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
Now it’s New Year’s Eve. Lara Jean’s family always stays home, but this year is different. Margot is with some school friends in the mountains, and Lara Jean secretly hopes Josh will be there. Daddy is at a work party, and it’s just Lara Jean and Kitty at home. They eat popcorn and discuss Lara Jean’s sadness. Lara Jean insists she’s just sad and doesn’t know why. Maybe she misses Peter. Kitty tells Lara Jean to call him, but Lara Jean says she can’t. She decides to tell Kitty the truth: that her relationship with Peter was a fake. After her private letters got sent, she was humiliated, and things got out of control.
The fact that this New Year’s Eve is different from past years highlights how the Covey family is changing. Lara Jean and Kitty are able to look after themselves at home, which speaks to their growing maturity. Margot and Daddy, meanwhile, are able to enjoy a night socializing with their friends and colleagues rather than worrying about overseeing the household. In these ways, the Coveys seem to be branching out and becoming less dependent on one another.
Themes
Nervously, Kitty asks Lara Jean to not be mad—she sent the letters. Lara Jean shrieks, but Kitty says she was so mad that Lara Jean was going to tell Josh about her crush. She regretted sending the letters immediately. When Lara Jean asks how Kitty knew about the letters, Kitty admits to going through Lara Jean’s things sometimes when Lara Jean isn’t home. Remembering how she read Margot’s letter from Josh, Lara Jean doesn’t say anything. Kitty apologizes and starts to cry, but Lara Jean isn’t ready to accept the apology yet. Kitty races upstairs and returns with the hatbox.
Though Lara Jean hasn’t been aware of it, Kitty has been learning some of the same lessons about lying over the course of the novel. She suggests that she never expected to turn Lara Jean’s world entirely upside down; she just wanted to hurt her for a moment, and things got out of control. But Kitty’s being honest with Lara Jean sets the sisters up to have a more honest relationship going forward.
Themes
