Netflix presents the movie trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Ever Loved Before” spinoff, “XO Kitty.” Laura Jean’s matchmaker younger sister, Kitty, receives her own love story and discovery of her mother in Seoul, South Korea.
Jenny Han and Her Works
Jenny Han rose to fame when her #1 New York Times Bestselling book series, “To All the Boys I’ve Ever Loved Before”, movie adaptation released on Netflix in 2018. Its sequels are “P.S. I Still Love You” (2015) and “Always and Forever, Lara Jean” (2017). The former librarian is famous for her coming-of-age romantic comedies in adult young fiction. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Later, Han received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at The New School.
Her book series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (2009), released a show adaptation in 2022 on Amazon Prime. Its sequels are “It’s Not Summer Without You” (2010) and “We’ll Always have Summer” (2011). She also has another book trilogy, “Burn for Burn” (2012), “Fire with Fire” (2013) and “Ashes to Ashes” (2014).
Summary
Kitty, played by Anna Cathcart, finds the perfect opportunity to go on her own adventure when both of her sisters are away. Before the start of her Junior year in high school, she proposes transferring schools to her dad and step-mom. She receives a full scholarship to the Korean Independent School of Seoul or KISS.
Not only does her long distance boyfriend Dae, played by Min-Young Choi, attend KISS, but so did her late mother. She moves to Seoul, South Korea to not only be closer to her boyfriend, but to find out more about her mom. Kitty is able to get to know her mother more by discovering her school life and maybe even a long lost brother. She finds it difficult fitting in with the language barrier and a mean girl. Gia Kim acts as the popular and rich rival Yuri who seems to also be Dae’s girlfriend. In the meantime, her love life takes many unexpected turns when her boyfriend seems to be cheating on her and other love interests are introduced.
Where to WatchÂ
Exclusively on streaming on Netflix.
Review
While watching, I found many characters and their actions frustrating. Much of the confusion surrounding Dae’s cheating on Kitty could have been solved if there was more communication. The actions of the school’s it girl, Yuri, also was bothersome. However, I enjoyed the variety of economic and ethnic backgrounds of every character. It was also great seeing gay characters in the show even in a society not widely accepting to it. My favorite character is Quincy, played by Anthony Keyvan, another foreign student that quickly befriends Kitty. More known as Q, he never did anything that got on my nerves. Some of Kitty’s love interest choices were confusing and her love life was really all of the place. Despite all of that, I still pushed through to finish the show desperate to know the ending. So out of 5, I rate XO Kitty a 3.5.
