Once upon a time nearly five years ago when I was in high school and still wore braces, I was introduced to Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky way back before the movie was being binged watched on Netflix. The trilogy of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jenny Han is a Young Adult romance that has an endearing quality about it that makes it relatable to nearly all audiences. Its main character Lara Jean comes from a diverse background and deals with all of the feelings associated with her first childhood crushes as she matures throughout high school.
Now for those of you that have managed to ignore all of the swooning on Twitter about the heartthrob and actor Noah Centineo, I will refrain from any spoilers and just give my honest opinion about the true fairytale-esque synopsis of the plot…
Lara Jean’s love letters she wrote to deal with all of her emotions on boys that have profoundly made an impact on her life had been sent to every boy on the list. From there on out, the heroine has to not only deal with the tremulous path that is high school after the release of her letters, but she must also navigate her intrapersonal life with her family as well. Perhaps the appeal of this sweet and simple story besides the obvious love story is the naivety of Lara Jean and her fierce dedication to remain true to herself. When Peter Kavinsky proposes to stage a relationship to make an ex-girlfriend jealous, it is admirable that Lara Jean agrees to it, but only on her own terms. In a world plagued with social media, it’s refreshing as a female that she has the courage to step outside of her social norms to seize the life she’s always wanted in a “carpe diem” sort of way.
The complexity of the story smoothly unfolds on the screen and it has the power to make you laugh, scream at the movie in frustration, and at the end make you feel like fairy tales do come true. If that’s not enough to make you want to binge watch the movie, then I don’t know what will. So in the meantime while I’m waiting for a sequel, please excuse me while I swoon over a video of Noah Centineo holding puppies.