Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
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2019 Monthly Challenge
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February Group Read Discussion: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Thanks, Nadine! We can start the discussion tomorrow. :)
Finally found the thread been looking for you guys for awhile! Once I’ve read the book l’ll let you know
Hi everyone, this will be a fairly informal discussion, so feel free to post your own questions and comments throughout the month. I have some questions on hand to keep things going though. First, did anyone else watch the movie before reading it? Did it set your expectations high or low for the book?
I'll say that I watched the movie in August, and it was cute, but didn't wow me. I was fairly annoyed that she said nothing when the boys were asking about the letters. Why didn't she explain what happened? Other than that it was fairly entertaining, but I wasn't necessarily dying to read the book after. I'm glad that the book made that part a bit more realistic, and I'm not sure why the screenwriters changed that.
Any other thoughts on how the book compared to the movie?
I saw the movie months after reading the book, so my memory may be faulty. I thought the movie downplayed Josh's role a lot, and also made him very unlikeable. I thought both were very cute, but as usual I liked the book better.
Mod
I thought Josh was much more likeable in the movie! Actually, I think everyone was more likeable in the movie! Margot and Chris came off as meddling and a bit of a selfish jerk (respectively) in the book, but I remember liking them ok in the movie.
Why does spell check tell me it should be spelled "likable"? Likable looks like lickable- I googled and apparently "likeable" is the British spelling and "likable" is American? News to me!
Nadine wrote: "I saw the movie first, and I really enjoyed it, so my expectations were HIGH for the book. I thought the book was just so-so. The changes in the movie made it a stronger story for me.I thought Jo..."
Me too. I always put an e in likeable and unlikeable.
I always prefer to read the book I am not into going to the movie so I read the book. Often, the movies based on books disappoint me a lot!
Nadine wrote: "I saw the movie first, and I really enjoyed it, so my expectations were HIGH for the book. I thought the book was just so-so. The changes in the movie made it a stronger story for me.I thought Jo..."
I agree on the characters being more likable in the movie. I kept waiting for Josh to have a stronger role in the book... and yes, Margot was disappointing in the book as well.
The only other scenario where I saw the movie first and after reading the book thought the movie was a stronger portrayal was The Giver. I'm guessing I would have enjoyed the book more if I read it first.
If anyone watches "To All the Boys..." after reading the book, I'm interested in whether that was the better order for this one.
I watched the movie for this and really enjoyed it! I was actually planning to read Hypnotists Love Story but I think I will switch. I usually try to read the book first, but I do find that if I watch the movie first I enjoy it more.
I watched the movie after reading the book and I honestly didn't care for either very much. I thought Kitty was more likeable in the movie - I think the book portrayed her as much younger than she was supposed to be. I liked Peter more and Josh less in the movie. I think the movie portrayed Josh as being more mopey and pathetic than the book did. There are a lot more problems I had with the movie but I'll leave it at that :)My biggest problem with the book was the absence of the father. Margot was basically raising Lara Jean and Kitty and after she left Lara Jean had to take on that responsibility. I thought the father should have been much more in tune with what was going on in his kids lives. I also expected more to happen with Margot after she left for Scotland.
Taylor wrote: "I watched the movie after reading the book and I honestly didn't care for either very much. I thought Kitty was more likeable in the movie - I think the book portrayed her as much younger than she ..."Yes, it seemed like the dad was a bit more involved in the movie. And I also hoped for more with Margot, which reminds me of what the intended themes were for this book... was it supposed to be about family? Or was it more about high school crushes and finding confidence in that world? I would have been interested in a stronger family-centered theme. What stood out to others as the "main idea"?
I've read all the books, actually, long before the movie came out. I definitely prefer the books, but I thought the movie was cute.My favorite parts about both are the bits with the family. I feel the family was actually stronger in the books. There were some scenes with extended family, and it explored the sisterly roles a little better IMO. Of course they fight and have misunderstandings. That's just sisters LOL!
As far as the romance, I thought it was cute and enjoyable, but not my favorite part. The romance element was a lot stronger in the 2nd and 3rd books and I liked it a lot better in those.
My favorite part though is Lara Jean herself. I just love her! Its so refreshing to see a teen that's sweet and classy, and really is comfortable with being herself. She has her moments of insecurities, but that just made her more realistic. I wish they had included more of her and her hobbies in the movie. They left out completely the fact that she volunteers every week at a senior living facility, and one of the residents there is one of her best friends that is constantly giving her (bad) love advice! Those are some hilarious scenes! Also her being crafty, her scrapbooking...and she bakes ALL THE TIME in the books, way more than in the movie. To me, that's the heart of these books, Lara Jean herself.
Mod
I went into it assuming, and finished it still believing, that it was a solid YA romance. Any other themes about family, belonging, etc, were just incidental to the main theme of: "I have a crush on him and ooo he might like me too!"
That sounds like maybe I'm being snarky, and I'm not! Teens (well, many teens, but maybe not all) love books like this, and therefore books like this are good things.
I agree Nadine, even though many teens really like the day to day troubles with family, identity etc. being there alongside the romance. I read this book a couple of years ago with my teen book club I host at work. I thought it was a cute read but the kids LOVED it.
I loved this movie so much that I think its causing me to stall on reading the book :/
Jenny wrote: "I've read all the books, actually, long before the movie came out. I definitely prefer the books, but I thought the movie was cute.My favorite parts about both are the bits with the family. I fee..."
Good point on the character development in the book. The baking was actually one of the questions I noted while reading... Was anyone else really jealous of all the sweets these characters eat? lol We didn't have many treats in the house as a kid and sugar had always upset my stomach. Now that I take gelatin everyday sugar doesn't make me feel sick, but I've developed a gluten allergy and shouldn't be eating sweet things anyway. But this book was giving me serious cravings for cookies and cupcakes!
I finished the book on Saturday and watched the movie that night. I definitely preferred the book. It had more depth to it than the movie and developed the characters more. I'm looking forward to reading the next book because I really enjoyed Lara Jean as a character.
I haven’t seen the movie yet but I feel like I’m going to like it more than the book. Or at least I hope because I wasn’t all that impresssed by the book. It was fun in a mindless way but the more I think about it the more things I find I really disliked.The biggest disappointment was Lara Jean herself. At first I felt like I could relate to her because she reminded me of how I was in high school--bit of a a loner and a homebody, a bit quirky, likes handicrafts, scared of driving, clueless about relationships, etc. But I think the author just over did it. She’s so immature it stopped being believable, then started being irritating.
The range of preferences between the book and movie and how people felt about them overall is interesting! It sounds like Ariel connected to Lara Jean at first, but it was lost through the course of the book. Did anyone else connect to any of the characters?
At first I thought I was similar to Margot (maybe slightly more the movie version than the book version though) but I don't think she was developed enough to know for sure. I mainly just connected with being the over-achieving oldest sibling who is somewhat of a third parent to the younger sibling(s), and goes off to live in other countries in their early 20s... That's about as far as the connection goes though, since she seemed a bit out-of-touch and guarded with her family. I'm an open book. ;)
I’m still reading it and struggling.
Ok! for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ! Sorry guys but this book I’m putting it aside I can’t seem to be into it and I don’t want to waste my time will try another time! So, I won’t be finishing the February Challenge hope March won’t be a YA or non fiction.
I loved reading this trilogy. Didn't like the movie though :/This was sweet and lovely read, hope you guys enjoy :)
Helene wrote: "I’m still reading it and struggling."Helene, I admire you! I trudged on ahead, thinking "surely, it will get better!" It did not, haha. I am with you on the remainder of the group reads; I would like to be challenged.
To answer the group discussion, I did not see the movie prior to reading the book, and based upon my reading I will not be watching the movie. It was just too juvenile for me, and I was frustrated with the "ending"... which was just a cliff-hanger to get you to read the next one in the series. Unfortunately, it didn't stir me to pick up the next book. I will say that when I first picked up this book and saw on the front cover "Now a Netflix film", I was intrigued and excited! But again, post-read... I'm going to save myself some time and brain cells.
I watched the movie before I read the book. I loved the movie and thought the book was ok. I think I liked the characters more in the movie. It's been several months since I read the book, but I'm thinking I liked Peter less in the books than in the movie.
Sara wrote: "I watched the movie before I read the book. I loved the movie and thought the book was ok. I think I liked the characters more in the movie. It's been several months since I read the book, but I'm ..."I agree, Sara. I thought Peter was more likeable and Josh less likeable in the movie than in the book. Josh was barely a factor at all in the movie.
I don’t really read a lot of contemporary books so I was not really excited to read this. I actually really enjoyed it and I’m glad I stepped into a new genre. I probably rated it higher than I would have if I read contemporary but this was a refreshing, cute little love story. The book I read before was The Handmaid’s Tale so after that, this book was perfect.
I have not watched the movie or read the book, but I got excited when the library let me know that the book was finally on hold for me and I could pick it up.
I read it over the last couple of days and then watched the movie after. I liked the family bits in the book. The way that Margot was totally super person in every way and how if you were Lara Jean taking that over that it would be so intimidating, and it was but how she kind of also didn't try to be Margot perfect. IE Pizza night Monday. Margot never would have gone for that but Lara Jean Kitty and dad? They were cool with pizza Monday's. Lara Jean wanting Kittty to have perfect cupcakes because she worried about people pitying poor motherless kitty, but when she let go and went to the party Kitty and dad did a fine job on the cupcakes. They were't what she would have done, but they were fine.
In the movie I preferred Peter in general. John Corbett because John Corbett! Chris wasn't a complete ass.
I felt like Josh was a near non-entity in the movie, but I didn't really miss him. And I think the sex talk while humiliating and cringeworthy was better in the movie because in the book Lara Jean felt like her dad was disapointed in her. But in the movie it felt less sex shaming. Especially in the book when dad was all, "I never had to do this with Margot." When you know that Margot had sex with Josh.
So really, while I didn't love either the movie or the book, I honestly enjoyed some things about both and preferred some bits of both.
I watched the movie a while back on Netflix and thought it was fun. So far I'm about 1/4 of the way into the book and it's close enough to the movie that the differences are confusing me a little. Like others mentioned, Josh seems to play a bigger role in the book, and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the story as much as an actual love triangle. Part of that though is that I'm not much of a contemporary romance person in general, and in a movie it can be fun and cute for a couple of hours and then I move on, but a book feels like a bigger commitment.
So far, it does feel like her family plays a huge role in the story though, which may be the main reason I'm still reading at this point.
Brandy wrote: "I read it over the last couple of days and then watched the movie after. I liked the family bits in the book. The way that Margot was totally super person in every way and how if you were Lara Je..."
Good point on the sex shaming part - I agree that's an issue.
Raquel wrote: "I watched the movie a while back on Netflix and thought it was fun. So far I'm about 1/4 of the way into the book and it's close enough to the movie that the differences are confusing me a little. ..."Yes, the family aspects of the story are present, but I was still hoping for more. Let us know how that works out from your perspective when you're done. :)
Ok so I tried to listen to this on audio but DNF at 40%. I couldn’t take the whining of the main character and it could have been just the narrator but it turned me off from then reading it. I just felt Lara Jean too immature for my personal taste. I then watched the movie and thought the movie was really cute for a teen flick. I tend to always read the books before the movies and at this point I could have just skipped the book. I’m probably in the minority here 😜
I finished the book yesterday - and really, like some others, struggled a bit to get through it because it was so juvenile! Eventually it picked up a bit but I thought there was a lot of fluff that could have been cut out to make the book a bit shorter. I think it would appeal just fine to middle grade girls, and maybe a bit older... but you see, I'm way beyond that (I'm a senior... not a high school senior, but a senior citizen!) Anyhow, for the audience it was written for - perfect. For me, not so much... and I thought (view spoiler) I haven't seen the movie and am not sure I want to sub to Netflix just to see this movie.
I finished the book yesterday! I thought it was pretty adorable, and I’m looking forward to watching it on Netflix this weekend (no kids, woohoo!)
Mod
Yeah I thought that too. I thought the movie handled that a bit better, she did seem more upset about it.
I enjoy reading romance novels, and I enjoyed this novel too, but that's a common problem I have with them: there is often a conflict of some sort, and I almost always think it's resolved much too easily without any of the pain / shock / deep emotion that I would experience in that situation.
I watched the movie a few months ago as well. I'm listening to the book on audio so I haven't finished it yet but so far I think the book is cute. The narrator does a good job distinguishing between all of the characters, which can be hard to do. All in all, I'm enjoying the book so far. It's a cute little thing to read on my way to and from work - light-hearted, not super complicated. I don't know if seeing the movie first helps or harms yet. Haha :)
Nadine wrote: "Linda wrote: "... and I thought (view spoiler) ..."Yeah I thought that too. I thought the movie handled that a bit better, she did seem more upset about it.
I enjoy reading romance novels, and ..."
I have this problem with comedies in general, including rom-coms! I'm slowly getting better about it, but a lot of things that other people find funny, I just find incredibly stressful, especially if it involves social embarrassment of any kind.
Just got this from my library today! I saw the movie when it was released on netflix and loved it so I'm super excited to read the book. It looks like a quick read and maybe I'll read the other two books in the series once I'm finished (not sure if I can make them fit for the challenge though)!
Xan wrote: "Just got this from my library today! I saw the movie when it was released on netflix and loved it so I'm super excited to read the book. It looks like a quick read and maybe I'll read the other two..."Great - let us know how the other two books go for you! I wasn't planning to read those, but could be convinced if more people in this discussion recommend them.
I watched the movie awhile ago and thought it was pretty cute. The joys of being old is that I can't remember a lot of the plot details, so reading the book feels fresh enough. I'm only a few chapters in at this point and will probably finish it this weekend. This isn't the type of book I read very much, but I don't mind it every once in awhile.She mentions at the beginning that she would write the letters as a way of saying goodbye to her crush. I wish I would have done that - I dragged out relationships and crushes well past any usefulness. Apparently I didn't know how to close.
I just started the book today and I am only 100 pages in but I love it so far. I saw the Netflix film when it first came out and I loved it so much that I immediately went out and bought the book. It didn't fit into my reading plan so it's been sitting on a shelf til now. So far I have gotten that warm excited feeling when things are super cute (I don't know a better way to describe this phenomena) about 4 times. I'm really excited to finish this one. It seems like a quick read and I'm already enthralled so I think end of day tmw I should finish it up.So far I wish that Kitty wasn't so mean. She was nicer in the movie.
Raquel wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Linda wrote: "... and I thought (view spoiler) ..."Yeah I thought that too. I thought the movie handled that a bit better, she did seem more upset about it.
I enjoy reading roman..."
I am like that with movies and TV!!! I kid you not, I have to pause sitcoms and the like so often to regain my composure because I get embarrassed for the characters.
Just finished and I wish I had the next one in hand (also it's 3am because I couldn't wait til morning to finish it). I loved the movie and fully intend to watch it again when my weekend starts. I liked the film better. The extra characters were less annoying in the movie I think. That being said, I can't wait to see what is next for Lara Jean and Peter and I found myself gushy for half the book! I really needed a light and fluffy read and this did the trick.
Started this one late last night and already made it halfway through!
I read the book then watched the movie and I have to say I enjoyed the movie more, like many people have said I found the movie made some of the characters more likeable such as Margot and Chris, also I felt it was more rounded and had a better structure, saying that I did really enjoy the book and thought it was cute and an easy read.
I just finished it, and I would say it was a three star book for me. Enjoyable, but not amazing, and I'm not sure I need to read the book AND watch the movie, despite a few differences. However, the ending was just different enough that I'm tempted to read the second book now...
I read the book quite a while ago now and just thought it was OK. I think I expected more because the series is so well loved by bloggers. I remember being a bit annoyed with Lara Jean and her coming across a lot younger than she was meant to be.I really liked the film though, it was cute and fun and like others have said, the characters overall seemed more likeable. I'm hoping Netflix adapts the next book because I was intrigued about what happens next, just not enough to read the book. I have different requirements and standards for films than books!
I finished the book over the weekend, and then I watched the movie again. While I liked the book better, it was close. Some of the plot worked better in the movie (like the reason the letters were sent out, the dad's discussion with her about sex because it was kind of funny, and certainly the more resolved ending). And I always like looking at John Corbett.The book gave me a more solid understanding of the dynamics of the family and what each of their roles were. And it helped a little bit in clarifying why Lara Jean acted the way she did at times. And while I liked the movie's ending better, the book ending made me immediately order the sequel from the library.
I could not read this genre repeatedly, but it is fun on occasion. It helped reconnect me to my earlier years.
One theme this book brought to mind was the idea of loving someone vs. being "in love" with someone. I think most of Lara Jean's experiences throughout the book were typical examples of puppy love, but also showing how being "in love" with someone works, especially when we're young. What did everyone else notice about that? Are high school kids capable of true romantic love, or is it more about who's "cool," "hot," or shares your hobbies and interests?
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Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Kindred (other topics)The Giver (other topics)
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (other topics)
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