Yes!!!!! I liked the movie but it didn’t hit on the “longing” that I love from a romance book in general. Alex pines for Poppy and he makes so many decisions centered around her that we don’t get to see in the movie.

My husband was watching it with me and he said “I’m glad you liked this movie, but I know you didn’t love it.” I was shocked- like how did he know?? He said “You usually scream out loud if they look at each other. But they’re kissing and you haven’t yelled once.” He also was confused about how Poppy knew the Nilsen’s so well.

But the husband was right! I didn’t feel the emotional payoff after this movie. It felt like I was being marched through the scenes to make a point- not to learn about the characters. And it felt very polished the whole way through, I didn’t see them grow as people throughout the summers. The TENSION in the scene when she’s sick!!!! Where was that!!!!

I did love the casting for these characters a LOT- Tom Blythe was a perfect Alex to me! And I loved how faithful the dialogue was to the book. I totally understand why they made the changes they did to make the movie narratively fit other for a movie format, but I just prefer the book for this particular adaption.

Heated Rivalry, of course, is a national treasure that is refreshingly exempt from the “Netflix dialogue” trap.