A Guide to the To All the Boys Books for Anyone in Need for a Romantic V-Day Read

Author:
Rose Maura Lorre
Feb 12, 2021

Who’s ready for a great rom-com? Right on time for Valentine’s Day, Netflix has just released To All the Boys: Always and Forever, the third movie in its To All the Boys film series. The latest flick once again reunites teen lovers Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) and like the first two films is based on a book from bestselling YA romance novelist JennyHan.

Even if you haven’t seen the first two To All the Boys movies—those would be 2018’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and 2020’s To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You—Always and Forever will still sweep you off your feet with its super-sweet storyline and aww-dorable characters. And even better: Once you’re done streaming the movies, Han’s books are just as unputdownable. So if you’re ready to celebrate V-Day buried nose-deep in a romantic read, then here’s everything you need to know about Han's To All the Boys books.

Who wrote the To All the Boys books?

Young adult novelist Han was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia by her Korean parents. She did her undergraduate BFA degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Children at the New School, located in New York City. The To All the Boys series was inspired by Han’s own habit of penning long love letters to her crushes when she was a teenager.

How many To All the Boys books are there?

The trilogy’s first novel, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, was published back in 2014. Han followed it up with P.S. I Still Love You in 2015 and ended the trilogy with Always and Forever, Lara Jean in 2017.

How to read the To All the Boys books in order

Has Jenny Han won any awards?

Yes! P.S. I Still Love You received the Young Adult Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in 2015–2016.

Is Jenny Han writing a fourth To All the Boys book?

Sorry, but it seems there won’t be a post-postscript to this trilogy. Back in 2020, when Netflix’s P.S. I Still Love You adaptation was coming out, Centineo told Variety about the prospect of a fourth installment in the series, “If Jenny Han writes a fourth book, sign me up!" Han reportedly responded to that quote by sharing a thinking emoji on Twitter, but has since taken the tweet down. The year before that, at the 2019 BookCon in New York, Han had shot down the idea of a fourth book when she declared, “I know I’m done.” She added, "Never say never, but I think as far as Lara Jean's story, the trilogy is complete."

What other books has Jenny Han written?

Believe it or not, the All the Boys trilogy is actually Han’s third young adult trilogy. Her first—known as the “Belly” trilogy because the books focused on a teen-girl protagonist named Isabel “Belly” Conklin—kicked off with The Summer I Turned Pretty, which was published in 2009, followed by It's Not Summer Without You in 2010 and We'll Always Have Summer in 2011. (Fun fact: Earlier this month, Amazon ordered its own eight-episode series based on the first Belly book!) Then in 2012, Han put out a new book she co-wrote with Siobhan Vivian called Burn for Burn, spurring a new trilogy that included Fire with Fire in 2013 and Ashes to Ashes in 2014 (the same year To All the Boys debuted). Before all that, Han had launched her literary career in 2006 with the publication of a children’s book called Shug, which she’d begun writing back when she was still in college.

Did Jenny Han write the To All the Boys movies?

Han is an executive producer on the films. She didn’t write those scripts, but according to her website, she will be making her screenwriting debut on another upcoming Netflix project: Notes on Love, an anthology project which is being produced by Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton mastermind ShondaRhimes. Han is penning one episode of the series, while other episodes are reportedly being written by such showbiz luminaries as Steve Martin and One Day at a Time creator Norman Lear. Han also reportedly wrote the pilot for Amazon’s upcoming The Summer I Turned Pretty series, which she’ll co-executive produce.

Are the To All the Boys movies faithful to the books?

The differences between the books and the movies are relatively minor. For example, when there’s a major kiss in the books, it also appears in the movies, although the way they get to the big lip-lock may be slightly altered from page to screen. There are also lots of little, cosmetic changes, like the ages of Lara’s sisters or how Lara’s dad (played by JohnCorbett) is “cooler” in the films.

Is Jenny Han in the To All the Boys movies?

Han had a super-covert cameo in the first film that fans flipped for. There’s a scene at the freshman school dance where Lara takes to the dance floor with Lucas (TrezzoMahoro), and in the background, you can see Han standing and smiling in the role of a dance chaperone.

Next, watch some of the most romantic movies streaming.