To All the Boys: Why the Ending is Perfect — and Relatable

Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky. Who doesn’t smile at their cute chemistry and wished their relationship would be as perfect as theirs? I surely do, who am I kidding.

[Also, minor spoiler alert, so if you haven’t watched the movie or read the book, better close this and go watch it now]

LJ was the perfect epitome of a high school girl falling in love. How we would imagine getting married to the person, having a family with them, et cetera et cetera. Even when we were just barely dating them for 3 months. I laughed so hard at this, remembering how true that was. We were all a hopeless romantic in our youth.

And then high school ends, and we learn about the real life. About heartbreak. And about reality. On how your life might not be as beautiful as a movie. Where those happily-ever-after doesn’t seems to exist. But you also learn that life, like every other thing — goes on.

In this movie, we see how LJ choose for herself. How she loves Peter so much, that she wants to go so badly to Stanford just because it was Peter’s choice for college. How she got accepted into Berkeley, but planned to transfer on her freshman — to Stanford of course — for Peter. Which might be naïve, if I was being completely honest. But then again, I could relate being a high-schooler, when you think that your sweetheart is your whole world.

But then LJ goes to New York, and to NYU, and she finds herself falling in love with the city. And that’s where she knows, it’s where she was meant to be. And the moment where she tells Peter exactly that, I want to give that girl a big pat on the back. You go, girl. Chase your dreams, whatever it might be.

Sure, it is a light, feel-good rom-com movie. But watching this remind me of that one important thing. At the end of the day, choose yourself. Always. Don’t ever throw your dreams away for anything. More so because of a boy. Not even if that boy is Peter Kavinsky, that one perfect, heartthrob, a hunk of a guy. Still don’t.

Some of us might hope that LJ and Peter gets to spend their college time together, being lovey-dovey as they always do. But life is so much more than just spending it with the guy you love, and more about seeing the world and making your dreams comes true, and creating the best life with your own hands.

Because in the end, life goes on as it always does. And people who are meant to be in it, will find a way to fall back to you. And the most important thing is, you and your dream, should be your first love. Always and forever.