It’s not just Tate’s two-toned blue yarmulke that makes Aden fall in love with him, but it sure helps.
Aden can’t help but fall for Tate’s “audacity and spirit” in calculus class. Aden’s white and Jewish—or is she Jewish, really? She’s unsure: her mother was Jewish but died when Aden was 7, and Aden’s felt unconnected with Jewishness ever since. What she’s sure of—and what readers will revel in—is her chemistry with Tate, who’s also white. Their flirting is electric, and he looks at her with eyes “full of light.” But Tate expects Aden not to interpret his constant touches “like that”—because he has a girlfriend. Is Aden off the table for Tate because she’s fat? “Can a girl be pretty if she’s also fat?” Tate’s “audacity” extends to disrespect: he wants Aden for sparkly flirting and emotional intimacy (and calculus tutoring, but clearly that’s not all)—but not dating. Aden’s voice is funny (“I should probably stop contemplating everyone’s underwear”) and emotional. Her process of grounding herself includes reclaiming and grieving for her mother in the face of her angry father; pondering Judaism; songwriting and singing; boundary decisions about her relationships with Tate, her brother, and her best friend; and reclaiming swimming, which she stopped due to self-consciousness. Whether swimming brings weight loss is ambiguous.
Full of heart. (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-95333-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
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An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments.
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Lara Jean prepares for college and a wedding.
Korean-American Lara Jean is finally settled into a nice, complication-free relationship with her white boyfriend, Peter. But things don’t stay simple for long. When college acceptance letters roll in, Peter and Lara Jean discover they’re heading in different directions. As the two discuss the long-distance thing, Lara Jean’s widower father is making a major commitment: marrying the neighbor lady he’s been dating. The whirlwind of a wedding, college visits, prom, and the last few months of senior year provides an excellent backdrop for this final book about Lara Jean. The characters ping from event to event with emotions always at the forefront. Han further develops her cast, pushing them to new maturity and leaving few stones unturned. There’s only one problem here, and it’s what’s always held this series back from true greatness: Peter. Despite Han’s best efforts to flesh out Peter with abandonment issues and a crummy dad, he remains little more than a handsome jock. Frankly, Lara Jean and Peter may have cute teen chemistry, but Han's nuanced characterizations have often helped to subvert typical teen love-story tropes. This knowing subversion is frustratingly absent from the novel's denouement.
An emotionally engaging closer that fumbles in its final moments. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3048-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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Lara Jean's romantic entanglements complicate themselves further.
In the wake of the events detailed in To All the Boys I Loved Before (2014), Lara Jean confesses her love for handsome golden boy Peter. This frees the pair to start a romantic relationship with a clean slate, but over the course of the novel it becomes clear that embarking on a relationship that turns an aggressive blind eye to baggage is never a good idea. When a viral video of a steamy love session between Peter and Lara Jean rears its ugly head and a boy from the past enters Lara Jean's life once more, Lara Jean's life gets complicated. Every character from Han’s adored previous novel is back, with new dimensions given to nearly every one of them. Subplots abound, among them two involving Lara Jean's father and Peter's ex-gal Genevieve, but benefitting most from this second look is John Ambrose McClaren, a boy briefly referenced in the former book who is thrust into the spotlight here as Peter's rival for Lara Jean's heart. With all these characters bouncing around, Han occasionally struggles to keep a steady hand on the novel's primary thrust: Lara Jean’s emotional development. Han gets the job done in the end, but this overeventful sequel pales to the original where structure is concerned. The author's greatest success remains her character work, and the book does indeed give everyone a solid arc, narrative be damned.
A satisfying if slightly lesser sequel. (Romance. 13-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2673-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2015
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