To All the Boys I've Loved Before: Book or Movie?

I’ll be honest, I watched the movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before before I even knew it was a book. I haven’t been in the YA game for a while, which to be honest, is a shame, because YA is great, even if I'm not necessarily a “young” adult anymore. Feel free to humor me by calling me young, I'll take it.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han is about high school students, and obviously I’m not that young, but I’m telling you I LOVED the movie (all three of them if I’m honest with you) so I was very interested to see how the book measured up. I asked around #bookstagram, which if you are not part of the bookstagram community, I suggest joining all of us book nerds there. You will rarely find another corner of the internet with people as friendly and as willing to give you book recommendations as bookstagram. You can even find me there @thebookfeastblog.

Anyway, bookstagram had nothing but good things to say about the To All the Boys novel, so I decided to give it a shot. I was not disappointed!

If you thought Lara Jean was cute and charming in the movie, she is even more so in the book. You can’t help but love her, empathize with, and just want her to find happiness, even among the crazy mess she finds herself in.

The book does not follow exactly the same storyline as the movie. It does have some deviations. I also think that, as charming as Lara Jean is in the movie, I liked her even more in the book, and Peter’s character was a bit different than the movie. For those reasons, I highly recommend reading the book even if you’ve already seen the movie.

This is such a cute book, such a fun read. And if you haven’t watched the movie or read the book, here is just a little synopsis for you without any spoilers. Lara Jean writes a love letter to every boy she has ever had a crush on, just as she is ready to let the crush go. Just as her older sister leaves for college, leaving her to navigate high school without her, Lara Jean’s love letters somehow get mailed out, five in all.

By the way, I also totally suggest watching the movie as well, it is really well done and super cute. I don’t always suggest movies made from books because some of them are really terrible (looking at you Woman in the Window), but I think Netflix hit this one out of the park.

Happy reading book lovers! Don’t forget to let me know what you thought of the book. Comment below or leave a comment for me on Facebook or Instagram @thebookfeastblog

Singing Praises for Where the Crawdads Sing?

Hey there everyone! I hope summer has been going well for all of you hungry readers out there and I hope you enjoyed the July Book of the Month, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I liked this as a summer read because so much of it takes place at the beach or on the water, reminding me of those summer days on the cape smelling the sea air.

I went into this book originally thinking it was more of a mystery, but I think it’s much just about Kya and her coming-of-age story than the murder mystery. I think if you go into this book wanting it to be murder mystery focused, you’re going to be disappointed.

It took me probably at least five chapters to really start to get invested or to really have interest in this book. Delia Owens has a unique writing style that I think I kind of had to get used to before reading this book came a little more easily for me. Her descriptions are beautiful, but sometimes, especially when I was expecting the focus to be more on the murder, a little much for me.

What I did really enjoy though was seeing the growth of Kya throughout the book and watching the careful character development. I have to say, the character development was excellent in this book.

I ended up enjoying this book, but it won’t be making my list of favorites anytime soon. What did everyone else think? Comment below or leave a comment on Facebook or Instagram letting me know what you thought of this one and don’t forget to keep an eye out for the Perfect Pairing, coming soon! What dish do you think I’ll make for this one? You’ll have to wait and see!

Your Next Thriller Should Be The Silent Patient

Let me start with, not all thrillers are made equal. Some are a slow burn, some that are so similar to other books you’ve read that you actually forget you’ve read them, and then some just get it right. They catch your attention from the beginning and then continue to keep you captivated throughout. And the best ones of all are the ones where you don’t guess the ending.

I really enjoyed The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. Set in the UK, Theo is a psychotherapist who has one goal: help a patient famous for murdering her husband and then refusing to speak or even make a sound.

I am one of those people who think books are instantly made more interesting by the introduction of a psych ward, so The Silent Patient already won some points for me on that front, but this book doesn’t solely focus on that; it goes beyond that. The chapters are short but each one has a purpose and the way this book is written, it holds attention so well.

This book is the very definition of a page-turner.

And my favorite part, while I was slightly on the right track of what was going on in this book, I definitely did not guess the ending. And that’s always the best part, right? Like a really delicious decadent dessert after a yummy meal. If you guess the ending, it’s not nearly as sweet. But this one definitely got me, and I loved it.

If you’re looking for a thriller, The Silent Patient should top your To Be Read list!