Title: P.S. I Love You

Author: Cecelia Ahern

Publisher: Hyperion 2004

Genre: Romance

Pages: 470

Rating:  4/5 stars  Movie: 4/5

Reading Challenges: SubGenre - Romance, Contemporary; New Author; Eclectic - Movie; 52 Books - W15

How I Got It: I own it!

Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.

This is a typical chick lit type of book, but it has the advantage of including a not annoying protagonist.  I really like Holly.  She felt real to me.  She's not some stereotype.  She has her faults, but shows great growth throughout the book.  The side characters are interesting as well.  I loved Ciara and Declan as the "crazy siblings."  There's a great rounding out of people in this novel.  Overall, I really enjoyed Holly's journey back to life.  I am also glad that it didn't have the fairy tale ending.

Movie:

The movies keeps fairly faithful to the book.  We still see Holly's journey back to life.  The details sometime get changed, but I'm okay with that.  The changes make sense for a movie version of the story.  I usually don't like Hillary Swank, but in this movie she's okay.  I really liked the rest of the actors.  They fit the parts fairly well.  I enjoyed the movie, it just wasn't absolutely amazing.  Overall, a good adaptation of the novel.