These 'To All The Boys 2' Changes From The Book To The Movie Are Pretty Major
Before To All the Boys I've Loved Before and its recently released sequel became rom-com must-sees on Netflix, they were first romance novels. Author Jenny Han's first book in the series came out back in 2014, and she quickly continued Lara Jean Covey's love story with two sequels in 2015 and 2017. Of course, translating a book into film always involves some changes to the original story, and that was definitely the case for Netflix's second movie in the To All the Boys trilogy. These To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You book-to-movie changes reveal just how different the latest movie adaptation really is from its source material.
Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers for To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. Netflix dropped the To All the Boys sequel on Friday, Feb. 12, just in time for Valentine's Day. Fittingly, it introduced a brand-new love interest for fans to fall for. While the first movie was all about Lara Jean's undeniable chemistry with Peter Kavinsky, P.S. I Still Love You complicated their relationship by introducing LJ's former crush, John Ambrose McClaren. The way the new movie played out had some pretty big differences from the original story, though.
1. The movie started way later into the book.
Because of how Netflix's To All the Boys I've Loved Before adaptation was plotted, P.S. I Still Love You actually began several chapters deep into the story of the second book. Remember that whole scandal with Peter and Lara Jean getting caught making out in the hot tub? That is actually at the beginning of the second book, but it was included in the first movie instead. Further, while the hot tub video only plays a small part in the second movie, it is a much bigger deal in the book, with Lara Jean's dad even finding out about it.
2. Josh is missing.
Margot's ex-boyfriend Josh is a big part of the first movie, but he's not in P.S. I Still Love You at all. That's not the case in the book version, though. In the novel, Josh still hangs around Lara Jean and even gets a new girlfriend.
3. John Ambrose's relationship with Lara Jean is very different.
In the movie, Lara Jean decides not to write back to John Ambrose when she receives his letter, but in the book, the two actually become pen pals. Instead of developing their relationship through letters, the movie adaptation understandably wanted to bring the two together, so John Ambrose became a volunteer at Belleview with Lara Jean, which did not happen in the source material.
4. Stormy is John Ambrose's great-grandmother in the book.
Lara Jean instantly bonded with Stormy in the movie due to her sister's close relationship with her in the past, but in the book, Stormy is much more crucial in bringing Lara Jean and John Ambrose together. That's because she is actually John Ambrose's great-grandmother in the book, and her relation to him is the reason John Ambrose hangs out at Belleview in the first place. Of course, since the movie had already made John Ambrose as Belleview volunteer, it no longer needed Stormy to be his family member in order to get him there.
5. Chris and Trevor never dated.
A fun new romance that popped up in P.S. I Still Love You was Lara Jean's bestie Chris flirting up a storm with Peter's buddy Trevor, but that couple never actually came together in the book.
6. There's no Assassins.
For fans of the book, the most glaring omission from the new movie is that it does not include Assassins at all. In the book, the treehouse group plays a big, tag-like game called Assassins that leads to a lot of the major revelations in the story. For whatever reason, the game is completely absent from the movie, and Lara Jean and John Ambrose bond much more at Belleview rather than while playing the game together.
With all those changes, it is definitely a worthwhile task for fans who really enjoyed the Netflix movies to check out the books. Next up is the third and final film, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean, so now is the perfect time to get reading.
