Book Talk: PS I Still Love You
What is love? Baby don't hurt me...I recently gushed about my love for all things YA literature and talked about a book I had just finished: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. I know, I know, I’m late to the party, as usual - but I enjoyed it enough that when I found out the follow up PS I Still Love You had recently been released, I knew I wanted to read it. And it just so happened that my library had the ebook available, so here we are.
PS I Still Love You gave me the same overall vibe as To All The Boys… and by that I mean it played out in my mind like a modern day version of the 80s and 90s rom-coms that remain some of my favorite movies of all time - think Can’t Buy Me Love, She’s All That, Clueless, etc. etc.
Lara Jean resonated with me as a character, mostly because she reminded me of me in high school - not unpopular, not a geek, not misunderstood, just kind of…safe. A homebody, and okay with it. Unwilling to get out of my comfort zone. And definitely not someone who would know what to do when the person they liked decided to like them back.
While this book is definitely a continuation of the first book in that way, PS I Still Love You feels just a little more mature, which makes sense considering all the character development that Lara Jean goes through in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Lara Jean is able to move past her initial struggles - she doesn’t dwell on her sister being away so much, because she’s come into her own a little more, and she doesn’t spend as much time thinking about Josh, because she’s come to realize that their relationship isn’t as important as she once believed.
Instead, she has to come to grips with the relationship she does want. I wish that a book like this had existed for me when I was in high school, because Lara Jean’s struggles felt both real and relevant, particularly as someone who also had a tendency to like boys who were unattainable or who I knew would probably never like me back. And on the rare occasions that they did, I, like Lara Jean, had absolutely no idea what to do with that. PS I Still Love You is ultimately about Lara Jean dealing with the aftermath of discovering that someone she likes actually likes her back. And realizing that it can actually be a lot more difficult that way.
Instead, she has to come to grips with the relationship she does want. I wish that a book like this had existed for me when I was in high school, because Lara Jean’s struggles felt both real and relevant, particularly as someone who also had a tendency to like boys who were unattainable or who I knew would probably never like me back. And on the rare occasions that they did, I, like Lara Jean, had absolutely no idea what to do with that. PS I Still Love You is ultimately about Lara Jean dealing with the aftermath of discovering that someone she likes actually likes her back. And realizing that it can actually be a lot more difficult that way.
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