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.




No-spoiler review.




 Jenny Han's characters do a lot of baking. Mostly it's elaborate cookies and impossibly intricate cakes which sound fancier and more complicated than a custom Starbucks drink. Where other characters might lounge around on a sofa and meditate over their life's woes, Jenny's characters bake... and meditate over their life's woes. And apart from giving you the world's worst sugar cravings, a part of you has to read and wonder...

... is this all just a really clever metaphor for a Jenny Han novel?

Because darn if they aren't the sweetest, most sugary books you will ever read - in all the best possible ways. Like Lara Jean's chocolate cake with salted caramel / passion fruit / mocha whip ombré frosting, too much of it might give you a stomachache at some point. But you'll be too hopped up on sugar to care.

Brain (uncertainly): But Lara Jean is so indecisive.
Sugar: SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE INDECISIVE, SHE'S SIXTEEN AND SHELTERED, OMGOMGOMG!
Brain (hesitantly): But the synopsis is a total lie. The marketing for this book was off. John Ambrose McClaren doesn't even show up until after the halfway mark.
Sugar: THAT JUST MEANS MORE PETER KAVINSKY, AND WE WANTED MORE PETER KAVINSKY, AND WE DESERVED MORE PETER KAVINSKY AFTER THAT BOOK 1 CLIFFHANGER, SHALALALA!
Brain (gingerly): But so many friendships were lost during this series.
Sugar: AND SO MANY NEW ONES WERE MADE, THAT'S JUST PART OF LIFE, AND SNICKERDOODLES MADE IT ALL BETTER IN THE END! OMNOMNOM!
Brain (timidly): But another love triangle was unnecessary. We just wanted Josh to go back to Margot in book 1, remember?
Sugar: BUT IT MADE FOR AWESOME CONFLICT IN BOTH BOOKS, MWAHAHAHA!
Brain (wearily): But we don't like being tortured.
Sugar: BUT I NEED SORROW, BABY, LIKE SORROW IS THE DRUG!
Brain (confusedly): This has gotten out of hand, hasn't it?
Sugar: I'M WALKING ON SUNSHIIIIIINE, WHOOOOOOOA!
Brain (joining in): I'm high on suuuuuuugar, whooooooooa!
Sugar: WE'RE HIGH ON THIS BOOOOOOK, WHOOOOOOOOOA!
Together: AND DON'T WE FEEL GOOD!

(Disclaimer: For all who feel as I do about this song - which is a kind of involuntary twitch and a cold shiver running down their spine - I duly apologize. And blame it on the sugar, of course. Has there ever been a more sugary song than Walking On Sunshine?)

(Disclaimer II: I do, however, stand by the earlier reference which nobody recognized to Good Love by Bat For Lashes. Awesome, awesome song.)

What my sugar high is actually trying to get across is this:
- a quirky, for-once-functional, and fundamentally close-knit family
- the coolest little sister who deserves a special mention even though she's a part of the aforementioned family
- a fundamentally realistic representation of a sheltered teenage girl's thoughts where for once she isn't going on forty in all her age-old wisdom she's inexplicably acquired
- the author's lack of need to pair everyone up by the end to make a book complete
- in fact, the general sentiment of not needing a significant other to be happy
- but also, Peter Kavinsky

^ is what makes this book (series) such a favorite, and so easy to get into and get through. Also, I can safely vouch for this one having a proper, honest-to-god ending. So come one, come all. Nothing to fear here. It'll just put you in a cheery mood for about a month. And then you'll reread it and go for another month. Jenny Han is made of sugar cookies. And now so are you.

(Disclaimer III: No sugar was harmed in the making of this review. It's all Jenny Han's doing. Now excuse me while I look up snickerdoodle recipes and order myself a scrapbooking kit.)



Made you hungry? I apologize. But now at least you know what you're in for with this book. And if you've already read it and stumbled upon this review in a quest to commiserate - I'm your (wo)man. Go right ahead. Leave a comment below or track us down on social media. We're forever up for a chat of the bookish variety. And who knows - there might just be a cookie in it for you.