'To All The Boys I Loved Before:' Book vs. Movie

Written by: Sarah Riley 

As many regular Netflix-users might know, the Netflix original movie To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was a big success when it was first released this past summer. However, few know that the film is based on the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before book trilogy written by Jenny Han, with the movie is mainly centered around the first book in the series. Even though the book and movie have the same plot and characters, they do have some differences to them that may or may not have been noticed by fans who have read the book(s) and also seen the film. Here are a couple of key differences between the book and the movie:

1. The youngest of the Covey sisters, Kitty, was written to be of elementary-school-age in the book. However, in the movie, Kitty was a sixth grader in middle school. This age gap gave us an insight into how Kitty’s personality as a younger child compares to her personality as a young preteen in the movie. Kitty’s transition from a child to a young adult between the book and movie was a smooth transition that shows readers and viewers of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before how Kitty’s joyful and fierce personality and traits stick with her even as she goes through the process of growing up.

Source: Teen Vogue 

2. One of the more obvious contrasts between the book and the movie were the different amounts of the presence of the character Josh Sanderson-- the Covey family's close friend and next-door neighbor, Lara Jean’s former crush, and eldest sister Margot’s ex-boyfriend. Those are only a few and most significant of the handful of roles Josh played in the story. At the beginning of the book, Josh and his connection with the Coveys seems crucial to the story, but as the plot goes forward, mentions of his character are less frequent. In the film adaptation, however, Josh’s character fades into the background when the lead male character and primary love interest Peter Kavinsky takes over. Ultimately, Peter becomes the main male focus in the plot, making Josh less of an attention-point.

Source: Netflix 

3.   John Ambrose McClaren is a minimal character in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and is introduced as one of the recipients of Lara Jean’s love letters. His role is minimal in the book and the movie, but in different ways. In the book version, Lara Jean is reminded of John and her past feelings for him and even goes to one of his Model UN events to possibly reconnect with him. However, in the movie version, John is mentioned briefly and is shown standing at Lara Jean’s house at the end of the movie. John and his out-of-the-blue arrival act as a cliffhanger to the captivating romantic comedy. This detail of the story is not extremely crucial to the plot, more of a side note, but it is another example of how To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and its film adaptation differentiate from one another.

Source: Netflix

Overall, both the movie and the film were very entertaining to read and watch. Even though the book and movie have the same plot, they both focus on different side details of the storyline. Preference of the book or the film depends on which details you prefer to pay attention to more within the story. Either way, Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was a pleasant, humorous, and exciting book to read and film to see and would be a good selection for young teens who enjoy romantic-comedies and/or teen drama genres.

Source: Amazon

Source: Netflix

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