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
Lara Jean, Daddy, and Kitty are having a virtual Sunday night dinner with Margot. They’re eating pizza, while Margot is eating a salad. Margot scolds Lara Jean and Daddy for not feeding Kitty more vegetables. When Daddy notes there will be spinach with dinner, Kitty asks for a green juice instead—according to Peter, that’s the healthiest way to eat spinach. Lara Jean freezes, and Margot’s eyes go wide when she learns Lara jean is dating Peter Kavinsky. Margot says that Peter cheated on a test and is “douchey,” like all the lacrosse guys—and he isn’t good for Lara Jean.
This conversation shows how easy it is for a lie to come out in casual conversation. It doesn’t seem like Kitty was trying to be mean and out Lara Jean; Peter just so happens to be a part of her life now, and it’s normal for her to talk about him. To Margot, though, this seems like a betrayal, especially since Peter supposedly isn’t good enough for Lara Jean. Margot is, in a sense, reacting to the fact that Lara Jean is making different choices than Margot herself would have.
Themes
Lara Jean says Peter isn’t like the other lacrosse guys and stews in silence. Why can’t Margot be happy for her, or at least pretend to be? And why is she saying all of this stuff in front of Kitty and Daddy? Lara Jean asks Margot to give Peter a chance, but Margot doesn’t answer. Instead, she asks about Genevieve. Lara Jean explains they broke up months ago. After a minute, Margot says Peter isn’t very smart. Angrily, Lara Jean says that not everyone can be a National Merit Scholar like Margot. Margot has no right to talk to her like this.
Margot is saying this in front of Kitty and Daddy because she and Lara Jean have a habit of trying to get the other to conform by encouraging them to not upset their other family members. Lara Jean did much the same thing earlier, when she told Margot that Daddy and Kitty would be upset about her breaking up with Josh. As the girls fight, they discover that not supporting each other’s decisions is an easy way for conflict to creep into their relationship.
Themes
Lara Jean asks Kitty if she likes Peter. Margot is aghast that Kitty has hung out with Peter and asks if they’ve been riding in Peter’s two-seater Audi. Kitty says innocently that he drives the van, but she wants to ride in his Audi. Margot looks skeptical, and Lara Jean wants to end the conversation.
Kitty seems to be just as skilled of a liar as Lara Jean (she has, after all, ridden in the Audi), which begs the question of what else she might be lying about. But she also encourages Margot to stop making assumptions about Peter, since she enjoys spending time with him.
Themes
