Audiobook Review: Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Series: To All the Boys I Loved Before #3 Written by: Jenny Han Published: May 2, 2017 by Simon Books for Young Readers (Simon and Schuster) (Amazon / Goodreads / Audible) Synopsis: Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.  Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.  But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.  When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

I love this book so much! I really loved this series. I was late to the party but I am so glad I took the time to read it. It's a fantastic contemporary and this was a great ending to the series.

First things first, this was just a really great contemporary. I like my YA contemps to have a good balance between serious and light-hearted. That is exactly what this book was. I think it was probably on the more serious side being that it was the last book and about Lara Jean leaving for college but it still it had it fun moments. It was sweet and funny and complex. It was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the way it unfolded and when it was over I loved it so much but I also didn't want it to end.

I think the thing that I liked most about this book is the character development. So much of this series was about Lara Jean and her development so of course this book was about that. This was the conclusion of Lara Jean's story and a fabulous conclusion it was. Lara Jean is a really great character who feels seventeen. Sometimes she's immature and silly but at other times somehow is wise beyond her years. In this book we got to see her figure out what she wanted with the rest of her life and she finally started it honking about herself in a mature way. I really loved that. This series was a great coming of age story for Lara Jean.

But this book was also about relationships. First we had the romance between Lara Jean and Peter K. I absolutely ship it. I've definitely been a fan of this relationship from the beginning and I am still a fan. Peter is adorable, Lara Jean is adorable, and they work together so well. The thing I love even more though is that their relationship is not perfect. So many times with YA romances all we see is first love or the honeymoon phase. But that is not the case here. These two fight, they break up, and they makeup. It feels like a genuine and realistic relationship in that way. Plus I really loved the way it ended. It was so perfect.

But that wasn't the only great relationship in this book. This is also a book about Lara Jean and her family. The Coveys are such a great family and they care so much about each other. For one thing. totally love Lara Jean's dad. It's kind of sad but it's a little refreshing to see an involved parent who cares about their children. He also had some fun stuff with his relationship and second marriage. But the heart of this book is the relationship between the Song girls. Lara Jean's sister are amazing and they are so close it's adorable. My favorite of course is Kitty who is a total brat in the best possible way.

On the whole I really loved this book. It was the perfect ending to this series. It was a great coming of age story with wonderful characters and an amazing romance. It was the perfect ending to Lara Jean's story.

I give Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han 9.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. You absolutely need to read this book if you love this series. But if you haven't and you like YA contemporaries this one is so worth a read. Even if you aren't a fan of the genre this one is still totally worth it. It's sweet, it's funny, it's cute. I loved it and you will too.

Have you read Always and Forever, Lara Jean? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!