Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow Dewey readers!

I just finished reading Jenny Han's highly anticipated and final novel in the Lara Jean trilogy, and I was NOT disappointed!  For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, the novels follow the storyline of Lara Jean, a young teenager who lives with her father and three sisters, and who's mother had tragically passed away.  In addition to love and loss, the novels tackle cultural issues (the girls and their mother are Korean but their father is Caucasian),  as well as change, growth, and coming to age.  You can view my review of the second novel in the series, P.S. I Still Love You, here.  

In Always and Forever, Lara Jean, Lara Jean is about to graduate from high school, leaving her little sister, Kitty, as the last sister living full-time in the family home.  Amidst this change, Lara Jean's father is also getting married to the woman across the street!  For Lara Jean and Kitty this is exciting, but for their older sister Margot it is troubling.  Not because Margot is jealous or upset, but more so because she realizes how much has changed in the short time she has been away from her family while overseas at a Scottish University.  

This novel explores first love and whether or not it can last and stand up to life's changes.  It explores the idea of sacrifice in the name of something that is and can be great, and it also explores the idea that while change is scary, with acceptance it doesn't always have to be.  

So Dewey readers, I leave you with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans for this book and the overall series. If you're looking for a cute series defiantly pick this one up!  You won't be disappointed.   

~Jessica    

P.S. I Still Love You, by Jenny Han: Reshelved Books

Lara Jean, Lara Jean, what are we going to do with you?

     P.S. I Still Love You is the adorable sequel to Jenny Han's novel To All The Boys I've Loved Before. (And thankfully a third book will be coming out in April of 2017 *yay!*)  This book takes on so many different subjects such as first love, virginity, losing a parent, the bond of sisterhood, and the detrimental role that technology can play in everyday life i.e. bullying, making this a really profound sequential young adult novel.  

     To give you all a bit of a synopsis- no spoilers, I promise! Lara Jean has entered into an exclusive relationship with a boy named Peter.  A video of Lara Jean and Peter is uploaded to a nasty Instagram account that exposes teenagers in their lowest and embarrassing moments.  The caption of this video describes it as a moment of sexual intercourse, which is not true.  This whole issue opens up discussion about double standards between women and men when it comes to sex, as well as how information found online can be misinterpreted, and how online bullying follows the victim everywhere.  To me, this part of the book held the most depth and emotion.  It was a nice warning call to young adult readers about being careful with how one acts on the Internet, gossiping, and information credibility. 
       When the Instagram drama gets resolved, Lara Jean begins to have problems with Peter, especially when a boy named John (who moved away in book #1) comes back.  Lara Jean may have feelings for John.  She's unsure.  She's also not fully trusting of Peter, thinking that he may still have a relationship with his ex-girlfriend Genevieve.  As Lara Jean explores what it means to love and to be in love, there is a whole lot of charm, humor, and cuteness thrown together, which out of the two books makes this one definitely more enjoyable and more apt to stick with the reader longer.  Did anyone who read To All The Boys I Loved Before know or remember (because I didn't) that Lara Jean loved to bake?  And how about Lara Jean's sister Kitty?  She is so adorable and funny.  Definitely my favorite supporting character!

I read this book super quick, within one day!  I really wanted to give this book 5 coffee beans.  However, I am only going to give it 4.5 coffee beans, because I found a typo on page 316 which reads, "I don't walk to talk about this anymore" (Han, p. 316).  

Edition Referenced: Han, Jenny. P.S.I Still Love You. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2015. Print.