Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Always and Forever, Lara Jean

2017 • 320 pages

Ratings9

Average rating3.7

15

So I understand why this ended like it did, being a YA romance and all that. But seriously, girl, he was a dick about you going to Carolina, stupid jealous of JAM for no reason, and couldn't manage to get your yearbook back to you on time (which isn't the end of the world, but being upset you got into a better school further away from him is pretty shitty). But "don't be the girl who goes to college with a boyfriend" is damn good advice - are you really gonna want to call him every night? Every night? No, you won't, and you're gonna miss out on fun stuff because you'll feel obligated to do that for way longer than you actually should. I'm just glad this didn't end with Lara Jean going to W&M instead of Carolina just because it was closer. That would've been DNF/throw this book across the room territory. Jenny Han is smarter than that, though, but I'm still not a big fan of girls being told to cut themselves off from experiencing everything they can because it'll hurt a boy's feelings. (Also, she broke up with him when she was drunk, and in vino veritas, you know?)

3 stars - the sister relationships/friendships (love Chris!) are still so realistic and well-done, but I don't love the resolution of the main plot, so it averages to 3 stars. Bonus points for making me miss Chapel Hill.

November 23, 2016