P.S. I Still Love You (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before #2)
By Jenny Han
Genre: YA Contemporary/Romance
Recommended For: Ages 15+ and readers obsessed with cute love stories and tension-filled love triangles

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

The Gist:
What a cute little sequel. I devoured P.S. I Still Love You in a matter of days (which is really quick for me) because it was so adorable I couldn’t put it down. Han really has a way of making her readers care deeply for the main character, in this case it’s Laura Jean again. You have to know what happens to her and what her love life turns out to be. I think a lot of teenagers (and maybe some adults) will find this to be a relatable story that does an excellent job of balancing really emotional issues teens deal with in love and lighthearted humor that makes you smile.

What I Liked:
My favorite thing about this series is how well Han writes Laura Jean. She has so many different facets and emotional levels. We see serious moments where she misses her mom, melodramatic moments when it involves boys, and kind/endearing moments with her family.  While sometimes Lara Jean is a little too perfect, I do feel like Han manages to make her somewhat realistic as a teen (something that is very rare in YA). And my biggest compliment to Han is how successful she was at making me empathize with Lara Jean. I felt like she was going through the same things I went through (well, except for the boy wanting to date you part. I never had a boyfriend in high school).

Speaking of excellent characters, we get to see more of Kitty in this sequel, which I am totally on board with. Kitty is one of my favorite characters in this series and I will always accept any opportunity to see more of Kitty’s conniving and mischief.

There seemed to be more sub-plots in this book, and while sometimes I think it interfered with Lara Jean’s emotional development, I did enjoy them. They added a little extra flare to the story to keep it from getting into a stale will-they-won’t-they routine with Lara Jean and Peter.

And I was glad to see Han continued interjecting lots of sister bonding time with Margot in the beginning, and then lots with Kitty. It warms my heart to see examples of a family who supports and loves each other.

What I Didn’t Like:
Parts of the tension between Lara Jean and Peter in their relationship bothered me. I acknowledge it could be personal preference, but the tension that Han created felt more frustrating than exhilarating.

The beginning fell a tad flat for me when it came to character development for Lara Jean. There is definitely more of it in the second half of the book, but it would have been nice to see Lara Jean process things more initially.

Towards the end, I think we lost some of that sister bonding I so loved as the novel slowly morphed into a romance-centric story. I mean, I love a good romantic story, that’s what keeps me reading books the majority of the time, but when it becomes the ONLY thing the main character cares about, I can sometimes get annoyed.

But all in all, I truly did enjoy this book and sat enthralled with it the whole time.

LunasLuckyRating: 4.5/5 Lunas