To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Title: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books

Published: April 15th 2014

Pages: 288

★★

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all…

I picked up this book with very, very high expectations. With a title and description like that, why wouldn’t you? I envisioned a deep, complicated romance, with high character profiles and lots of drama. Although probably my fault for not trying a sample first (perks of having an ereader), this book did not meet my expectations whatsoever. I wouldn’t class this as my kind of book (there are some annoying spelling mistakes for a start), but I did enjoy some parts. As it goes, I was really pleased with the ending, and how it leads on to the next book in the series – however, I will not be reading it in a hurry.

The DUFF

Title: The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy

Published: January 1st 2010

Pages: 280

★★★

So, I’ve read the first 60 pages of this book, and the main character is so annoying. Does she fancy Wesley Rush? As indicated by snogging his face off every time she needs a distraction. Or does she hates him? Like she adamantly claims? She also annoys me how much she bottles everything up. I’m sat here screaming, “just tell him!” If I wasn’t so stubborn, I might have even considered giving up on the book, but I had to know what happened. Then as I get further into the story, and I finish it in one sitting, my opinion changes. This isn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were moments when I was actually laughing out loud, or pulling a shocked face (much to the amusement of the guy sitting opposite me on the train), and there were moments when I was actually infuriated. Bianca, our main character, finally starts dating the guy of her dreams, and realises that he isn’t all she thought he would be. Yes he was sweet, kind, and forever complimenting her, but she just didn’t feel that passion. Isn’t this something we might all have experienced? Haven’t most of us at some point in our lives dated someone because we thought they were too nice to say no to?