To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Fiction | Novel | YA

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Chapters 59-63

Chapter 59 Summary

It’s finally time for Margot to come back home for the Christmas holiday. The Covey family goes to pick her up at the airport, and the Song sisters are proud to show her their baked cookies and decorated Christmas tree when they all get back to the house. Margot is put off that they did all these traditions without her, making Lara Jean feel defensive. Lara Jean realizes how hard it is to try to reconnect with someone when they’ve been gone for a long time. Lara Jean wonders if Margot even realizes the distance and the difference in their relationship. Later, Kitty tells Lara Jean she has to get a Christmas present for Peter because he’s her boyfriend, and Margot takes another jab at how incredulous she is that Lara Jean could like him. Lara Jean tells Margot simply but punctiliously that Margot doesn’t need to like him. Margot looks over at Josh’s house and tells Lara Jean that she is going to see Josh and hopes that he understands the breakup is permanent. Lara Jean tells her that Josh doesn’t pine for her, surprising Margot with her new, blunt manner.

Chapter 60 Summary

Margot suggests doing a recital party for Christmas, like they used to do with their mother. Lara Jean isn’t interested in the idea; she is feeling very on edge with Margot. Later, Kitty falls asleep on the couch, and Lara Jean asks Margot to help convince their dad to get Kitty a dog. Margot says a dog is too much responsibility, but Lara Jean snaps back that Kitty has matured a lot since Margot’s been gone and helps out around the house. Margot seems surprised that everything is going better than expected at the Covey house.

Chapter 61 Summary

The morning of the ski trip, Lara Jean tries to create distance between her and Peter. Lara Jean sits with Chris instead of with Peter, throwing him off and giving Genevieve an opening to sit next to him. Lara Jean tells him they’re going to break up soon anyway, so they might as well start setting the tone. At the lodge, everyone goes off to ski, but Lara Jean stays behind with Ms. Davenport. Ms. Davenport tries to inquire about Lara Jean and Peter, so Lara Jean excuses herself.

Chapter 62 Summary

Lara Jeans tries to ski on the bunny hill, but she doesn’t enjoy it and wishes she could find Peter. Finally, she spots him with his friends. She calls out his name and he sees her, but ignores her. Later, in the lodge, she meets up with his friends and asks him why he didn’t answer when she called out his name. His friends leave him to talk to Lara Jean, sensing the tension. Peter is still mad that Lara Jean didn’t sit with him on the bus, and Lara Jean doesn’t understand why it’s such a big issue. She apologizes and tells him she’ll sit with him on the way back. Suddenly, he tells her that he thinks he’s falling for her. Lara Jean is shocked and tries to divert the conversation. Lara Jean refuses to believe that Peter has feelings for her, which frustrates Peter. He accuses her of preferring fantasy over reality, and Lara Jean defends herself by telling him he’s only upset because it’s the first time a girl has rejected him. He walks off angrily, and Lara Jean goes to her room to think things through, where she comes to the conclusion that she doesn’t want to be afraid.

Chapter 63 Summary

Lara Jean finds Peter alone in the hot tub. He’s surprised to see her and even more surprised when she takes off her coat and starts to come into the hot tub in her nightgown. She tells Peter that he’s right, she was scared, but she doesn’t want to be scared anymore. She tells Peter the truth: She really likes him as more than a friend. Peter admits that girls are confusing, so Lara Jean tries to prove it by kissing him. They kiss passionately in the hot tub, and Peter moves Lara Jean onto his lap. After a while, Peter stops and says they should go back to the rooms before Lara Jean gets into trouble. He helps her out of the hot tub, dries her off, and helps her put her coat back on. They kiss one more time before they part for their rooms, and Lara Jean is elated.

Chapters 59-63 Analysis

Lara Jean experiences two momentous changes: Her new relationship with Margot and Peter.

When Margot returns for the Christmas holiday, Lara Jean is not as happy to see her as she would have thought. A lot of time has gone by without keeping close communication, and Lara Jean can sense a metaphorical distance between the two. She knows very little about Margot’s life, and Margot knows almost nothing about all of the incredible things that have been happening to Lara Jean. When Lara Jean found that private note from Josh to Margot revealing that they had sex, it shatters so many understandings that Lara Jean believed about Margot. Now, with Margot back home, Lara Jean is on edge, sensing that everything Margot says is a veiled criticism. She wants her sister to be proud of the way she’s worked hard to keep the household running, but Margot doesn’t directly say anything. Lara Jean judges this to be a cruel streak in Margot, a way of not acknowledging Lara Jean. This could be true, however, the first-person point of view narration is an often unreliable one. Lara Jean has felt alone, betrayed, and guilty with her sister gone. Now that she’s back, Lara Jean’s suppressed feelings are coming out, and she is quite annoyed with her sister. Subconsciously, this surprising twist in their relationship could be evidence of Lara Jean trying to assert her own independence and believe in herself, but there is a lot of anger that Lara Jean is projecting onto Margot, things that Margot couldn’t possibly understand because Lara Jean hasn’t told her.

The real issue with Lara Jean’s relationship to Margot is that Lara Jean is enduring change. Some transitions are positive. When Margot left for university, Lara Jean had to figure out how to conquer her own fears and seize on her own desires. This is an important lesson to learn as a teenager, and it factors into Lara Jean’s coming-of-age story typical of the Young Adult novel. Change is not always easy, and Lara Jean is having a difficult time understanding how to navigate her shifting relationship with Margot. Maturing and growing doesn’t have to mean growing apart, but to prevent more distance between them, Lara Jean must conquer her last fear: Confronting Margot.

The second major plot development is Lara Jean’s new relationship with Peter. Finally, in a moment of catharsis, Peter admits that he has developed feelings for Lara Jean. Lara Jean, who has already understood that she has feelings for Peter, first pushes him away. Han purposely structures this frustrating dynamic so that the reader can be blown away by Lara Jean. Lara Jean is literally getting exactly what she wants: Peter Kavinsky likes her, yet, she can’t accept his feelings. Peter aptly identifies the problem of Lara Jean’s love life to be her preference for grandiose romantic fantasies rather than the real nitty-gritty love that occurs in actual life. His insight into her characterization confirms what Han has been leading the reader to believe. Luckily, it doesn’t take long for Lara Jean to admit to herself that she does want to be loved in a very real-world way. Peter and Lara Jean are finally together; alone and truly honest. Their passionate kissing in the hot tub confirms their feelings for one another, and Lara Jean walks away with a dream finally coming to fruition.