Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsNot at all like the movie (in a good way)
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2019
I loved watching the movie version of this book, and I enjoyed how the characters were varied, but recognisable. The book, however, is far more raunchy, and goes into a really dark place towards the end. There are scenes I can recall from the movie showing up in the book (or vice versa really), and by and large the general thrust of the story still follows pretty closely. However, there are details that you can't quite show in the movie that show up in the book that fill in the blanks. The movie presents Bridget and Daniel's initial relationship as a whirlwind romance, whereas in the book, it paints a much sadder picture. Bridget clearly wants /something/ out of it, and Daniel is interested in either a hook up, or watching TV. He can barely hold a conversation with Bridget, and the guy has all the romance of a teenage boy. It makes their relationship all the more depressing, but also fleshes it out way more clearly when we figure out that Daniel's been with that other woman all along. It makes more /sense/ for that Daniel to do what he did.
Same goes for Mark. In the movie, it seems like all of a sudden there's this switch that flips, where Mark and Bridget are into each other. In the book, you see that cat and mouse game carry through, which makes their eventual getting together make way more sense. It's a series of they tried to get together, but either circumstances, Natasha, or International embezzlement and fraud would get in the way of that magic happening. It wasn't some snooty prince come down off his high horse to fraternise with the commoners. It was more of a slow burn that had been building throughout the story, with a much more satisfying conclusion.
If you like the movie (or even if you didn't like the movie), definitely give the book a read. It's very enjoyable.
