The Idea of You was written by Robinne Lee and published in 2017 as a debut novel. Robinne Lee is also an actress and she appeared in two Fifty Shades movies playing a key role. The Idea of You made me think a lot about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy actually, and I’m thinking maybe that’s where her inspiration came from, plus some One Direction fanfiction. Kind of goes without saying that’s not necessarily a good sign (although I can confirm I have read the entire Fifty Shades series and watched the movies, too). Maybe I’m making it sound worse than it is. But it’s not that bad, truly, the start of the book is actually enjoyable and you get attached to the story. The chapters are quite long, but they are very easily read and although the book is almost 500 pages long, it can be finished in just a few days – I think it took me a bit over a week because we had some people over and I didn’t have too much time to read.
I figured that a gesture that might take two minutes of your life could be a much more significant moment for someone else.
The way Millie Bobby Brown is Netflix’s star, that’s the same way Nicholas Galitzine is becoming Amazon Prime Video’s main name. This is the thrid movie I’ve seen on Prime Video where he played the main role. Not that I’m upset about it. After Cinderella (alongside Camila Cabello in 2021), he starred as Prince Henry in Red, White & Royal Blue last year. I read the book picturing him in every. single. scene. and it worked, he is literally perfect for this role and it shows in the movie, too. On the other hand, we have Anne Hathaway, Award winning actress. And she is beautiful in this role (as in any role she does), creating a beautiful image of the romantic affair imagined by Robinne Lee. Even with this adaptation I feel like if you haven’t read the book, you won’t really get the intensity of their attraction and why they get together so quickly etc., but maybe that’s just me. Overall, it was a very cute romantic comedy and I enjoyed it. It features original songs written especially for the fake band August Moon and these were sang by Nicholas Galitzine himself – listen here. Anne Hathaway is also a producer of this movie, alongside Gabrielle Union, Robinne Lee and others.
Solène is a 39 year old divorced single mother who falls in love with Hayes, a 20 year old boy band singer. Despite being a very spicy story with quite a bit of sexy scenes throughout, I thought the subject of the age gap difference and how this is being seen by the society (especially if you’re a woman) or how difficult day to day life can be for somebody with a very successful and public career (like a boy band) were somewhat decent.
The Idea of You is indeed a perfect beach read. Or picnic read, whatever you prefer. 😀 This was published in Romania by Editura Creator, and by Penguin in the UK.
Book vs. movie – spoiler warning!
· Solène’s daughter and her friends are not really into August Moon anymore, although in the book they are over the moon (see what I did there?)
· Her daughter’s age and friends’ names are different than the book; they decided to make Isabelle older by 3 years
· Some of the band names are different than the book, too, but they’ve kept Hayes and Oliver
· Only in the movie Solène finds herself into Hayes’ trailer by mistake, that’s not how they meet in the book
· Solène’s 40th birthday is spent with her friends, not Hayes, which is again differen than the book
· Hayes’ parents story is different than the book and in the movie we don’t even get to meet them
· Solène’s husband, Daniel, cheated only in the movie, but in the book he is just a loser
· Daniel and Eva break-up in the movie
· The biggest difference is that in the movie Solène and Hayes stay together although is a 5 year time jump at the end where you see them reunite
Trailer:
The Idea of You is now streaming on Prime Video.
