Where Rainbows End vs. Love, Rosie | Film and Book Review

I've just finished reading 'Where Rainbows End' by Cecelia Ahern, and immediately had to watch the movie version, 'Love, Rosie'.

The reason that I've decided to talk about them together, as opposed to only reviewing the book, is mainly because I didn't have enough to say about the book on its own to justify reviewing it.

Alex (Sam Claflin) and Rosie (Lily Collins) have been best friends since childhood. But when they turn 18 and their paths start to diverge, they realise how much they need each other.

I love the idea of this story. Whether in book or movie form, the idea of childhood best friends realising that they were always meant for each other is something that I'm really into.

The book version of this story is written entirely of notes, emails, letters, instant messages and any other type of written media, and I loved this. Not only did it make the book really quick to read, but it's almost like you're invading someone's most private thoughts and really getting to know them. 

On the other hand, of course, the movie couldn't continue this, though it did make sure that we saw and heard all of the letters and emails that went back and forth between Rosie and Alex. Of the two methods, I definitely felt a bit closer to Rosie and Alex while reading the book.

There were a lot of extra characters in the book that didn't end up being in the film. At first, this threw me a bit, but looking at these two versions of the story, I actually prefer the amount of characters used in the film. Yes, in the book we have the time and space to hear about all of these characters, but the film completely cuts this down, takes away any complications, and makes everything make a lot more sense.

However, in terms of the supporting characters that get to be in both the book and film, I preferred reading about them than watching them. This is particularly true for Katie, Ruby and Toby. These characters that were given so much personality through their notes, emails and instant messages were reduced to the background, and I hated that. If the book had only focused on Rosie and Alex, as the film did, then I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Having said that, while I enjoyed the background characters in the book more, I did enjoy Rosie and Alex more on screen. I loved seeing the chemistry between the actors, I loved actually being able to hear them speak and voice their opinions, and I loved that every time the characters were together, it felt like no time had passed.

In terms of the length of time that the book and film take place, I actually preferred the film's timings. Yes, it was interesting to see Rosie and Alex almost get to their 50s, but I loved the fact that they were younger by the time the film ended. It solved one of my frustrations about the book - mainly how much time was wasted!

Overall, I love this story in both medias, and while I thought the film was a great adaptation, I have to say that I definitely preferred reading the book.

Book Rating - 3/5

Film Rating - 5.5/10