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
Kitty and Margot pick Lara Jean up at school. Lara Jean tries to stay upbeat, but Margot asks if everything’s okay. Lara Jean says she’s fine; she’s just going to sleep through Christmas break. She turns her phone off when Peter texts asking to talk.
After having Genevieve spread such nasty rumors about her, Lara Jean seems to decide that it doesn’t pay off to be honest. It’s better, she reasons, to just ignore her problems by sleeping and refusing to speak to Peter.
Themes
That night, while Margot and Lara Jean are wrapping presents, Margot decides to hold the recital party the day after Christmas. Carefully, Lara Jean suggests it’s too last-minute, but she thinks the party might take her mind off everything. She and Margot discuss party foods and a guest list. Margot suggests they invite Peter and his family, but Lara Jean shakes her head. She refuses to admit that anything happened on the ski trip. Later that night, Margot sends virtual invitations and immediately gets five yes responses.
The recital parties of the past are still bad memories for Lara Jean. But this year’s party might be exactly what she needs to reorient herself back to her family.
Themes
Lara Jean stays home as much as possible over the next day. She works on her scrapbook and waits for Peter to text. Josh does instead; he says he heard what happened and asks if she’s okay. Lara Jean says it’s not true, and Josh responds that he didn’t believe it. Lara Jean decides it’d be best to take the Josh-and-Margot page out of Margot’s scrapbook. That night, she stays up late waiting for Peter to reach out. At three in the morning, she throws away his notes and deletes his pictures and number from her phone.
Because Josh knows Lara Jean well, he doesn’t spend any time wondering if the rumor might be true—he’s more than willing to ignore her new reputation. Choosing to take the Josh-and-Margot page out of the scrapbook shows that Lara Jean now recognizes things can change—they did for her, after all.
Themes
