"To All the Boys I Loved Before" finally made it to Netflix this August. Now, I hate to toot my own horn, but I have been a long time, Lara Jean fan. Not just a Lara Jean fan — but a Jenny Han fan for many years.
"The Summer I Turned Pretty," written by Han, also has me on edge just waiting to be made into a film adaptation. Now, I have to say that I was pleasantly in love with the Netflix film of the novel.
However, if you have only seen the movie, I write this to advocate, and urge you all to read the trilogy as well (don't worry, Kitty is just as witty and charming in the novels, as the film, if not more so).
So I too, put together a little, Lara Jean, inspired love letter, for all my favorite quotes from Jenny Han. So here is a letter, To All The Quotes I Loved Before — (I saw the Netflix version) that is. Take a little peek to indulge on why I was crushin' on Peter even before all you bandwagoners.
1. "It's fun to think of the what-if. Scary, but fun. It's like, I thought this door was closed before, but here it is open just the tiniest crack. What if?"
― Jenny Han, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"
She's not wrong. Playing "what if" wasn't just something we did at age 8 to annoy our parents.
2. "You've just gotta hold your head up and act like you don't give a shit"
― Jenny Han, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"
Even if your box enclosed with love letters is exposed to your whole school. Remember, what would Lara Jean do?
3. "When someone's been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it's like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you're just clutching air and grit. That's why you can't save it all up like that.
Because by the time you finally see each other, you're catching up only on the big things, because it's too much bother to tell about the little things. But the little things are what make up life."
― Jenny Han, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"
This is part of the reason why friendships, relationships, and other ties fail. The little things really are the big things.
4. "Love is scary: it changes; it can go away. That's the part of the risk. I don't want to be scared anymore."
― Jenny Han, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"
Part of love is being able to be scared, and vulnerable. Even if it goes away it is worth every second.
5. "Buttering a roll, my dad says, "I like Peter."
"You do?" I say.
Daddy nods. "He's a good kid. He's really taken with you, Lara Jean."
"Taken with me?" I repeat.
To me Kitty says, "You sound like a parrot."
To Daddy she says, "What does that mean? Taken by her?"
"It means he's charmed by her," Daddy explains. "He's smitten."
"Well, what's smitten?" He chuckles and stuffs the roll in Kitty's open, perplexed mouth. "It means he likes her."
"He definitely likes her," Kitty agrees, her mouth full. "He . . . he looks at you a lot, Lara Jean. When you're not paying attention. He looks at you, to see if you're having a good time."
"He does?" My chest feels warm and glowy, and I can feel myself start to smile."
― Jenny Han, "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"
Kitty's sass, Lara Jean's truth, and the father/daughter relationship all tied into a couple of lines.
If I haven't convinced you to read the novels, (even if you saw the film first), I can promise you there are many more honest quotes filled in 355 pages of Jenny Han. So pull out the letters, there is more to fall in love with than expected.
