Book Review :: Always and Forever Lara Jean, by Jenny Han

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
ISBN: 1407177664
Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before #3
Also in this series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before, P.S. I Still Love You
Published by Scholastic Press
on 2017-05-04
Genres: Young Adult, Romance
Pages: 325
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Life is good for Lara Jean.

She is head over heels in love, her dad's finally getting remarried and her sister Margot is coming home for the summer.
But change is looming. And Lara Jean can't just ignore the big life decisions she has to make - where she goes to college for one. Because that would mean leaving her family - and possibly the boy she loves - behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

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My thoughts on Always and Forever, Lara Jean

It’s always bitter sweet when you come to the end of a series, especially one that you’ve been enjoying so much and for so long. I say ‘so long’ mostly due to the fact that I picked up To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before several years ago now, and it’s only been this year that I continued the series. When P.S I Still Love You came out on Netflix earlier in 2020, I knew that was the sign to actually read the book before watching the film. Which I did, and I have thoughts. Thanks to a few suggestions from friends and Instagram followers I decided to charge ahead with the series and read Always and Forever Lara Jean straight afterwards because otherwise I’d forget about it (or until that movie is released anyway).

But was it worth it?

You’ll notice I’ve only given it 3.5 stars, where as I gave TATBILB 5 stars. In Always we follow Lara Jean as she’s coming to the end of her final year in school, and trying to make decisions about her future. Decisions like where to go to college, whether Peter getting a scholarship to a different college is going to work if they continue long distance, coming to terms with the fact that Kitty is growing up and Margot seems too grown up, and how to plan a backyard wedding for her dad.

Once again, it was a fun read, and it’s the characters that really stand out in this series. Kitty needs a whole spin off series of her own (please, Jenny Han?) and Lara Jean is just as feisty as usual. Peter is his normal charming self, and while they have their bumps along the road like any couple, you’re still very much rooting for Peter and Lara Jean. John Ambrose McClaren makes an appearance again in this book, and I have to admit, I really like him. Margot is super annoying, and while I’m not sure if I’m supposed to dislike her, I do. I’m sorry.

So far so good … so why the 3.5 stars and not higher?

Well, I think in part it was the story line. I didn’t really care about the ‘getting into a good college’ drama, nor the fact that Mr Covey was getting married (it was super sweet and yay for him, but I do think it took up a lot of the book), and overall I think the book definitely felt more of a tack-it-on-the-end type of story rather than a really fun whole story like TATBILB was. That’s not to say it was bad – no way! – and 3.5 stars is still really good! I just didn’t love it as the first one, and while I gave 3.5 to PS I Still Love You too, I think I liked PS better.

Perhaps the movie (which has yet to have a release date but apparently it’s already finished) will make me enjoy the story a bit more? We’ll see!

Have you read Always and Forever Lara Jean? What did you think?