Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Harper Collins
Buy this book: Amazon / Book Depository
Best friends since forever, Alex and Rosie have shared their hopes, dreams - and firsts. But one awkward moment at eighteen, one missed opportunity, and life sends them hurtling in different directions. Although they stay in touch, misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck seem to be conspiring to keep them apart. Can they gamble everything - even their friendship - on true love?
Love, Rosie was originally published under the title Where Rainbows End, but I could only find the movie tie in edition. I'd decided to pick this book up because I'd seen the trailer for the film and really wanted to see it. I'm one of those people who always feels the need to read the book first, so when I saw it on special I decided to take a chance. I had hopes that the book would be as funny and romantic as the trailer looked. Unfortunately it ended up being a reading experience that was similar to The Maze Runner for me. It wasn't what I was expecting at all and worked to put me off seeing the film. But, from what I'd seen from the trailer, it looked like they wouldn't be sticking too close to the story in the book.
I didn't realise before buying the book but, the book is told entirely through letters, notes, emails and instant messages between the characters. That was surprising and took a long time for me to get used to. It's used so that they can quickly summarise events and span a long period of time. The problem with that format is that everything needs to be explained in these letters. It's all telling and no showing, which never works well for me. It also means that the letters never come across as sounding authentic, they don't read like something you would actually write to someone. That format also makes it hard for me to connect to the characters or feel like I ever come to really know them or how they are feeling.
They needed a pep talk from this guy! |
Something nobody in this book does... EVER! |
I'd had this idea that Love, Rosie was going to be a really romantic, sweet story. I thought it was going to be filled with funny, cute, aww moments. I couldn't have been more wrong. To me at least, this book was not romantic at all. Maybe it would be for an older reader, or someone who married the asshole, or had a failed marriage or is still hoping to find someone. But to me it was just really frustrating to have to read about two ridiculously stupid characters as they waste away 50 years of their lives by being dumb. Really dumb. Ridiculously dumb. I hate them both.
2/5 Butterflies
Love, Rosie suffers from a plot that is dragged out far longer than necessary. The plot gets repeated by the halfway mark and so it gets a bit boring. The characters inability to help themselves and their poor decision making made them very hard to like. I couldn't really root for a romance when I just wanted to hit them both. But my biggest issue with Love, Rosie is that it wasn't cute, funny or romantic. It was a rather depressing read, I finished it feeling completely deflated and unsatisfied with the whole thing. I can't imagine wasting my life in the way that they did, how utterly depressing. In my opinion, save your time and just go see the movie. The movie isn't amazing but it is funny, entertaining and a lot better than the book.
Aww... so sorry to know that you didn't like it. I have been looking REALLY forward to reading the book because the movie trailers seem SO AWESOME and I, too, am one of those people who stick to the sacred Golden Rule of Reading, Read the Book First! I was really looking forward to it but now you've got me worried... :( Hope you have a much better experience with the movie! The movie seems awesome so far!!! <3 :)
ReplyDelete~Fari
A Recent Post:
My Annoyingly Long List of Bookish Pet Peeves! (Part One XD) @ My Little Corner For Books
The movie trailer is what made me want to read the book two. But I've seen the film and it's so much better. It's also a lot different. So I don't know if you even need to read the book before seeing it.
DeleteI don't know if it's just because I'm writing this in the middle of the night, but I found this review hilarious. I could really feel your frustration!!! I saw this book at work but I wouldn't have read it anyway because I anticipated an overdose of Aww. Even though I turned out to be wrong, I don't think I would've liked this either! Aw. Haha. Very entertaining review. Sorry you didn't like it, though! =(
ReplyDeleteMe too! But I must admit that I had a lot of fun writing my negative review. It's nice to just get some of the frustration out. I'm also happy that you found it funny, at least someone gets my sense of humour ;)
DeleteI don't always say this... but I think the movie would be better. I think they're not doing the 50 year thing. I read somewhere that the movie will do 12 years instead of 50 so that's more tolerable and less miserable, I guess. I still want to read the book though. - Joy @ The Bookshelf Intruder
ReplyDeleteYes, they stick to 12 years and it works a whole lot better. I couldn't imagine them trying to stretch it out over 50 years in the film, it would get really annoying.
DeleteI GOT SO ANGRY AT THE TIME SPAN THING AS WELL! I mean, goodness gracious, did it really have to lead into their old ages. Gah, that got me so angry in the end because they just never learnt. The movie was so much better and to be honest, I'm so glad that it didn't drag into their 50s. The movie ended where the the book should off--with the events fast forwarded about 20 years, jeebus. Fantastic review, Charnell! You've put down all my thoughts x
ReplyDeleteI don't know why she thought dragging it out that long was a good idea. It just made me hate the characters and how stupid they were. They needed to just speak up and tell each other how they felt. They wasted so much time and for no good reason at all. I was not impressed. So happy with the decisions they made for the film adaptation.
DeleteOuch with this book, ouchie! Definitely not giving this a try any time soon, if ever. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, I wouldn't recommend it! ;)
DeleteOh no! I can totally understand why this didn't work for you, how disappointing! This may be one of those rare times where the movie is actually better than the book.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely was a time where the film was better, thank god!
DeleteOhhhh dear. I want to see the movie though. I read this when I was like 14/15 and enjoyed it - I don't remember much about it, but I know I liked it. So scared of a reread right now lol R x
ReplyDeleteIt just really didn't work for me, it wasn't cute or romantic! I loved the film though :)
DeleteEh, this doesn't sound like a book I would like! I can't believe it spans such a long period of time - it would be frustrating to have that much of their lives shown to you, especially as books are usually just a snippet of what is happening to the character. I also don't like the sound of it being repetitive... in total I think this is one of those books I am going to skip. I hope you like the movie a lot more than the book.
ReplyDeletehttp://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/11/transformed-blog-tour-giveaway.html
It's so repetitive that it made me start to hate the characters. I didn't get why they kept making the same mistakes over and over again. I highly recommend skipping the book and just watching the film.
DeleteOh, so sorry to hear you didn't enjoy this one, Charnell! The trailer of the film looks really promising, and I enjoy the actors. I like the fact that the book is told in letters/emails/etc, but didn't know that it was paced from childhood up until the characters were in their 50's. That kind of puts me off. I think I'll still plan on reading this one, but maybe I'll just watch the movie without bothering to read the book first. Thanks for a wonderful review, Charnell - hopefully your next read is much better.
ReplyDeleteThe book span was far too long, it gets very frustrating! I just came to really despise the characters after they kept making the same mistakes over and over. I'd recommend the film, but not the book.
DeleteI hadn't even heard of this one, but it sounds like I won't be reading it. That's an insane time period to cover!! And I can see if they just keep doing the same dumb things over and over again that it would drive me crazy too. Not to mention the whole technology thing and what year it is, etc. That's something that can stay in the back of my mind an entire book and bother me. Great review…looks like I'll be seeing the movie without reading the book (and I'm the same way, I like the read the book first if there is one). Great review! ~Pam
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why the author wanted it to span such a long time, but it did not work for me. Watching the characters repeat their mistakes over and over again just got old pretty fast. It also made them very unlikeable.
DeleteHuh. I have no plan to actually pick up this book(I've yet to read an Ahern book). But even if I had a thought about you've definitely made up my mind for me. Does not sound like a book I would enjoy either. It kind of sounds like it had a One Day vibe, which I loved, one of my most favourite books. But I guess it clearly doesn't deliver there. Great review! I might think about seeing the movie next year if I come across it on Netflix. But definitely a no for the book.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
No, it doesn't! I read One Day and enjoyed that a lot more. I would recommend the film but not the book.... EVER!
Delete