This book was such a pleasant surprise. I had some hesitations going into it. While I liked To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, it had a lot of high school drama I tended to avoided in high school myself (and was glad I was never involved in myself). While that was still prevalent in this book, it was fun to see Lara Jean think outside of Peter and, of course, the family relationship between all the sisters and their father was incredibly heartwarming.
Title: P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #2)
Author: Jenny Han
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release date: May 26, 2017
Length: 337 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Young adult, contemporary, romance
Synopsis: (via Goodreads) “Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?
In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.”
You know, I feel compelled to say right off the bat that I still don’t know how I feel about Peter. I like him more in this book than I did in book 1, but I’m still a bit confused why Lara Jean likes him outside of…he’s cute? I don’t think I know enough about him to root for them as a couple. If I had read this before I knew there was a third book, I would be kind of upset, lol.
Everything that happened in the first couple chapters with AnonyBitch and the repercussions of the events in the last chapters of book 1 is something new to Lara Jean. I can understand her frustration, anger, and sadness, especially for–what she thought–such a private moment to be exposed in that way. Yet here’s one way that endeared Peter to me: he stood up for Lara Jean. And, truthfully, I quite liked how he was there for Genevieve even though Lara Jean was not all about that. I see her perspective, and unfortunately, she really wasn’t understanding herself, since she just thought Gen and Peter were hooking up. She wasn’t able to look past her own blinders that Peter and Gen were definitely done.
As for John Ambrose McClaren… Well, I am rooting for him, to be honest. He and Lara Jean just seem like a perfect match, which made the ending, for me, hard to swallow. If I had finished this before knowing there was even an inkling of a third book, I think I might be pretty frustrated. So, here’s to hoping that I might like Peter even a little more in book 3.
Again, some of my favorite parts were father/daughter/sister time. I find Kitty quite mature for her age as well, but I love that’s she’s brutally honest, haha. As for Margot, I wouldn’t mind a whole series about her adjusting to college life and living alone all the way in freakin’ Scotland!
I absolutely loved the first chapter of the book, too. Being half-Korean, I understand Lara Jean’s (and Kitty’s) disgruntled but willingness to participate in Korean New Year traditions like wearing a hanbok and bowing to your elders. Despite what happened to Lara Jean’s mom, I like that her dad upheld these aspects of their Korean culture.
