This debut novel by Cecelia Ahern has won the hearts of thousands across the world and has earned this young author a few awards and a lot of recognition. It has been turned into a film and to be perfectly honest, this is one of the only books I have read where I prefer the film, having read the book once, watched the film...well, never mind how many times! Now I am going to compare the book and the movie to get my point across with this review as I seem to be one of the only people to loathe this book with a passion, and I want to give valid reasons rather just state and not elaborate.
After watching this film, I eagerly purchased the book, excited beyond belief that I would get more time with some beautiful people that had such an impact on my emotional state, and shocked that I had not found these friends earlier...man was I wrong. P.S., I Love You follows the story of Gerry and Holly...well, actually just Holly. Supposedly soul mates, it follows Holly in the aftermath of Gerry's sudden and shocking death and how he tries to help her through her grief by sending her letters, and how she attempts to rebuild her life and move on. The only reason I finished this book was because I wanted to see Gerry and thought that he would be the redeeming feature and sadly he makes an appearance only twice in this book. You do feel the impact of his sad death throughout, but actual evidence of the love story is lacking. You are just expected to believe that they were madly in love without any real proof that they were. The more I read, the more whiny Holly became and to be perfectly honest by the end of the book, I was so angry and disappointed with her that I felt it was no wonder Gerry died- I could hardly stand her and I at least got to get away from her when I wanted to. Horrible to say, but it's the truth.
Having said all that, the writing was good, but not great, and you can tell that this is the author's first novel. Some plot lines I felt were not necessary and detracted from the main point she was trying to make. Like I said, Holly whined for most of the book and didn't seem to want to try and help herself. Some of the events did not make sense to me, some of the plots were irrelevant, and most of the characters were annoying. The only character I found myself liking was Holly's elder brother (who we are not really supposed to like 'til the end) and the only time the book grabbed my attention and seemed to improve was two-thirds of the way through and was a minor storyline which only lasted for a few pages. With the exception of Holly's brothers, the characters all felt two dimensional and lacked depth and definition. Disappointing.
In the movie, you get to see before and after life with Gerry and life without, and it is linked in such a way that you are left wanting more. The movie as they go through the trials and tribulations of life. The script writers got rid of a lot of stuff that didn't help the story and edited where necessary (i.e. Holly's million siblings in the book were narrowed down to one) and the movie actually made sense of her thoughts and actions (i.e. in the book, Holly's parents are together but in the movie her insecurities are answered because her father had run off). To me, this made perfect sense. I also really loved Gerry. He is dead from the first few minutes but you can clearly see why they got together and their love is obvious. You can see how she progresses emotionally as Gerry's anniversary approaches and it is done in such a light and comical way that as much as I wanted to cry throughout most of the movie, I found myself laughing at their antics and rejoicing in their love. I also felt that the author could not have liked Holly very much, and by that I mean that an awful lot of bad stuff happened to the poor kid just when life for her was starting to improve and then we would be thrust back into the doom and gloom.
In summary, I found the book to be dull and lifeless in comparison with the movie which struck a chord with me and clearly displayed the emotions that the book should have evoked. The story had so much promise and such potential that i was more than disappointed with it, and actually found myself editing and changing aspects of the book that I did not like in my head whilst I trudged through. I get that her husband just died, I get that she is in a lot of pain and I felt sorry for her, I really did--what an awful situation and one I hope never to go through, but really, why would I want to read an entire book about this with no hope of a happy ending? It's just miserable, really.
I am surprised I finished it, and surprised that she found a publisher. I think she should fire her editors personally because they did her no favors allowing her to publish what feel like a first draft. Having said that, I do wonder if getting published was really because of her talent or in fact because her dad was/is the Irish Prime Minister, and if her success is because she genuinely deserves it or she is riding on her father's coat-tails. Whatever the reason, I don't think I will be reading her books again.
Do yourself a favor, watch the movie. Or if you must read the book, read it and don't watch the movie. Guaranteed, you will only like one and not the other. I have not heard of anyone who liked both. At least the movie can be watched and finished within two hours.
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