The Book vs. Movie: "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" - Claire Hobson

 

    To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is the first addition to a three-part romance series; written by Jenny Han in 2014. It is also a movie directed by Susan Johnson, published in 2018, part of a 3-part series, and based on the original books written by Jenny Han. I watched the movie a couple of years ago, thinking it was a decent and well-made movie. Then only recently, I read the book and had a new opinion.

    I'll start with a basic summary of the story. Lara Jean is a junior in high school and has always written letters to the boys she loved after falling out of love with them. Though those letters were meant for her eyes only - no one was ever supposed to read them or even know about them. One day, Lara Jean’s little sister, Kitty, angrily takes these letters and sends them out to the people they were addressed to, without Laura Jean knowing. Her next-door neighbor, Josh Ambrose (who had previously dated Lara Jean’s older sister Margot), gets one of these letters. Along with a boy named Peter Kavinsky, someone Lara Jean has known since middle school, to make it so Josh doesn’t think Lara Jean still likes him, Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky create a fake relationship, and that’s when things go wrong.

    Here's my opinion: the book is much better than the movie because the level of detail in the book is much higher and because the character and relationship developments throughout the story are much more interesting and sensible in the book; in the movie, everything happens too quickly and without reason.

    The most prominent example of detail differences that separates the book from the movie is at the very start of the story. In the book, we do not see why the letters got sent out, we know that they did when Peter Kavinsky goes up to Laura Jean to confront her about the letter. In the movie, there is a scene early on where Kitty takes the letters from Lara Jean's hatbox and mails them out for no apparent reason. In the book, this does not get revealed until the end. Though around the same time of the story, Kitty was mad at Lara Jean for ruining a project she had been working on in the book. This small detail of Kitty being angry makes this scene and the main plot more interesting in the book than in the movie. Also, the fact that it's not revealed until the end of the book adds suspense and reason for the reader to finish reading.

    The second major difference between the book and the movie is the character development between Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky. In the book, the first time they meet in the present is on the side of the road because Lara Jean crashed her car. Later in the book, they use this as part of their story they tell people about how they got together. In the movie, the first time they meet each other in the present is a random time at school after Peter’s current girlfriend makes fun of Lara Jean, and Peter apologizes for it. This is very out of character for Peter and doesn't play any further role in this story. This difference in detail shapes Peter's character in the movie weaker because the way he acts during this scene is completely different from what he does at any other time. Also, Peter saying this to Laura Jean in the hallway does nothing to further the storyline, but the one on the side of the road does, making the book have more important scenes that actually progress the story.

    In my opinion, there are more reasons why the book is better than the movie, including more important scenes and details about characters that are prevalent in the books but not in the movies. The movie leaves many of these things out, ones that make the story so much more interesting, compelling, and relatable.

-Claire Hobson