I’ll be honest; I’m not a huge fan of rom-coms. I find them very clichéd and they all follow the same story: unexpected meeting, falling in love, split up, reunion, all ends happily ever after. The End. Just doesn’t appeal to me.

Now I’m not saying that I hate all rom-coms; I do enjoy the occasional one. Unfortunately in this case, Love Rosie was not one of them.

Love Rosie is based of the 2004 novel by Irish author Cecelia Ahern, originally published under the title Where Rainbows End. It tells the story of childhood friends, Rosie and Alex as they grow up together in Dublin. They are always together right from when they are little kids, but then are suddenly separated when Alex and his family move away to America. Then, just as Rosie is about to join him, she receives unexpected news that forces her to stay in Ireland and ruining any potential future with Alex.

The book was written through letters, emails and instant messaging as years, relationships and circumstances continually challenge their friendship. The question of whether they were always meant to be more than friends, tortures them throughout the years. As setbacks keep interfering with their plans, Alex and Rosie are forced to truly question their lives and how they feel about one another.

Normally, I don’t read modern romance novels, but I enjoyed Where Rainbows End. It was one of those stories where you can actually see yourself interacting and being friends with the characters. It also reflects real life: moving away, new jobs, love and betrayal; all reflected through letters and emails. Rosie in particular, went through such a character change – falling pregnant at 18, meant she had to change her whole life, but she grew into a strong young woman, determined to achieve her goal of working in hospitality. Alex was one character that I had a love-hate relationship. In some parts of the story, I liked him….other times, I wanted to punch him! The whole story was fun for me to read it on a beach in Lanzarote! 

Sadly, Love Rosie is not fully based off the novel. Very few aspects of the story appear in the film. Personally, it was a little bit insulting for the film to be set in England, while the original story is set in Ireland. The story where Alex moves away because his father gets a job, is completely scrapped – instead Alex and Rosie are only separated when Alex gets a place at Harvard. Rosie gets pregnant by her former crush Greg, while in the book she falls pregnant to a boy named Brian who only appears in her daughter Katie’s life when Katie is 13.

The most frustrating aspect of the movie was the length. The movie takes place over 12 years, when the novel takes place over 45. To be fair to the actors, it would be extremely difficult to be able to act out this long amount of time, but it was a bit annoying all the same.

Lily Collins is one of those actresses that makes me question their talent. She was born into showbiz as the daughter of Genesis rock star, Phil Collins and got her first big role in The Blind Side in 2010. I wasn’t sure what to think of her in the beginning. As Snow White in Mirror Mirror, she came across as bland and wooden – she tried too hard to come off as strong, but she wasn’t convincing to me. In City of Bones, she got on my nerves as Clary Fray, which is sad because I had been a fan of the Mortal Instruments at the time. Plus, her hair wasn’t red enough! Admittedly, I saw improvement in To The Bone and especially, she was very enjoyable to watch in Emily in Paris (I watched the whole season in one day!), but to me, she was a huge disappointment as Rosie Dunne.

Love Rosie has become one of the many forgotten rom-coms that’s only remembered by true fans. Where Rainbows End is certainly a book to pick up and enjoy and is certainly superior against its movie counterpart. If you are looking for a decent romance book, pick up a copy of Cecilia Ahern’s novel. But if you want a night in with girlfriends, watching rom-coms, look away from this movie and find something else.