I remember watching the movie version of this
book when I was still in high school. It was at my friend’s house. I loved it
back then. I thought it was so sweet, innocent and heartwarming. It has also
brought me to know actors Callan McAuliffe and Madeline Carroll who both
starred in the film. The setting took place in the 90’s, that's a plus. I am a
sucker for nostalgia concept stories. That's also why I decided to start
reading the book. And gladly, I regret nothing.
It’s easy to look back and see it, and it’s easy to give the advice, but the sad fact is, most people don’t look beneath the surface until it’s too late.
What I really like about the book is that I am
able to know the two sides of the story, both Bryce’s and Juli’s. It was a lot
of help to understand the characters more, especially that it mainly tackles
unrequited love. I love how simple-minded Juli is and how she is so beautiful
inside. She reminds me of one of my current classmate whom everyone thinks is
strange. I don’t really know her and we rarely say hi to each other but the way
she acts and speaks makes me think there’s something odd about her. So I can’t
really blame Bryce if he felt the way he did. It’s a normal reaction of anyone.
I mean, who would not freak out if someone would start sniffing on them? The
only thing Bryce forgot to do was to know the reason behind. He never bothered
to make friends with Juli, so he ended up ignoring and hating her for so many
years.
I find the romance so innocent and pure. Both
Juli and Bryce are teen kids (kids who JUST turned teens), they are still on
the verge of experiencing the awkward first love or puppy love or whatever that
is called. I also like how the story doesn’t only deal with them two. It
explores their each family. The characters aren’t one-dimensional. In fact,
most characters turned out to be the opposite of how they seem to be. There’s a
reality in that actually, how sometimes in life we appear to be what we are
not, how we admire people that aren’t admirable at all, how we turn to hate
someone because we are afraid. Because ironically, we get blinded by our own
eyes. We often forget to see that deep within us lies the real beauty.
The book made me tear up many times. I admit
I’m a crybaby but I’m not being shallow this time. The book has a message and
has the heart. It got me thinking if I am what I really am or if I know the
people around me as who they really are.
I really really love the book, it's gonna be
my favorite from now on. I can't say if the book is better than the movie
because I've watched the movie like ages ago and I can only recall some parts
of it but if I have spare time, I'll watch the movie again. So maybe soon I can
share my thoughts about that here.
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