If you are anything like me, you probably could not wait to see To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before after the trailer dropped earlier this summer. Netflix’s newest rom-com is turning out to be a big hit for the streaming company, but this instant hit was a book first! I decided to read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before prior to watching the movie. Here is my book-to-movie comparison review.
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The book and the movie are both equally as good. Personally, I loved the book because there was more room for the development of characters and relationships. This is often the case with most book-to-movie adaptations, but I think that the movie did a really good job of keeping the overall integrity of the book. What I mean by this is that while it was almost an exact replica of the book, the movie sorta just took the best parts of the book and adapted it to the screen.
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Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean’s relationship was way more developed in the book. While I absolutely loved the chemistry between the two “fake” lovebirds in the movie, I felt that the book was much more interesting in the development of Peter and Lara’s relationship. For one, the book made it more obvious that Peter was falling for Lara, while it wasn’t as clear in the movie.
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Josh was kind of a jerk in the movie. If you read the book, maybe you think this too. In the book, Josh didn’t feel as distant as he does in the movie. He’s sort of mean and slightly unlikeable in the movie. Maybe this is just me, but I felt like he was way more likable in the book.
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The girls didn’t call them self the “Song girls” in the movie. One of my favorite parts of the book is that the sisters keep a memory of their mom through their names. While their last name is actually “Covey,” they call themselves the “Song girls” because that is what their mom always called them. This was a really nice small detail in the book that I hoped would have made it to the movie.
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Kitty and Lara Jean didn’t have a fight in the movie. This part was just confusing. There was zero catalyst for Kitty to send the letters. It was just sort of anti-climatic. I understand why they changed it a little, but still, it’s one of those small details that I really liked in the book.
Finally, the movie did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the book. This is a really fun and romantic story. It is also a very simple one and I thought that the movie did an excellent job of finding the simplicity of the book. From the way that it was filmed to the actors that played the characters, the film was just as perfect as the book.