Review: 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before'

Pretty sure you've all heard about "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," the latest teen romance movie to hit Netflix and crash the Twitter universe. If you haven't watched it, I highly suggest you do (unless you're recently single, then you should heal your wounds first and then watch this sappy movie).

First of all, Peter Kavinsky. That's it. He's amazing to look at, amazing to have as a fake boyfriend, and amazing to then make into a real boyfriend. Let's be real, he is the dream boyfriend of the 21st century and just raised every girl's expectations by a thousand percent. He actually writes Lara Jean love letters. He really puts effort into this "fake relationship" and opens Lara Jean's heart up. He drives across town to get all the snacks and Korean yogurt drinks she loves for the ski trip. When she says she likes him, he says he's IN LOVE with her. No, he did not stutter. No, he did not expect her to love him back either.

Let's just say this: everyone has fallen in love with Peter Kavinsky. He is changing the game now and guys need to step up. Peter is the role model from now on.

One question I had early on is: why did Lara Jean write these love letters? I understood having a crush so passionate that she needed to put it into words, but then why address these? I mean, it worked out for her in the long-run. She got Peter in the end, one of her 5 unsent love letters that were then sent without her knowing. But in reality, why do all of that work just to keep them in a box in your closet? I used to read all of those sappy romance novels for pre-teens and teens, fantasizing about meeting the love of my life in the 'field of desire'. Yet, I never wrote love letters and addressed them to my crush.

I thought back about my "passionate" crushes from when I was younger and what I did to let these feelings out. I bought all of those bright pink and glittery diaries from Claire's, wrote out my feelings about each crush after I started my "Dear Diary"... Okay, kinda similar to Lara Jean's love letters.

Later on, I even wrote draft text messages on my flip phone or typed up notes on my computer, saving the document as "August book report." The drafted text messages are similar to Lara Jean's letters: they had a recipient and an easy way to be sent. But nothing too embarrassing. Maybe something along the lines of "Hey, any chance you wanna go to the movies this weekend?" or "I really like you, just wanted you to know." All those brave messages that my cowardly self would never send. Can you imagine if I did? I don't think that love story would have ended like Lara Jean's and Peter's. The reply could have easily been "new phone, who dis?" or "sorry, not into you like that but thx".

Going back to those diaries, Lara Jean's love letters get sent out because her younger sister Kitty mailed them. I can honestly relate to this. My little sister Kiki would read my diaries when I wasn't home and tell my parents about my crushes, feelings, dreams, EVERYTHING. It would be super embarrassing to come home and have them ask me all about what I wrote in my diary or for them to ask me if I spoke to my crush today when I would get picked up from school. So. Not. Cool.

Siblings are a tricky thing, especially nosy little ones.

What would have happened if my crushes found out that they were my crushes? Well, I can only imagine that one of them would have felt the same way. It would have been like a Josh-type scenario. No, my crush did not date my sibling or any of my best friends for that matter. He was my best friend and him knowing my feelings could have jeopardized that friendship. Pretty sure most girls out there know what I'm talking about. That one really close guy friend that you want to be more than just friends with, but you're scared of making that transition because of the possibilities of losing him forever if he doesn't feel the same way. Yeah, I've had two crushes like this.

These were years ago, but honestly, I wish I had told them how I felt. Right now, that friendship I was so scared to lose, I lost it anyways. Relationships got in the way and going off to college just put another wedge between us. I can only imagine if I did tell my crush/best friend how I felt about him, what would have happened. That's one piece of advice I'd give my younger self: if you like someone, go after it. It's better to know than to wonder. You'll get over the pain eventually and move on. You'll leave high school and go to college, which is a whole other world. I wish I had sent those texts, or made my diary entries into love letters like Lara Jean and sent them.

But hey, it all happens for a reason, right? Maybe those guys weren't meant to be. Maybe it was all for me to learn to seize the moment whenever my feelings are so passionate that I have to write them down. "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" shows you that when you put your feelings out there, you might end up with your old crush becoming your hot boyfriend (previously fake boyfriend). The movie also shows where our standards should be at for guys coming our way, not a bad takeaway from the movie. You also get to look at Peter Kavinsky throughout the movie and google pictures of the actor Noah Centineo afterward.