Like so many people out there I’ve done my time waiting for the 2nd installment of the To All The Boys series. The 2nd movie just came on Netflix and of course I had to watch it as soon as I could. I read the 2nd book as a refresher a couple weeks ago which may have been a bad thing but whatever.
It was interesting when I first heard about the books being turned into movies because this book had been sitting in my “to read” pile for a long time. I’d read another series by Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and this one was highly recommended but I was dragging my feet to read it for some reason. When I finally dug my heels in and read it I couldn’t believe I had taken so long. The internal dialogue of Lara Jean is almost every teenage girl that age thinks about, especially the overthinkers like me. Lucky for me I read the book before the movie came out and even though there were some changes I still appreciated the adaptation. It captured the aura and essence of Laura Jean perfectly in Lana Condor and I was really happy with it. I’ve gone from watching that movie once a week to maybe now every other month.
I read the 2nd book I think right after the first so I had already read it by the time the first movie came out and for me, everything made sense.
There was some jumping around in the story line but being that they didn’t know if there was going to be a second money it made sense not to leave the movie on a cliff hanger like the book did.
Having read the first two books there are some things I wish I could have seen in the movies like Peter seeing Lara Jean in her traditional Korean dress for new years and how his mum would have interacted with her but I get ahead of myself. I also would have loved to see more of her friendship with Chris now that Margot has been away for a bit longer.
Let me just say that overall the movie is really really really good. Without thinking about the book and how that went this is a really good continuation to the 1st movie. Still top notch acting, great set design and the story is easy to follow. It still has the funny quirkiness of Lara Jean that is borderline awkward but still cute. I love the colours used in this, how in the beginning there was a lot of yellow, I guess to show joy and happiness, to give us insight into what was going on in Lara Jean’s head. Then there were a ton of blues when she began doubting things and was confused, and then all the grey during the breakup. Then the yellows were back when she was sure of herself again. It might be me overthinking it but I found it super helpful to know what was coming in a scene depending on what colour she was wearing.
Things I wish they included were for one to keep the USO themed party. I know there might have been a good reason to change the theme but can you imagine Jordan Fisher in uniform?? I’ll give you a moment to picture it…
It was have been AMAZING to see him with the uniform and the red convertible outside of her house. That would have been an amazing scene to see play out. I also wished they found a way to include the game of tag. I think the game of tag was really important to show the growth that Lara Jean had from the last time she saw John Ambrose. Here is someone from her past that has always seen her a certain way, the same way a lot of people around her see her like Gen. The game of tag not only showed her growth but also showed a lot of independence away from Peter. It was refreshing to get that time in the book where we got to see her interact with other people without Peter being around. Plus it would have been fun to see the scene where Trevor gets tagged. The game of tag would have also led to an epic scene at the school when she literally has to choose between Peter and John Ambrose. It’s weird because these scenes are so vivid in my head from reading the book but there weren’t even in the movie.
All in all it’s been a great ride with the series so far, both with the books and the movies. I’d like to believe that I’ve read the 3rd book already and just can’t remember it well but I’ll be reading that again this week. This series is a great coming of age series for young adults and then an awesome way to relive those years for those of us just outside of that age range. Knowing that they’ve already filmed the 3rd movie gives me hope that we won’t have to wait a whole other year to see it so here’s to hoping!
Carla Jones 
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