Book Review: P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Release Date: May 26th 2015

Genre: Contemporary, YA

Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Blurb:

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?
In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

My Review

Warning: This review contains unpopular opinions and some spoilers.

So I read the first book a while ago but I didn’t really like it that much. Since there was all this hype going around about P.S. I Still Love You, I decided to give it a shot anyway. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to give it the same rating as the first book: 3 stars.

Of-course I want to put it out there that this is a good book and I’d still recommend it people because it’s diverse and it deals with a lot of important issues. I like how the author addressed the double standard society has for boys and girls through Lara Jean’s life. For example, when there’s a video going around of Lara Jean and Peter making out in a hot tub – Lara Jean is affected a lot more. Her teachers come up to her and people think she’s a slut. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, is treated like some kind-of hero because it’s okay for him to do those things but not okay for her. Basically, this is not the light/fluffy read I expected.

The dynamics of her relationship with Kitty and Margot were my favorite part of the book. There was some sweet sisterly love going around and I couldn’t help wishing I had some siblings too. For some reason, I felt like they all had stronger bonds in this book. Margot and Lara Jean were spending time hashing out their relationship problems and having girl talks and Kitty would comment alot on LJ’s love life.

But the characters, especially Lara Jean kind-of annoyed me. Let’s start with Gen. For most of the book she was this classic bitchy ex-girlfriend who LJ kept blaming for everything bad in her life. I get that there are those girls who are just flat-out bitches and sometimes they don’t even need a reason..but I mean why do they have to be the ex-girlfriend?! This bitchy ex-girlfriend trope is so popular in YA and it’s just starting to drive me crazy because I know Gen didn’t have to be portrayed like that. She didn’t have to be that kind-of character.

Then there’s Lara Jean, herself, who was a jealous hypocrite (that I found hard to sympathize with). And she’s really obsessed with Gen and the fact that she’s Peter’s ex-girlfriend. She’s also pretty obsessed with the concept of sleeping with Peter and how he might miss sleeping with Gen. This annoyed me so much because Peter is so laid-back and he actually didn’t mind waiting until she’s ready to do it. And obviously what Peter did with his ex is none of her business and she has no right to keep bringing it up and making him uncomfortable.

And I couldn’t really make up my mind on Peter. He was just there and I didn’t really like his personality but I found it hard to flat-out hate him. 

This book was actually one of my “highly anticipated 2015 releases” but I got bored. However if you were highly anticipating it too, by no means let me discourage you from reading it. I have a feeling I’m in the minority here.