I have been a late fan of To All the Boys I Loved Before, but I love the idea of a graphic novel adaptation. I made sure to read the book, then watch the series, and now the graphic novel! And this is such a sweet addition to the universe. Keep reading this book review of To All the Boys I Loved Before Graphic Novel for my full thoughts.
Summary
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?
Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed and, suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I love this new take on To All the Boys I Loved Before. To see this new visual medium, the stories and atmosphere come alive is such a fun experience. It begins another layer to the story and the color scheme is gorgeous. There’s these classic pastels and the art style is so cute with these soft lines. While To All the Boys I Loved Before graphic novel feels a bit younger, I think that there’s going to be all these new audiences who love graphic novels and seeing the story come alive here. It’s always intriguing to see the pivotal scenes come alive. I felt that the pacing and action of this felt very fast – but it’s really distilling the bulk of the story into these moments.
I know that we’re cutting out a lot of the internal narration, but I felt like I needed that to really get a good sense of Lara Jean as a character here. There’s a great sense of movement and artistic use of silence and blank space in the art. But as a story, I felt like it was the bare boned foundation, but was missing some of what made this story so special from before.
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Find To All the Boys I Loved Before graphic novel on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, & Blackwells.