Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Muy buen cierre, no sabia que lo necesitara, pero fue muy bueno.

Es como un relleno, pero cerro la historia de Lara Jean.

I was really excited to read Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. This book forms the final chapter in the To All The Boys I've Loved Before trilogy and I was desperate to know how Lara Jean's story was going to conclude and also a little sad because it was to be the last book with these wonderful characters.

Picking up shortly after the end of P.S. I Still Love You, the second book in the trilogy, we find Lara Jean living through her senior year of high school and going through all the rights of passage that come with that event such as college applications and decision making about her future, graduation, prom and her final summer at home before she leaves to go to college. She is still very much in a relationship with Peter Kavinsky and they are a great couple but they are facing questions about how things will change when they both go to college and bearing in mind that Lara Jean's mom always used to say that you should never go to college with a boyfriend.

What continues to make these books special though is all the accompanying events that run alongside those related to Lara Jean herself. The thing I have enjoyed most about this trilogy is the fact that it has remained very much invested in the emotions and dynamics of Lara Jean's family. Margot, her elder sister, is still away at St Andrew's University, little sister Kitty is feisty and confident and preparing to enter puberty and their dad has fallen in love with their neighbour across the street and is for the first time finding happiness himself away from his precious girls.

This entire series has stood on the strength of Han's character writing, we really root for all of the characters, not just Lara Jean. I love Kitty, she has remained a high point through all of the books. There are difficult transitions for Margot in this book as she finds family dynamics changed by her father's new relationships when she comes home and your heart breaks for her as she tries to adapt. We also have those little family moments that they navigate together like when Margot brings her college boyfriend home and pushes the boundaries by saying he won't sleep in the guest room but with her, leaving her father upset and angry.

This book does take us on a rollercoaster journey, we share in Lara Jean and Peter's planning as the plan to go to the same college but then are devastated (if not surprised) when that doesn't work out and then we find ourselves praying Lara Jean finds the right place for her to be in the year ahead without being too focused upon her relationship alone.

It's a book about endings, moving on in life and the excitement of the future even though it can sometimes be terrifying. It was a wonderful ending to the stories and I will sorely miss Lara Jean and her crazy family and all her friends. It felt like there could or should be more but at this point I know there are no plans to continue the story but I will always wonder how Lara Jean enjoyed Korea, how did she settle at college, how does Kitty fare when her big sister leaves home and whether she and Peter manage to stay together forever. I'll miss you Lara Jean.

2.25/5 stars Don't be the girl who goes to college with a boyfriend. I must have read an entirely different series than everyone else. I must have. It's the only reasonable explanation. I always see reviews stating that these books are so cute and relatable? They leave me befuddled because I find them to be neither. Cute? No. Relatable? No. Annoying? Yes. Unnecessary? Yes. Me, when this book was over: Why did I even pick this up? Curse you adorable covers. I have always known you were my kryptonite Luckily, I buddy read this with the amazing Scrill!!!!!! who, somehow, read the same book that I did and had similar thoughts and feelings. Thanks Scrill. I'm glad you didn't leave me alone in this. What I wanted to happen in this book: 1. Lara Jean to grow up and start acting her age. What didn't happen in this book: 1. Lara Jean growing up and acting her age. How old was she even suppose to be? Because I'm not buying this 17/18 year old thing. She's passable at twelve. Was I suppose to like Lara Jean? I literally couldn't care less about anything that happened to her. She's just so immature and naive for her age. It would be one thing if she started out like that in the beginning of the series and did an entire 360 and was this strong, independent women at the end. But she wasn't, of course. She was still naive Lara Jean, the most consistent character I have had to read about. Every time she had any piece of dialogue, my eyes rolled so far to the back of my head that they might as well bought a vacation house there. I wish I tagged this book as I read so I'd have more receipts. #regerts I think couples costumes might be my favorite part of being in a couple. Besides the kissing, and the free rides, and Peter himself. What about the being with someone who fully understands you and who you are able to connect with? Who will support you and be with you no matter what? There's more to a relationship then couple costumes, kissing, and free rides. Or is that too much to ask for from a twelve-year-old? Also, in case you were wondering what Lara Jean's day is like. Step-by-step. Not even the littlest of details missing, then this is the book for you. Because she will tell you everything that happens to her. Important to the story or not. Usually the latter. I'm the cook. When we first got to the house, we went and did a big shopping trip and bought cold cuts, granola, dried pasta and jars of sauce, salsa, cereal. The one thing we didn't buy was toilet paper, which we ran out of on the second day. Every time we leave the house to eat lunch or dinner out, one of us steals a wad of toilet paper from the restaurant bathroom. Why we don't just go buy more, I don't know, but it turned into kind of a game. Chris is the clear winner, because she managed to get an economy-sized roll out of the dispenser, and she smuggled it out under her shirt. Like I guess that's supposed to be funny? But after almost 300 pages of unnecessary detail, the last thing I possibly care about was if Lara Jean had toilet paper or not. I didn't care. I still don't care. Also, was I suppose to care about LJ and Peter's relationship? Was I suppose to root for them to stay together? Because the only salvageable part of this entire book was towards the end and they predictably broke up. When that happened I was pretty much like If you are a fan of classic movies, much like I am, then you'll remember in one of the most iconic musical of all time, High School Musical 3 , when Gabriella broke up with Troy's sorry ass because she realized that her education at Stanford was more important than any relationship. If you don't remember, here's a link to the heartbreaking, but totally realistic scene Someone please have a movie marathon with Lara Jean and show her that entire movie like three times. She really needs to see it and learn that PETER IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN GETTING A GOOD EDUCATION. Honestly this entire book I was just hoping Lara Jean would pull a Gabriella and dump Peter and go live her life boyfriend-free. Just walk away, girl. You deserve better than that asshole. Honestly, Lara Jean and Peter have nothing in common at all. Unlike Troy and Gabriella, who were both insanely attractive people who could sing like angels . What did they even talk about? None of the conversations they ever had in this book were ever actually meaningful. Then there's Kitty who so impossibly annoying. She's what eleven? I don't think she's ever been told her entire life the word “no.” There are scenes where she's up past midnight and no one even gets mad at her. Or she says the meanest things ever and barely gets a negative reaction. Then she's told she can't come to a bachelorette party BECAUSE SHE'S ELEVEN so she sneaks her way into the bachelor party. Just no Kitty. Go back to playing with your dog who's non-existent this entire book .I would talk about how ridiculous the plot of this book is except there is no plot. None. At all.Everytime a conflict comes up it gets solved by the next page. Literally I fell asleep reading this book about 7 times and that's not an exaggeration. I mean if you like this book. That's cool. I'm glad you did. But I'm gonna go back to reading [a:Morgan Matson 3351454 Morgan Matson https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1281591801p2/3351454.jpg] contemporary books. I think I'm done with Jenny Han. She just isn't for me.

8/17/16: I love Lara Jean to bits and I can't wait to have more of her ( >v< ) I am definitely rooting for Peter though! Initially, I thought that I would be super disappointed that this wasn't a duology, but I didn't realize how much more fun and lovable Asian characters I needed in my life.

So I understand why this ended like it did, being a YA romance and all that. But seriously, girl, he was a dick about you going to Carolina, stupid jealous of JAM for no reason, and couldn't manage to get your yearbook back to you on time (which isn't the end of the world, but being upset you got into a better school further away from him is pretty shitty). But "don't be the girl who goes to college with a boyfriend" is damn good advice - are you really gonna want to call him every night? Every night? No, you won't, and you're gonna miss out on fun stuff because you'll feel obligated to do that for way longer than you actually should. I'm just glad this didn't end with Lara Jean going to W&M instead of Carolina just because it was closer. That would've been DNF/throw this book across the room territory. Jenny Han is smarter than that, though, but I'm still not a big fan of girls being told to cut themselves off from experiencing everything they can because it'll hurt a boy's feelings. (Also, she broke up with him when she was drunk, and in vino veritas, you know?)

3 stars - the sister relationships/friendships (love Chris!) are still so realistic and well-done, but I don't love the resolution of the main plot, so it averages to 3 stars. Bonus points for making me miss Chapel Hill.