kids say this book is a delightful read that balances sweet romance with relatable themes about family and growing up. Many recommend it for slightly older tweens and teens due to mild language and some discussions about relationships, while praising the protagonist as a strong role model who navigates personal and familial challenges with warmth and humor.
- fun and cozy
- strong role model
- mild language
- relatable themes
- suitable for older tweens
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Poor Lara Jean. The half-Korean narrator of TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE has a romantic side, and has written love letters to five different boys. ("They aren't love letters in the strictest sense of the word. My letters are for when I don't want to be in love anymore.") She never meant the love letters she wrote to boys to actually leave her possession, but suddenly some of the recipients are letting her know they got a letter in the mail, including Josh, the recent-ex boyfriend of her older sister Margot. Mortified, Lara Jean goes to a serious extreme to get things back to normal, including starting a fake relationship with Peter -- who got a letter of his own. Suddenly, she's part of a crazy love triangle (or actually two).
Is It Any Good?
The plot is a bit contrived: If you were writing letters that you never meant to send, why would you address them? But once teens get over that bit, this is a book they will love. Romance may be driving the plot -- and it's certainly fun trying to figure out who Lara Jean will ultimately end up with -- but it's really the relationship of these sisters that make this book so amazing. There's perfect Margot, romantic Lara Jean, and cute-but-bratty Kitty, who all work hard to keep their family together after their mom's death: baking special Christmas cookies, lying to their white dad about the quality of his Korean food, even inventing a crazy dance that ends in the splits.
The details make the family seem really real. That's why the book's most spine-tingling scene is not about who's kissing whom but rather the moment when the tension finally breaks between Margot and Lara Jean, making the narrator realize: "We are sisters, and there's nothing she or I can every say or do to change that."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Lara Jean. She and her sisters are half-Korean, while mixed-race characters are pretty rare in children's books, which lack diversity overall. Have you read other books that feature a family with a mixed-race background? Why do you think diversity is so lacking in kids' and YA books?
Why do you think stories with love triangles are so popular? What other books you've read or movies you've seen use this device? How did you hope the one in To All the Boys I Ever Loved would work out?
What do you think Lara Jean will write in her final letter to Peter? What will happen next between them?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings ) , School ( High School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster
- Publication date : April 15, 2014
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 17
- Number of pages : 369
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (abridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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