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 passes people heading back to their rooms from the hot tub. Curfew is in 15 minutes, so she hopes Peter is still there before she loses her nerve. He’s alone in the hot tub and seems perplexed as she takes her coat off and sits on the edge of the hot tub, putting in just her feet. She says she didn’t know what to say earlier, but she likes him. Peter says he doesn’t understand girls, and Lara Jean wonders if she messed everything up. She scoots closer and kisses him—and Peter kisses her back. He pulls her onto his lap in the water. Lara Jean can tell by his eyes that he’d do anything for her, and she feels powerful.
By admitting that she likes Peter, Lara Jean shows that she’s ready to start telling the truth, both to herself and to Peter. Furthermore, initiating the kiss means that Lara Jean has decided to at least try to put aside her fears of intimacy and ask for what she wants. And when Peter kisses her back, Lara Jean learns that being honest and intimate with someone won’t inevitably end badly.
Themes
Lara Jean kisses Peter again. Kissing feels amazing, and she loves how his back feels. Finally, Peter says they should go back to their rooms; it’s after curfew. Lara Jean is freezing as soon as she stands up, so Peter towels her off and helps her into her coat. They kiss before they part ways.
Being intimate with Peter isn’t nearly as scary as Lara Jean thought it would be—perhaps Lara Jean has been blowing things out of proportion in her own mind. This experience begins to show her that it’s okay to let others in.
Themes
