To All the Boys I've Loved Before Book and Movie Comparison

 Hello! I haven't done a book review in awhile, and I decided to do a comparison between the To All the Boys Before book [which I've read maybe once or twice] and the movie [which I've never seen]. 

I'll be doing these for the rest of the series as I keep re-reading the books and watching the movies. Without further adiu, let's get started.

Summary: To All the Boys I've Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, a girl who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box underneath her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all of her crushes from the past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. 

As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

What I Liked: 

-The cover. I thought it was really cute. 

-Lara Jean.

For the most part, I quite like Lara Jean. She's a shy, sweet, somewhat innocent homebody, and I really liked getting to know her as a character. At some points, she seemed a little too naive for a sixteen/seventeen year old, but she did mature, and I like her for the most part.

-Peter

I didn't start out liking Peter-----I thought he was annoying, but I grew to like him more as the book went on. By the end, I quite liked him. 

-Kitty.

I adore Kitty. She's manipulative and sneaky, but still loves her sisters, and is just such a fun supporting character.

-I like all of the focus on family. There aren't a whole lot of YA books that do that, so I like that this one did,

-I liked the romance. I didn't love it, but I liked it. 

-I love all of the different descriptions of foods and desserts in this book----it really made me hungry. 

What I Didn't Like:

-Josh.

*sighs* He started off fine, but then he became horrible, and I don't see what Margot or Lara Jean saw in him. 

-Margot.

I don't hate Margot. She has some good moments, and I understand her more this time around, but she still definitely isn't my favorite. I thought she was a little pushy and bossy [I mean, it makes sense, since she's had to take charge around the house since their mom died, but it doesn't make it less annoying].

-Both Lara Jean and Peter.

I know I said earlier that I liked them, and I do for the most part, but sometimes Peter really annoyed me, and Lara Jean felt a bit too naive to be a realistic high-schooler. Sometimes I liked their romance, but sometimes it really annoyed me.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book, and thought it was a fun, cute read. I'll give it four stars. 

Movie Review

To All the Boys I've Loved Before was directed by Susan Johnson and stars Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Israel Broussard, Trezzo Mahoro, John Corbett, Madeleine Arthur and Emiliija Baranac. The plot is the same as in the book, so I won't give another summary.

My Thoughts: Overall, I thought this was a really good adaptation of the book. Sure, there were a few things that were changed or left out, but that is to be expected when making an hour-and-a-half long movie out of a book. I thought it was pretty good.

What I Liked: 

-Most of the characters.

I liked both Lara Jean and Peter. Lara Jean felt a little less naive in the movie, while still being the shy yet sweet girl we know and love her for. Peter felt a lot nicer than in the book-----I don't hate him, but his movie counterpart is definitely better. Most of the supporting characters are also really good-----Kitty, Chris, Lucas, Doctor Covey, even Margot [and, yes, I do have actor bias because I love Janel Parrish, but she annoyed me less in the movie]. 

-Lara Jean's aesthetic. 

Reading about her style is fun, but seeing her outfits and bedroom onscreen is a whole new level of awesome. Her style is just so cute!

-The romance

I thought that the romance was pretty cute. Just like in the book, Lara Jean and Peter are a cute couple, but Peter was slightly nicer in the movie, ergo I ship them more. 

-The acting.

I think all of the actors in this movie were really well cast. I can't think of a single character I would have cast a different actor to play.

What I Didn't Like:

-Josh

Somehow they took a character I didn't like very much in the book, and made him worse. He just annoys me so much and, again, I have no idea what Lara Jean or Margot saw in him. 

Those were my main dislikes. I really enjoyed it as a whole.

Is the book perfect? No. Is the movie perfect? No, nothing is. Neither one is life-changing, but if you want to watch something cute and fun, I would highly recommend the first installment in the TATBILB series. 

So, what are your thoughts? Have you read the book? Seen the movie? Both? Which did you prefer, or did you like them both equally?