P.S. I Still Love You Movie Review

*this review contains spoilers for the book series To All the Boy's I've Loved Before

If you've been here a while, you know that I love the To All the Boy's I've Loved Before book series. I re-read it all the time, and I absolutely adored the first movie. Clearly, I was very excited for the second movie adaptation, P.S. I Still Love You to come out. Surprisingly, it took me a long time to actually get around to watching it though. The movie came out in February, and then the world almost ended so I only got around to watching it a couple of weeks ago. Again to my surprise, I didn't like the movie much at all. Here's why:

When the To All the Boy's movie came out, the world fell in love with Noah Centineo. Admittedly, I did too. I didn't know much about him, but he brought Peter Kavinsky to life and I just thought he did a fabulous job. But a couple of months later, the hype kinda wore off. He's said some problematic/douchey things, and honestly it's more like a meme now to dislike him. I'm not a fan of his anymore, but I still like how he portrays Kavinsky and didn't expect anything less for P.S. I Still Love You.

That being said, John Ambrose is my ultimate dream guy. I do overall prefer him to Peter, and I was SO EXCITED when Jordan Fisher was cast in the role. However, my excitement wavered when I watched the movie. Don't get me wrong, I thought Jordan did a fabulous job in the role. He's perfect. But, he was given NOTHING TO WORK WITH. John Ambrose was reduced to a kinda flat, one- dimensional character in this storyline. He was given little to no screen time compared to the huge role he has in the book. I wanted more of him. I NEEDED MORE OF HIM. I felt as if John was reduced to a wimpy secondary character. He was paid dust.

I thought the movie was rushed and disorganized. We don't get to see much of Lara Jean's and John Ambrose's blossoming relationship, and even Stormy was not fully developed at all. Instead we got a little bit of Peter being a dick, a little bit of a starlight ball being planned (Idk why they scrapped the USO party), and then Peter and Lara Jean get back together in a happily ever after. In my opinion, even Lara Jean and Peter's love story wasn't fully fleshed out. They had significantly less chemistry than in the previous movie.

I also thought the conflict was poorly handled in this movie. In the book, Peter messes up a lot and is really moody. However here, I thought that Lara Jean was blamed for most of the issues between her and Peter, and he barely apologizes for all the dumb stuff he pulled. Peter has to work hard in the book to gain back Lara Jean's trust, but here it seems like she takes him back like a lovesick puppy, and she is the one who ends up apologizing for everything. What is up with that?

Overall, I was not impressed. Was this a nice, sappy movie with some lovable characters? Yes. But, it did not capture the complexity of the relationships that the book has. The book is a big change since the first one, and I thought that the movie would reflect that. However, all I really saw was a John Ambrose who had so much potential but was given a weak storyline, and a potentially toxic, and too quick to forgive relationship from Peter and Lara Jean. I'm sad to say this, but this movie fell flat for me.

Have you seen P.S. I Still Love You? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Movie Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

If you have been absent from book twitter for the past week, then you might be unaware that the To All the Boys movie came out on Friday. People have pretty much been going mental over how utterly adorable is, myself included, and I just knew I had to write a full review on it. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible, but if you haven't seen the movie yet and want to go into it fully blind, then you can just skip over this review, I won't mind.

Release Date: August 17
Rating: PG-13
Director: Susan Johnson
Run-Time: 1 hr 39 min

To All the Boys was released on netflix as opposed to in theatres which I thought was such a smart move. As someone who doesn't have anyone that would be interested in seeing the movie with me, I didn't have to go to the theatres myself and instead could enjoy from the comfort of my own home. And boy was this film comforting.

The acting was superb. I was a bit hesitant over Peter's casting when it was first announced; Noah Centineo just didn't look like a Peter to me, but by his first scene, I instantly fell in love. Right down to the way he talked, was utterly Peter K. I also really loved Lana Condor as Lara Jean. She was so cute and awkward, exactly how I pictured her. Lana and Noah also had impeccable chemistry, without being overly sexualised.

This movie had such witty dialogue and actually made me laugh out loud at scenes. Some parts were so quirky and relatable that I couldn't help but chuckle. It was funny with no overly dramatic points, perfect for a light and easy to get through film.

Even though the film was not exactly like the book, it stood on its own as a heartwarming tale. Jenny Han even made a cameo which was so sweet and got me really excited. It was quite emotional to see a series I have loved so much be so well received by the general public. And can we talk about that post credits scene?! There HAS to be a sequel now.

If you haven't seen this movie already and you have Netflix, please do. It needs to be hyped up and I am convinced that this story needs to continue.

Have you seen To All the Boys I've Loved Before? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by: Jenny Han

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Published:  April 15th 2014 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Rating: 4 Stars 

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone had a great New Year! I was going to do a 2014 survey, but I figured that since I was in a reading slump for the latter part of the year, and my blog hasn't even been up for a year, then there was no point in doing one. There will definitely be one for 2015 of course! Here is my book review: 

I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, and I finally got it over break. The book follows Lara Jean Song-Covey, who writes letters to all of the boys that she has developed serious feelings for. However, when the letters are mysteriously delivered, Lars Jean gets caught up trying to convince the boys that she no longer loves them, including her sister's ex-boyfriend whom she develops feelings for again. Lara Jean soon realises that she will have to face the truth in order to make things right in her relationships. 

This book was incredibly charming. I think that the author did a great job at the writing, which was beautifully written and creative.The book was descriptive without being overly dramatic and cheesy, which can happen in a lot of romance novels. This book had just the right amount of humour and romance which I feel kept the book realistic. I also loved the author's use of plot twists. I was afraid that the book would become predictable, but it was not what I expected at all. 

Another thing that was unique about the book, is that it contained family relationships rather then just romantic relationships. Lara Jean and her sisters had a very tight bond, which I found to be incredibly cute and relatable to any teenage girl with sisters. 

There were a few things that could have been improved in the book. For example, Lara Jean was a very annoying character. She was ditzy and impulsive, two of the things that I can't stand in a character. I understand that she is fictional, however she should know like any other person that you should not go after your sister's ex-boyfriend. I felt so bad for Lara Jean's sister because I felt like Lara Jean was betraying her. That being said, there would be no plot if there wasn't any drama between characters. 

The ending of the book was okay, although I felt like I needed more information. The book kind of ended in the middle of a sentence which was really annoying. There is a sequel in the works, ( I don't think I would be able to carry on without one,) but I still feel like Han could have ended the story with some closure.

I rated the book 4 stars because it was interesting without being cheesy, and I loved the contrast in relationships. However I would have liked to have seen more of an ending, and less of an annoying protagonist. Why does the sequel have to be so far away? :(

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Bye for Now!
Emily @ Paperback Princess