To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Series Review

By Mallika Saoji

Since its release in August 2018, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has become an extremely popular teen rom-com. As someone who loves rom-coms, movies like Clueless and 13 Going on 30 being some of my favorites, I loved the movie. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is about a girl named Lara Jean who has written five private love letters to her five most intense crushes. However, the letters get out, turning Lara Jean’s previously boring, normal life upside down, especially considering one of the letters was written to her sister’s ex-boyfriend. The premise was so interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fake dating trope. The cute scenes in the cafe and the way her relationships with her two sisters developed throughout the film was something I also found enjoyable. I was rooting for Peter and Lara Jean to end up together and felt an awkwardness between her and Josh. For what it was, a cutesy teenage romance, it was great. 

After watching the first movie, I decided to pick up the books and realized that I enjoyed the books far more than the movie. In the first book, there were so many cute scenes they had to cut out for timing’s sake. An example of this was when Lara Jean and Peter went to an antique sale or their Halloween day at school. I also realized that Josh, Lara Jean’s sister’s ex and a recipient of one of the five love letters, was much more involved in the books. There was more of a love triangle and a lot more tension between Josh and Peter. Though love triangles are a cliché I do not like, I found that the book was still more interesting than the movie through how it was able to give the characters more depth and backstory.

Having loved the first movie, I was excited for the second movie, where another one of the love letter recipients, John Ambrose, comes into the story. At this point, I had read the entire trilogy and thought that the second book was the worst out of all of them, so even though I was excited, I was apprehensive about how the love triangle between Peter, Lara Jean, and John Ambrose would play out. Unfortunately, it was even worse than in the book. For starters, the movie just felt weird. I just couldn’t feel the chemistry between Peter and Lara Jean anymore. There were some good scenes though, my favorite being the scene where John Ambrose was playing the piano in the nursing home. The main gripe that I have is that in the movie, there is no fathomable way that Lara Jean chose Peter over John Ambrose. There seemed to be way more of a connection between John Ambrose and Lara Jean than between her and Peter, and since the end was so short, it seemed really rushed that she ended up with Peter. That’s not to say I hated the movie, it was still entertaining to watch, but I thought the first one was so much better.

The second book was the worst in the series, but it was still better than the second movie. Events unfolded in more interesting ways that they omitted from the movie, probably because of the time constraints. One of the main differences is Lara Jean’s relationship with John Ambrose. In the movie, they meet by chance in the nursing home and volunteer there together, but in the books, they were pen pals for a while, and John was the grandson of Stormy, one of Lara Jean’s favorites at the nursing home. The past dynamic and relationship between Peter and John Ambrose was explored more as well, as they were friends in middle school. One of my favorite parts of the book, the game of Assassin, was not part of the movie at all. It was through the game that Lara Jean found out about Peter and his ex-girlfriend Genevieve talking again, rather than from a friend like she did in the movies. I will say that the book spent a lot more time in the nursing home, which was boring at times, but it was still better than the movie. 

Like most book trilogies, I thought that the first book was the best in the series, the second book was the worst, and the third book was mediocre but wrapped up the series nicely. I was hoping for the same with the third movie after disliking the second one. However, I was disappointed once again. The third one was so cheesy and at points, the plot bored me to the point where I wanted the movie to end. There were times I physically cringed during moments between Lara Jean and Peter. I felt like I was watching PDA that in real life I would have just looked away from. However, I do think that their chemistry had improved again since the second movie, and there were times when I felt that their relationship was cute. The plot of this movie was definitely the most sparse; most of the movie was just about Lara Jean deliberating her college decisions, which is something I think many teens can relate to, but I wish there was more content. One of my favorite parts of the movie was Dr. Covey’s wedding because it was so sweet and really beautiful, The New York trip was also great and a really big turning point for Lara Jean. I thought that the third movie could have done so much more given the source material, but overall it did wrap up the series well and in line with the books.

The third book was great and felt like a fitting end to the trilogy. One of the biggest differences is the schools that they go to. In the movies, as most teenage Netflix movies go, their choices are all top prestigious colleges and Lara Jean ends up going to NYU while Peter goes to Stanford. In the books they live in Virginia, not Oregon and the colleges are more realistic with Peter going to UVA and Lara Jean going to UNC. Additionally, they cut out a lot of the conflict between Lara Jean that made the book interesting, and completely left out their beach trip, where Lara Jean and Peter have a big fight caused by the thoughts of maintaining a long-distance relationship. Lara Jean’s older sister, Margot, also has a bigger role in the books, as she has a boyfriend and has problems with Dr. Covey getting remarried, both of which create tension within the family. If the movie had involved at least one or more of the storylines involving the minor characters that were present in the book, I think it would have been a lot more interesting. 

Overall, I think the series is entertaining and a fun watch. The first movie is definitely the best one, and worthwhile to watch, but maybe skip the second and third ones and read the books instead.