“Never say no when you really want to say yes.”

I’m really glad I read this series. It was fluffy and cute and didn’t have too much angst in it (although still a little too much for my tastes). But the first book really was the highlight. I felt the second one was too slight, and though this one had more weight to it (with Lara Jean facing graduation and moving on from everything she’s always known), it still wasn’t as satisfying as the simplicity and cuteness of the first book.

Spoilers for the first two books will probably follow.

Peter and Lara Jean are still together, and it’s been over a year since we last checked in with them. They are getting ready for graduation and waiting for college applications to come back. The plan is for Lara Jean and Peter to go to UVA, which is fifteen minutes away from her house. She plans to live at home, and she has wanted to go to UVA her whole life. On top of that, her father has decided to propose to his neighbor/girlfriend, Trina; their impending nuptials are a thread that runs throughout the book. And then, Lara Jean doesn’t get in to UVA. What follows is a sort of slow, gentle reconsideration of what her immediate future is going to look like, that features quite a bit of growing up and out of things she once loved, and trying to determine which parts should stick around through all the change.

This book went down easy and made me feel good at the end, so if you’re in the mood for something heartwarming and thoughtful, you could do a lot worse than this series.

[3.5 stars, rounded up]