There’s like painful cycles of this book being so bad it hurts and then me absolutely CLUTCHING MY PEARLS because of the plot twists

Big thanks to warriors for encouraging me to be cringe on Animal Jam as an elementary schooler

Proud of myself for never getting the movie or book spoiled via TikTok, obv I knew some of the major parts, but not the whole story

I think a lot of people might find this book boring because there’s not really a lot of adventure or plot twists going on. 
I liked this book. It felt relaxing and it really encapsulated what I enjoy about getting into reading whenever I take a break from it. 

These are just general notes I took while reading the book: 

I heard one of the actors from The Breakfast Club say how older movies were more character focused rather than plot focused of today’s movies. I think it’s very applicable here too, because this book just seemed to DRAG ON for me, but there were some parts that really got me interested and made me want to finish reading. Overall though? I was just reading it to finish it, since I’d already invested so much time into it. 

Love Sarah (Vivian/Vivienne) and Elle’s relationship here a lot more here, like you can see the progression to friendship. Honestly, one of my fav parts of the movie and musical is showcasing how Vivian and Elle start becoming friends, and I love how the book does it, because

Warner being a self-obsessed asshole who needs to be coddled by the women in his life makes sense! (Why Elle pointed this out to Sarah and SHE STILL WANTED TO BE WITH HIM, I’ll never understand. That man is the bottom of the mf barrel and she’s out there eating out of his hand. It wasn’t until she outright called him out on his selfishness in the last 10% OF THE BOOK that she finally decided that he wasn’t worth her time, deserved but took WAYYYYY too long.)

One of the major flaws of the Legally Blonde movie and musical is how much it hinges on gay people as the plot twist or butt of the joke (Enid and Enrique/Nikos), which is not as apparent here, THANK GOD. (Also the use of the r word isn’t present, I THINK.)

The more in depth look into the build up to the court hearing was very appreciated, obviously I have no clue on how accurate it is, but considering the author literally went to Stanford and likely has a law degree, I’d prob trust her.

From book to movie, there were a lot of changes that they made.

For example, Paulette doesn’t exist, instead the person who she relies on in nail salon is Josette. Also, Paulette seems to be a combination of both Josette and Eugenia, Elle’s only friend in her law classes. There is no Emmett, there isn’t much of a “love interest” at all, but a “Secret Admirer” plot point that didn’t really add up to anything. Professor Callahan doesn’t exist, he’s replaced by Christopher Miles, who is a MUCH BETTER PERSON than Callahan, no hitting on someone half his age and, with Elle still on his team, even thanks Elle for winning the case for him.

However comma the sheer number of characters introduced made my head hurt. Usually I’m pretty good at keeping track of characters but I was constantly confused by who was who and what Elle thought of them. Sincerely, that might be a me problem since I spent a little over a month trying to finish this book. 

All in all, I can’t say I liked or disliked this book. It birthed my favorite pieces of media (the movie and the musical), as flawed as they are. And, clearly, the source material didn’t come without its own flaws. Nothing is completely without error and without mirroring the era it was written in, and this book clearly embodies that. 

Honestly, I thought the book was fun! I get how some people might not like it, but I def did. As a foodie, I thought the description of cooking was good and I loved the added details! 

I think the two things that really got me was 1. How much Theo was just grinning all the time, it just kinda got to me, like I get he’s a carefree guy but JESUS, he just DOES NOT STOP grinning; and 2. The fact that Dylan kind of side-stepped the whole Theo’s best friend being asshole rich guy who absolutely berated his aunt’s cooking and has such a terrible attitude once Theo just started talking and flirting. Brother, GET UP, one immigrant to another, STAND YOUR FUCKING GROUND? Genuinely, if Theo were real and Adrian treated me like that, it doesn’t matter how hot a man is, he needs to do A LOT MORE to make up for the fact he keeps absolute dicks for company. But yeah, other than that, loved the book!

 

I shed sapphic tears on my phone
I love women, bro, this is so beautiful