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Colleen Hoover, an acclaimed novelist, is overjoyed to see her 2016 bestseller transformed into a film, directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Blake Lively, Baldoni, and Brandon Sklenar.
The film chronicles Lily's journey as she overcomes a horrible background and navigates a complicated relationship with neurosurgeon Ryle, who shares alarming connections with her violent parents.
As Lily confronts her history and present, she must draw on her inner strength to go ahead.
Hoover admits that the process of adapting the novel into a film was sometimes "overwhelming," especially given how "surreal" the final product was. As the author, she was brought to tears in several passages.
"I think it's all of the emotions," she told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview earlier this month, before rumors of a spat between Baldoni and Lively became public.
"I can separate it in the sense that I regard the book and the film as absolutely independent entities. But, at the same time, I believe they did an excellent job compressing this novel into a picture, so I'm quite pleased with this adaptation."
Both the novel and the film received criticism for several reasons, including how they depicted domestic abuse and how the characters were aged for the film.
Hoover does, however, state that she felt obligated to write the novel with a focus on individuals in their twenties since it was the fashionable option at the time, and she believes the film allowed her to make some changes to the book.
"I felt like the film was a way to correct that mistake that I felt like I made in the book," according to Hoover.
"Having them as their adolescent selves vs their adult selves requires more space and time to grow. So I believe it performs much better on film."
