Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family, Responsibility, and Growing Up
Love and Fear
Social Structure, Reputation, and High School
Lies vs. Honesty
Summary
Analysis
Peter is in the school parking lot when Lara Jean gets off the bus the next morning. He rolls his eyes when she notes that her car is in the shop and grabs Lara Jean’s hand to walk into the building. Genevieve’s best friend, Emily, does a double take. Through gritted teeth, Lara Jean and Peter argue over whose hand is responsible for the sweat. Finally, they get to Lara Jean’s locker—and Peter tries to kiss Lara Jean. They end up bumping foreheads, and then Lara Jean sees Genevieve coming. She races away.
It clearly doesn’t take much to attract attention at Lara Jean’s school, which is exactly what she and Peter want. Now, the conversation will be about their (pretend) relationship, rather than about Josh or about Peter’s relationship with Genevieve. However, this doesn’t mean that Lara Jean isn’t still nervous about intimacy—which is why it’s so unsettling when Peter tries to kiss her.
Themes
That afternoon, Lara Jean lies on her bed and relives the “horrible kiss-that-wasn’t.” She’s not sure she can pretend-date Peter, and she decides to bike to his house to tell him. Lara Jean borrows Kitty’s bike and helmet and heads over. Nobody’s home, but just as Lara Jean is getting ready to text Chris for a ride, Peter drives up. They sit on the front porch and Lara Jean says they need to iron out their story. She suggests that they say they got together last week, when he helped her after her car accident. Peter says that story won’t work; he and Genevieve hooked up right after he stopped to help Lara Jean. Lara Jean says the story works regardless.
Lara Jean is ready to call off the pretend relationship until Peter actually shows up. Even if she doesn’t have a crush on him anymore, she still seems interested in pleasing and impressing him, which she can do by playing along. She also makes it clear that she knows something about how to manage lies: she and Peter have to figure out what their truth is, so that people don’t get suspicious.
Themes
Then, Lara Jean says they have to set ground rules. She says she doesn’t want to kiss and asks for a paper and pen. Peter rolls his eyes, but he pulls out a notebook for Lara Jean. He insists they have to be able to do something physical, or his friends will think he’s weird, so they decide he can put his hand in Lara Jean’s back pocket. Then, Lara Jean admits she’s never had a boyfriend before, and she wishes she were doing these things with a real boyfriend. Peter says they can skip some stuff—like him paying for her food, buying her flowers, or walking her to class.
For Lara Jean, this pretend relationship is very bittersweet. It’s difficult for her to fathom having to do all these physical things with a boy she doesn’t actually like, since she’s never been in a relationship before. This speaks to how big of a deal physical intimacy is in her mind. But on the other hand, being a fake relationship makes things easier, since there’s no emotional connection to make things messy.
Themes
Annoyed, Lara Jean asks what Genevieve wanted Peter to do when they were dating. Peter says she wanted him to write her notes, which he thought was unnecessary. Lara Jean realizes that Genevieve didn’t want notes—she wanted love letters. Peter announces that he’ll write Lara Jean a note every day, since it’ll annoy Genevieve. They decide that Lara Jean has to go to a few parties with Peter, and they can’t watch rom coms or “dumb action movies.” They set their phone lock screens to pictures of each other and agree to never talk about their agreement. Lara Jean says they have to be done with this charade by the time Margot gets home for Christmas. They both sign the contract, and Lara Jean bikes home.
Genevieve starts to look a little more human to Lara Jean when she realizes that Genevieve wanted real love letters. Lara Jean frames this as something normal and understandable, which makes Genevieve less like a totally evil character. Then, Lara Jean again shows that her family is what’s most important to her by dictating that this has to be over by the time Margot gets home. Lara Jean believes that her fake relationship with Peter will prevent her from doing something she regrets with Josh and, in turn, save her relationship with her sister. So in her mind, Margot can’t know about it.
Themes
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