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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, or TATBILB, is a popular book series by author Jenny Han. It has been adopted into equally popular Netflix original films, starring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo. The TATBILB series seems to be where Centineo got his breakout role and skyrocketed to fame.
Not only is this a cute trilogy that gave us Hollywood’s new favorite breakout star, but TATBILB also provided us with a deeper storyline of love, loss, and the meaning of family and friendship.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
TATBILB, like any good first movie in a series, introduces our main characters and sets up the events for the rest of our story. Our main characters include Lara Jean, her sisters Margot and Kitty, Josh (Margot’s soon-to-be ex-boyfriend and Lara Jean’s first crush), and Peter Kavinsky.
This movie also sets up underlying issues that show up in the other movies, like Lara Jean’s jealousy and insecurity in her relationship with Peter and his naivety. TATBILB also emphasizes Lara Jean’s relationship with her family, particularly her oldest sister, Margot, a theme that remains important throughout the series. The bigger theme in TATBILB seems to be Lara Jean’s struggle with being vulnerable and allowing herself to acknowledge her romantic feelings for Peter.
Lara Jean
Our main character in the TATBILB series is Lara Jean. At the start of the movie, she is just starting her junior year of high school. We quickly learn that she loves reading romance novels. This is evident through the five love letters she wrote to various crushes over the years. Although she has written many love letters, she has yet to experience romance herself.
Lara Jean appears to be the classic good girl, always getting good grades and staying out of trouble. She comes from a nice family and is close with her family. We learn that she is afraid to get involved in a romantic relationship because, according to her, “the more people that you let into your life, the more that can just walk right out” (( Johnson, Susan, director. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Netflix, 2018. )).
It isn’t until LJ meets Peter Kavinsky that she finally starts to open up. She feels he can understand her since he also only has one present parent. At first, LJ tries to deny her feelings for Peter. They start fake dating to avoid Josh, who received a love letter from her, so Peter can make his ex-girlfriend, Genevieve, jealous. LJ sets certain terms in their fake dating contract, like no kissing and not telling anyone about their fake relationship. However, Peter quickly worms his way into LJ and her family’s hearts.
Peter Kavinsky
Peter is our second protagonist in the TATBILB series. At the beginning of the movie, he is still dating Genevieve, LJ’s former BFF but the current enemy. However, they quickly break up, which is when Peter suggests fake dating LJ to make Genevieve jealous. What neither of them knows is that they will fall for each other along the way. Peter is the classic popular boy/jock. Everyone loves him and wants to date him. He plays lacrosse for the school and seems to get along with everyone. LJ opens up to him in the diner (which seems to be its own character in the movie), revealing that her mom died when she was little.
Peter opens up to her too and reveals that his father left them when he was younger and he was raised by just his mom. Eventually, as they’re gazing at each other across the table, Peter says to LJ,
“I think it’s funny, you say you’re scared of commitment and relationships, but you don’t seem to be afraid to be with me”
(( Johnson, Susan, director. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Netflix, 2018. )).
LJ responds that their relationship is fake, so there’s no need for commitment. Peter’s mood quickly changes, and they leave. We get a glimpse at a side of Peter that others don’t get to see. He is also a vulnerable human who is developing feelings for LJ. Maybe he isn’t as smooth as we all think.
High School Drama
Although TATBILB is a classic cute, cheesy movie about two young people falling in love, I sometimes found myself scratching my head at some of our character’s actions. I had to keep reminding myself that they are in high school, and therefore emotions and feelings are elevated. This childlike naivety is seen towards the end of TATBILB when LJ breaks up with Peter after finding out from Genevieve that he went to Gen’s room the same night that they confessed their feelings for each other. LJ doesn’t wait to hear an explanation from Peter but instead breaks up with him on the spot and storms off.
Some time passes where the two remain broken up. Peter finally steps up and defends LJ when someone releases his and LJ’s video making out in the hot tub on the ski trip. However, besides this one small act of kindness, Peter does nothing to win her back. The two stop speaking after LJ breaks up with him. Neither side tries to reconcile with the other but instead goes their separate ways and tries to avoid each other.
TATBILB does end with them reconciling after LJ realizes Peter did care for her, but there isn’t a conversation about what happened with Peter and Gen and why LJ broke up with him so suddenly. Although they get back together, there are still things left unsaid. Even though all the loose ends aren’t tied, I think TATBILB did a great job setting up the storyline.
We got to learn a lot about our characters. There were vulnerable moments where we learned about LJ and Peter’s missing parents and also funny moments, especially within LJ’s family dynamic. The drama, emotions, and actions all make sense for a high school relationship. This movie is a perfect rom-com because it starts off with our two protagonists’ fake dating but ends with them both actually falling for each other. Just like any good rom-com ending, our favorite couple gets their happily ever after.
To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
The second TATBILB movie takes place right at the end of our last one. LJ and Peter are still in their junior year of high school. TATBILB 2 starts with Peter taking LJ on her first date, which she says was perfect.
All seems to be well for our happy couple until they sign up to volunteer at different organizations. Genevieve is also back and wreaking havoc again, telling LJ all the cute things Peter did for her when they dated. Just when we think things can’t get worse, in walks one of LJ’s love letter recipients.
John Ambrose McClaren
In the first TATBILB movie, we assumed that John Ambrose never got his letter because LJ never heard from him. However, in the second TATBILB, he writes back. LJ contemplates writing him back but doesn’t. We think we hear the last of John, but he shows up at the same retirement home that LJ is volunteering.
We don’t know much about John Ambrose. All we do know is that LJ and he met in Model U.N. when they were both younger, and LJ developed a crush. Now LJ is stuck volunteering with him, not that she seems to mind. John Ambrose and LJ start seeing each other daily as they volunteer and develop a flirtatious friendship. Peter and John were friends when they were younger, but what LJ fails to tell John is that she and Peter are now dating. This reveals itself in an awkward situation when the three get together to open a time capsule with other friends.
Peter reveals he is her boyfriend, and John is surprised since LJ never told him. Peter is also upset that she didn’t tell him. Even though she led him on, John doesn’t let that stop them from continuing their friendship. He is just as friendly to LJ as he was when they first met. They continue volunteering together and being friends. John is the good guy. The one who deserves to get the girl because he is just a good person who would treat her right.
Ambrose Versus Kavinsky
One of the main themes in TATBILB 2 seems to be this idea of John vs. Peter. Love triangles are a popular theme in many rom-coms, and this one is no different. Viewers already spent all of TATBILB wishing LJ and Peter would get together, and they finally did, but now there is another component to the story: John Ambrose. Peter is the first choice, the person that LJ started everything with. John is a crush from her childhood, someone she never thought she would see again, yet there he is. He is sweet, caring and doesn’t seem to be like Peter in terms of giving up on what he wants. Whereas Peter didn’t try to win LJ back when they broke up in the first movie, John is content with staying just friends with LJ so he can keep her in his life.
Personally, I would have liked to see a potential relationship between LJ and John. I truly think she could’ve been happier with him than she is with Peter, at least in the second movie. He’s sweet and sensitive, and LJ wouldn’t have to worry about an ex-girlfriend of his. He already swept her off her feet without her even realizing it as they became friends. He serenaded her on the piano and continued to be there for her as a friend after she and Peter broke up. Genevieve’s past relationship with Peter makes LJ jealous and insecure (as it would anyone), but with John, she wouldn’t have any of those worries.
TATBILB 2 took place almost right after the first one. I would have liked to see some time pass between the two movies. That way, there would be time for LJ and Peter to develop their relationship. Since LJ is still so new to romantic relationships, I can understand why she didn’t know how to interact with both John and Peter. For this reason, LJ and Peter break up. However, I think if they both had more time to get to know each other and strengthen their relationship with trust, they might not have broken up and could have stayed together or at least avoided this conflict altogether.
To All The Boys: Always And Forever
Our final TATBILB movie follows our cast into their senior year of high school. They are juggling typical high school senior problems like waiting to hear back from colleges about admissions decisions. LJ and Peter’s plan is for both of them to go to Stanford. However, we quickly learn that this seems to be what Peter wants, but not necessarily what LJ wants. She seems hesitant like she’s only going along with the plan because Peter wants it. Once the group takes a school trip to New York, LJ’s decision seems made for her.
She didn’t get into Stanford, but she falls in love with New York and decides she wants to go to NYU. This leads to an argument between her and Peter where Peter breaks up with her, leaving her heartbroken and alone for her father’s wedding. Similar to TATBILB 1 and 2, neither LJ nor Peter make any attempt to get back together or resolve their issues.
Instead, both stop speaking to each other again. It isn’t until the night after LJ’s father’s wedding that Peter makes any effort to win her back. He meets her in her backyard and confesses that he wants to be with her, no matter where they go to school, and the two reconcile for the last time. Although at separate colleges at the end of the movie, they are determined to make it work.
TATBILB 3 seems to give us our expected happy ending after some difficulty. I really liked how this movie started off with LJ and her family in her mother’s home country of Korea. I would have liked to see more of this and more of LJ’s Korean identity. It’s not really talked about in the movie at all, except for when the girls go to celebrate New Year’s with their mother’s family.
Because the second movie took place right after the first one, TATBILB 3 was able to jump straight into senior year. I would have liked to see TATBILB 2 with LJ and Peter in their senior year and the third movie them starting college on campuses thousands of miles away from each other. It’s implied at the end that they will try to make it work, but we can’t really know for sure if it will. If we got to see them throughout their first year at college, we could assess for ourselves whether we thought they would survive or not. Would the love letters be enough to sustain their relationship? Were they both ready for a long-distance relationship?
What To Make Of The TATBILB Trilogy?
Overall, I really enjoyed the TATBILB series. From junior year to the end of senior year, we got to follow our characters through their journeys as they matured. LJ went from someone who only read about romance to experiencing it herself. She became comfortable and secure in her relationship with Peter and even became friendly with Gen again. By the end of TATBILB 3, Peter finally seems comfortable with and respects the decisions LJ makes for herself. Both characters experience a lot of growth.
Although they broke up and got back together a few times throughout the TATBILB series (as is common in most high school relationships), their relationship seems to be strong once they both start college. They both seem hopeful that their relationship will work out. Although we can’t know for sure if they do stay together, what we do know is that Lara Jean is really good at writing love letters and this will definitely come in handy since they are going to schools on opposite coasts. Maybe our favorite couple does stand a chance.