Recommendation Wednesday: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

This week’s Recommendation Wednesday post is also a part of Aarti’s A More Diverse Universe challenge!

So, I really liked To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han.

For one thing, it features a regular teen doing (mostly) regular things. There are two big conflicts in the story. One is that Lara Jean’s sister has left home, so Lara Jean is trying to figure out her place in her family/how to be the big sister. The other one is that the secret letters she has written all of her former crushes have somehow (and it’s pretty easy to figure out how, though I love that Lara Jean seriously doesn’t figure it out on her own) been sent to them.

That’s it.

HOW REFRESHING.

As I’ve said before, I really love to see teens doing regular teen things in books because family/school life is fraught with drama. All of the extra stuff that most authors pile on their main characters are just not within the realm of most teens’ experiences.

ANYWAY.

The real highlight of this book for me, though, is that it features fake dating. FAKE DATING. I love fake dating stories. Because I know that eventually one or both of them will fall for the other, and it is glorious figuring out the moment it goes from fake to real. I LOVE IT.

This is a thing I didn’t even really knew I loved until I was excited that it showed up in this story.

So. Fake dating. Yes.

Lara Jean also has a completely unrequited and borderline inappropriate crush on her sister’s boyfriend, which is also delightful. Because I love unrequited love! It is where I live, so it speaks to me.

Plus, you know, throw in all the sister stuff, and I was in my happy place.

Also, I looooooove the cover.

All in all, this was a really solid and fun story.