P. S. I Still Love You (Book Review)

Hey y’all! It’s no secret I wasn’t a fan of the first book but after hearing how the book did this so much better than the movie, I decided to give the series another chance. I’ve now come to regret this decision.

StoryGraph Synopsis

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.

Trigger Warnings: deceased parent

The Good

I like how Lara Jean’s culture is mentioned. She has more of a complicated relationship with it because her father is white and her Korean mother passed away when she was younger. She didn’t get to learn as much about her Korean heritage from her mother but she had learned from her grandmother. Her father also makes a real effort to keep her and her sisters connected to that side of the family.

It’s really nice seeing a main character from an unconventional family. I feel like a lot of books tend to showcase that nuclear family but the fact that her mother passed away brings in a different perspective.

The Not so Good

I have many issues with this story but my biggest issue is Peter Kavinsky. I’m thinking about doing a separate post on that to keep this one spoiler free.

The pacing felt really slow. It felt like the story really dragged for that first half, especially before John Ambrose was introduced.

Lara Jean and Peter’s relationship was problematic in more ways than one. A lot of these things never really got addressed or were simply brushed off.

There seemed to be some fetishization of whiteness, much like how Frank Li did in Frankly in Love. I talked about it a bit with Tahirah on Twitter and she seemed to agree.

All in All

I plan on doing a more in-depth and spoiler-filled post about the issues I had with this story in the future. Most of which (if not all) revolve around Peter Kavinsky.

2/5 Stars

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