BOOK REVIEW | Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Author: Jenny Han
Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before #3
Publication Date: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: I bought the Target special edition at my local Target!

Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

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Always and Forever, Lara Jean is the last book in Jenny Han's Lara Jean series. If you didn't know, Jenny Han is my favorite YA contemporary author, and it's because of books like these. All of Han's books have really spoken to me and really made me feel. When I "read" her books, I don't think I'm necessarily reading as I am experiencing and immersing myself in them. Always and Forever was no exception. 

Lara Jean's final book chronicles her experiences as a high school senior and what that means for her family, for herself, and for her relationships. This is the book that came at a perfect moment for me. I am also a high school senior, and much of what Lara Jean experienced I did as well. We had similar thought processes and college application experiences, so I was able to put myself in her shoes more than before. I kid you not that I applied to four out of the five schools she applied to in the book, and we had similar decisions from the colleges. 

This is the opening line of the book!

I think what really made me love this book was Lara Jean and her maturity. Sure, she makes mistakes, but gone is that little girl who would brashly react to everything. Lara has grown so much in these past three books and I loved seeing her group up as I did. The familial bonds in the series are still in the forefront in Always and Forever. I loved seeing how family was so important and impacted Lara so much; it gives the book another layer of depth as well as more characters for me to love!

I also just love the romance. As a romantic myself, Peter is one of my ideal guys. Sure, he's not perfect by any means, but he puts in a lot of effort and truly loves Lara Jean. In my imagination, Lara Jean and Peter have their happily ever after. 

It also didn't hurt that parts of this book was essentially a love letter to the university I am attending this fall as a freshman. I'm not going to say what school that is (because 1, I don't want anyone weird finding out things about me and 2, spoilers for the book!), but the book just further cemented my choice. 

With all of that said, there were a couple of flaws here and there. The tone seemed forced at times, and there wasn't necessarily an actual plot, it was just a window into Lara Jean's life. But hey, I love just having the opportunity to look into what happening with the Song girls. 

If you are looking for a cute, heartfelt, pull on your heartstrings YA contemporary series, please read To All the Boys I've Loved Before and it's two sequels. You won't be disappointed!

With that, I give this book

4.75 out of 5 Stars!