To All the Boys I've Loved Before

My 12 year old daughter loves this series. She is very mature for her age and reads well above her grade level. There are definitely a few more mature themes in the books. No complaints.

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As the first of Han's trilogy begins, we are introduced to 16 year old, Lara Jean Song Covey: loving daughter and middle of 3 sisters, good friend and neighbor, solid student, avid reader and writer and passionate baker. Just like the romance novels she enjoys, Lara Jean has experienced deep emotions for 5 boys she has fallen in love with throughout her 16 years. The method she uses to overcome her "crushes" is to write each boy a love letter. In her letters, Lara Jean is vibrantly honest about her deeply passionate feelings. And, while she does actually address them, they are, for her, more or less "journal entries," written "by" her and "for" her; never intended to be mailed. What she doesn't expect, is that "somehow" her letters are stamped and actually mailed! The book takes off as this unexpected scenario unfolds, with lots of adventurous twists and turns along the way.

Han's characters, in my opinion, offer true depth as they all, in their own ways, try to navigate life, love, loss and relationship dynamics. To me, each character genuinely seemed to pursue love and healing on so many levels. Other qualities I found in Han's writing and characters were a deep appreciation for both family and its often unique dynamics. There was also a refreshing emphasis of wanting the good of the "other" in spite of relationship hurt feelings among several characters. I found Han's portrayal of her characters and people overall absolutely beautiful as well as inspiring.

I just loved how Han illustrated the vital component of friendship as the basis to any relationship (platonic, family or romantic.) I feel like she successfully highlighted components of what can often be the foundation of friendship: empathy, being supportive even when one may not feel like it, fostering good listening skills, honesty, sharing, being vulnerable, forgiving and taking risks even when it feels scary.

Another aspect of Han's story telling I was aware of is her ability to create what I'm going to call "supportive story" depth. Aside from the main character, Lara Jean and the story line of her pursuit of and hoping to receive love, the details of her family, friends, personal interests, high school and neighborhood were all interesting and thriving side stories. I don't recall a chapter that felt like a "filler," while the main story wasn't the focus. Han really achieved an amazing balance of believable community that led me to feeling pulled in to the story on all levels.

While sexual content is lightly addressed in both conversations and behaviors of some characters, I felt as though Han approached these topics respectfully and with what today is, in my opinion, impressive modesty; especially with Lara Jean. In a few cases, th