P.S. I Love You

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.

The kind of enchanting novel with cross-generational appeal that comes along once in a great while, PS, I Love You is a captivating love letter to the world!

For so long, I’ve been hearing about how great this book is, and how the movie made everyone cry and cry, so I just had to see it. When a movie is hyped up like this, I always give in to temptation (after reading the book adaptation first). I’ve got to say, though, I’m pretty disappointed…

Let’s start with what I did like – the romance. The way Gerry and Holly adored each other was the sweetest thing to read about. Even the whole idea of him leaving her a list of things she had to do once he died was adorable. Of course, he was dead during this book, but the flashbacks and memories they shared of him made me see what a wonderful husband he was. Holly’s heartbreak also made it obvious just how perfect they were for each other. And Holly held on to that, despite interest from a few other men in the book. I won’t spoil it for you, but I did love how she responded to interest from one particular character.

Now, for the much longer part of my review. What I didn’t like…

First off, Holly. Holly took her husband’s death in the worst way possible. I’m lucky enough to not have had anyone close to me die, but I hope I wouldn’t react to it in the way that Holly did. She thought that she was the only one who had felt any pain that Gerry had died. She cut off her friends, even those who were just as close to Gerry. She never once contacted his parents. She thought she could take it all on her own, which I understand. But she also thought everyone else’s lives should stop just because his has. This goes to the point of her ignoring Sharon for a few days when something amazing happens to her, because it’s something Holly no longer has going her way. I understand being in pain, but shouldn’t you make the most of the amazing people you have left? Or at least help them try and carry on with their lives, instead of trying to get them to suffer for you? Finally, Denise and Sharon called her up on it, and that was probably my favourite part of the entire book.

Something else I didn’t like was, oddly, the letters. It takes a while to get me to cry – it’s those long, drawn out funeral scenes that get me, not the one-word “always”. So I was pretty disappointed to see how short the letters to Holly were. There wasn’t enough written to really get some feeling out there. It was just “get a job, you can do it!”. Um, Gerry, I need more than that… Oh, and awkward ellipses everywhere! I don’t want you… To write to me… Like you’re losing your train of thought… All the time…

Overall, I’m pretty disappointed with this. It should have been done so much better, especially with such a strong romance. Hopefully the movie does it a lot better!