Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)
As a book lover, I have read the whole To All the Boys trilogy by Jenny Han. And honestly, it’s one of my favorite romantic comedy trilogies ever. The same goes for the movies, even the second wasn’t the best in my opinion.
The third movie which was entitled To All the Boys: Always and Forever is only second to the first movie of the franchise To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. It’s not surprising that a hopeless romantic like me would enjoy them so much, however Always and Forever even brought tears to my eyes. Especially with–spoiler alert–Peter’s beautiful and mature yearbook letter to Lara Jean. And it didn’t stop even after the movie was over because of Lara Jean’s reflection on what’s really important in life. And the flashbacks of the best moments they had together had me joyfully squirming and squealing.
For that reason, this has been the best send-off to this beloved Hollywood couple. The adaption of the book was impeccable. It was raw, emotional, and much like the other two movies, so relatable. You see Peter and Lara Jean who love each other so much that they want to either go to the same university or to universities that are close so they can still see each other every week. But life has a funny way of changing our plans and sometimes what we want is not what we need. Or in others, what we want can change in the blink of an eye.
In the movie, you also see how someone from the outside can give you unsolicited advice and by doing that, help you change your whole perspective. An example of that was the phrase: “When you love someone you do everything to make it work” which was said to Peter at a very important time in the movie. This led him to write the beautiful love letter that made teary-eyed. One moment that I also can’t get past is how Kitty tried to downplay how much she would miss Lara Jean when she went out to college but then caved and told her that she would miss her a 12 out of 10.
Sadly, it’s time for us to say goodbye to our beloved characters. For me, every character added something to the story and made it come together. LJ with her sweet and hopeless romantic personality; Peter with his funny and charming self; Kitty with her annoying yet cute traits; Margo and her motherly moments; Chris with her crazy rebel self, and Dad Covey and his loving and clumsy ways. I’ll miss each and every one of them.
Overall, I was very happy with the last installment of To All the Boys, but I confess that the ending was a bit vague and anticlimactic. However, it was the perfect way to get into the Valentine’s Day mood despite me being single. And honestly, if they were to come out with a spin off series of Lara Jean and Peter in college, I would be over the moon about it. I’m so thankful to Jenny Han for being such a great romance writer and giving us these gems of books and movies. I’m very excited to see what else she has in store