If your love interest is closer in age to your child than they are to you.... THEY'RE *WAY* TOO YOUNG FOR YOU.

“Your sexual liberation does not have to entail exploitation of someone else”. thank you!

I can ONLY imagine how you feel about Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife….that was flat out PREDATORY! Hands down and their age gap is APPALLING!

There is a reason why Harry has blocked the author of the after series

It's OK, Daria, hold your emotional support mic, lord knows we all need something to get us through this hellscape of a story.

The opening "imagine" is fantastic, i felt like I was reliving those 1D imagines 🤣

33:38 That book quote is SO gross! My forever husband was 28 and I 24 in 1988 when I first had a crush on him, and he was as handsome then as can be, in a wiry, works-with-cars-and-builds-houses way (he has still to this day never stepped foot in a gym, yet is stronger than anyone else I know). Today his body bears a few impressive scars (he survived cancer in the mid-90s), his hair and beard are going grey, and his skin shows his age. And I love him, including his body, even more now, partly because we know each other so well and partly because the way he moves and the way he looks at me have not changed. If one shudders for the thought that one's partner will age, one should not strive to have a partner at all.

I've never been a part of the 1D fandom, but Good Lord, the amount of Harry Styles-based fanfiction that's been allowed to become not only published books, but MOVIES, is alarming to me. Not to mention the fact that most of them aren't even very *good* books/movies. 🙄 It's one thing for people to get annoyed at all the paranormal romance novels that followed after the Twilight explosion; it's a fictional universe that went on to inspire multiple other fictional universes, often varying in content quality. But Harry Styles is a REAL person for God's sake, not to mention he was a teenager when he first got famous; as in, A MINOR. 👏 It's too bad; ironically, the idea of The Idea of You doesn't sound *that* bad of a concept on paper, I just wish it wasn't connected to Harry Styles, or (from what I've gathered, correct me if I'm wrong) some grown woman's obvious fascination with his life. Ick. 😬

I hate fanfiction written about real people. I think it is super weird to focus that much on the life/love life of a perfect stranger and whenever I hear that a book is based on a fic based on a real person, it is an immediate turn off for me. I love fanfiction, I write it, i read it, I think it is an important part of fandom but leave actual human beings out of it.

18 to 22 really isn’t that bad especially when you’re living in the vacuum of celebrity

"What did they have in common." I mean...come on. They were both incredibly popular pop singers at the top of their games. I think they had a lot in common. I'm not sure you can extrapolate that argument to Harry and Taylor. In fact, I'm not a fan of that argument in the case of anyone in the same age gap relationship. When it comes to the ethics of an 18 and 22 year old dating, I think it's significantly more important to examine the power imbalances in these situations, not "if they have anything to talk about." We don't know what 2 people dating talk about, we don't know how much they might have in common. It's just way too subjective.

They should have made them the actor’s true age. He is 30 & she is 40.

I really do agree with the part where you said " Just because men do it all the time is not an excuse for you to practice predatory behavior " It gives feminism a bad name .....Feminism is not for women to behave like men it is for women to be respected for their qualities.

The fact that he was groomed by at least 3 women and no one did a thing..

I was a huge 1D fan growing up but I was never the type of fan to read fan fiction or ship any of the members with each other. Like reading fan fic as a young person is a rather innocent thing to do esp. as a teen but Anna Todd for example was like 23 when she wrote the After books which is weird, like these were grown women writing about Harry who at the time was a teen/young adult. I feel like this is something that is often overlooked esp. with teen boys/ young men and men in general.

22 and 18 is like a freshman in college and she’s a senior (Harry Styles and Taylor Swift). No one bats an eye when it’s a freshman girl and a senior guy. Or even a 18 year old woman and a 21 year old man (Freshman and a junior). I think if people are able to be in the same school and legal, it’s less weird. But I’m still listening to more of your video essay, I’m interested.

the reveal of the mini-mic was EVERYTHING! i'm so glad i found you!!

I think if you’re not in the UK you don’t understand how rough Caroline Flack had it, it wasn’t that she got bad press, she wasn’t just criticised for her looks or her weight, they reported on a previous suicide attempt, her arrest for assault, her job losses all of it was front page news, plus every break up, weight gain, weight loss, everything, they all reported on it. I don’t think they meant it to end the way it did, but there was no justification for the way they reported on her. Her arrest you could claim as news, but front page? I don’t think so. The rest of it had no business being in a newspaper. Btw, one UK tabloid actually sent a push notification about her suicide, including the method she used. I’m trying to remember how their relationship was viewed amongst people who weren’t One Direction fans and my recollection is most people thought she shouldn’t be dating someone that young. But I don’t remember anyone else ever getting that much grief over dating someone younger, and I include the Rolling Stone who, in his 40s, married a 17 year old he started ‘dating’ when she was 13. (Yes I know dating isn’t the correct word). So while I can criticise what Caroline did, it seems like she suffered enough. --- It sounds like the author of this book doesn’t know any real-life age-gap relationships, because in my experience people tend to either genuinely not care about the age gap or pretend they don’t care. As a woman for whom forty is in the rear view mirror, the idea of a relationship with a 20 year old is creepy. Even without the creep factor, I prefer dating people who were alive when my favourite music was released.

This reminds of that one interviewer who asked Justin Bieber to give her the Sex Talk when he was 15…

I completely agree with everything except the criticism of Taylor Swift’s relationship with him. 4 years really isn’t that much, and as far as what they could possibly have in common… like? They were two of the most famous musicians in the world. I’m sure they had tons of stuff in common. It’s really not that weird.

Taylor and Harry were in the same industry, going through very similar things in the media with high profile relationships where both of them were insanely sexualized. I think their relationship was fine and really didn't deserve to be included in this video. 18 and 20 somethings will often date in college. Just some food for thought.

Okay but if we’re so obsessed with cute twinks why don’t we look at the literal HUNDREDS of adult actors, stars, etc. that fit that bill instead of a teenager ~signed, certified lover of pretty boys

25 and 40 is not the same as 18 and 34. The movie was really OK, nothing disgusting about it.

people forget about how sexualised harry styles was by the media throughout his teenage years waaaay too much it makes me sick everytime i think about it, i feel so bad for him

"why is your sexual liberation require the exploitation of someone else" OOH THAT PART. so real for that

I saw the mini trailers on Prime but I HAD NO CLUE that this was based on Harry Styles! Eww!

Ok. So I met my husband when I was 17, he was 43 at the time. We are married for 10 years now. Just now at 28 I start to realize how big of a difference our maturity is. Like I could never imagine now being with someone even in their early 20s. To be honest it starts to gross me out, I cant even look him in the eyes anymore. I now as a proper adult kinda feel taken advantage of. So I now would advise against that large age gaps. Its just a bad power dynamic.

it’s sad how many people don’t understand how traumatic it is for young men, too. like they think even young men are so in control of their sexuality that no one bats an eye when a minor is being groomed by an older woman. it’s sickening when the older woman says “but he wanted it!”. boys don’t know shit and can be just as vulnerable to abuse as girls are.

I was a directioner back in the day too (still am at heart) and I remember the way Harry was sexualised and presented as a womaniser by the press and the band’s own pr teams despite the fact that it bothered him. It got to the point where the other boys had to defend him during interviews when grown ass reporters would “tease” him about it. And he was a literal TEENAGER at the time!

"Get a job well she has a jobGET ANOTHET ONE" 🤣🤣🤣 EDIT: okey, so i just watched the movie, and im conflicted cause i like Nicholas and Anne, and i liked the whole movie, but just can´t get this video out of my head. Like, they really tried to do something not so bad with the story, which i like. I don´t know. Them being 30 and 45 is not so bad at the end, like okey. STILL the whole concept of the video was so clear i can´t get it out of my head so

I watched the movie yesterday, and I feel truly uncomfortable with the fact that the movie is associated with book like that...

We REALLY REALLY need to stop having books using people's luves as inspo and banking on the association. Because even if it's not shoved into your face or low key, it's still wierd to me. Like they didn't give you permission and even worse people are gonna ask them about it.

Luckily, I never heard about this movie/novel until TODAY. I'm 23 and I can't imagine myself in a relationship with a 19 years old person. I always say to myself that if I will go for a relationship with someone else I will prefer at MAXIMUM a 3 years gap for me. Ten years is lot and twenty years age gap is horrendous. I agree with everything that you said. If Harry doesn't have body dysmorphia or any other mental health issues due to the media harassment at the time he can consider himself lucky, because what the heck! I wasn't a boy band fan myself, so I hadn't the idea that the members (especially Harry) was suffering this hypersexualization from the press side. People tend to romanticize age-gap relationships, especially if their came from a religious/fundamentalist background, using the "age is just a number" thing hmm... no. We just can't put in the same balance experiences between a 25-year-old and a 37-year-old person expecting to be minimally equal even when the youngest gets older because the difference will be forever there. I bet if Louis Partridge were casted insted Nicholas Galitzine the audience would see how messed up this plot is and don't laybol it as "so cute" or "it gives a heart-warming feeling" like I've heard today People who liked this plot cannot complain about Leonardo DiCaprio's predatory behavior of dating younger women (whose barely passed on their teens) with more half of his age. Just saying.

Bringing up Macron and his wife as a way to excuse her creepy ass book is crazy... like that's grooming wtf

22 is not a fully fledge adult. There brains is not fully formed yet either. I am not angry about that at all. 18 and 22 is not a big deal to me. Sorry i feel that way. A 22 year old has more in common with a 18 year old than they have with a 25 year old. I am sorry but it is true. 22 year olds are not starting their careers like that. 22 may be a adult and not a teenager but they are still very young.

especially as a harry fan, i’ve been trying so hard to avoid this book/movie and all info about it, so listening to your summary….. my jaw is dropped. it’s so much worse than i thought, i am disgusted :(((

It's nice to have confirmation that I did the right thing when I stopped reading that book a few chapters in. I just couldn't keep going and couldn't figure out why there seems to be so much acclaim for it.

Agreed with everything except the Harry-Taylor Swift point, I don’t think 18 to 22 is a bad age difference. There is plenty in common still. At the very least, it’s a gray area.

The four year age gap doesn't make much sense to me, the man is 18 and can make his own decisions and honestly who wouldn't want to date Taylor Swift.

The biggest plot twist was finding out the mic wasn't real

I came here for the utter chaos that is this sad excuse of a book. What I did not came here for was seeing the presidential couple of my country being used as a FAVORABLE argument in age gape relationship debate 😭😭Like I don't see them enough on the French news. Especially considering that Macron met his wife at 15 (!) when she was his TEACHER(and I think she was married) ! Hardly the right example when advocating for age gap relationships... Btw, I'm a French lurking on english speaking social medias. I'm used to English, espcially Americans, oversexualizing us (I blame Titanic for that lol). But being used, based on prejudices about the French mindset + culture to justify pred*tory behaviour is a new low. 😬 Still, thank you Daria for taking one for the team and suffering in our place. The video was fantastic!

i agree that the book age gap is gross but i actually already watch the movie and surprisingly the movie is quite good.. after they aged him, the difference is not really noticible especially with how Nick make Hayes more emotionally mature and their chemistry makes the story believable i think if they separated the movie from the novel and market it without linking the story line to anyone, it would be better because then we can focus more on the issues example like the live that they had.

12/10 video 👏🏽👏🏽 No notes. You said what had to be said. Loved it!

Haven't read the book. Haven't seen the movie. But watching this review I wish I could like this video more than once

I read like 20 pages of this book and was like nope, I’m good 😂 so the fact that you just uploaded this, is amazing

predators always reveal themselves in such disgusting fucking ways. to be clear, even if we wanted to make this about legality, 14 years old is statutory fucking rape. that means that regardless of whether this CHILD thought that he could "consent", the law directly states that he absolutely could not. as someone, who was assaulted as a child, i know first-hand the kind of sexual trauma and general issues with sex and consent one experiences as a result of it. the fact that this author presented it as an "origin story" for why this guy would prefer an older woman is actually not an uncommon experience, but the kicker is that it is a fucking TRAGEDY and not something to swoon over. it is literally a direct result of being RAPED as a CHILD and moving through life without having processed and healed from that, seeking a similar experience to the horrific thing that happened to the person as a child. this adult woman is literally exploiting the sexual trauma of a young man as part of her "sexual liberation". and with the inclusion of that little "story" about a 14 year old boy and the reference to macron with his childhood grooming, i fear that this supposed preference for "younger men" is as far as this author could push whatever sick shit is going on in her head onto a published novel. i am literally sick to my stomach. the author should be on some kind of a list, i literally do not care what anyone says to me about how "this is just fiction".

I pretty much agree with you and we have very similar opinions on the age gap and power dynamic issues, but I have to disagree with you on Taylor and Harry's age gap. 18 and 22? Not a big difference, especially in generation and life stage, those two could be in college at the same time (in Brazil at least, not 100% sure how long or how college works in other countries). If you think about the fact that both of them had similar experiences of being famous it makes total sense and is way common. I have friends 4 years younger and older than me and believe me, we have a bunch of topics to talk about and a lot in common because we're pretty much on the same life stage and living the same experiences. If a male is 4 years older in a relationship is way more normalized than a female being the older one so, in my opinion, people had an issue with Taylor, not with this 'age gap' specifically. (yes, I'm a swifitie, but also a directioner and a big harry stan)

I was hooked from the intro. You set the scene perfectly. Glad you were able to exercise the demon. 😂😂

1:15 Delulu is the solulu because it surely will come trululu 😂😂😂

I liked 1D, but there were kids in my HS that were actually feral for them. I just like their music, and looking back that was definitely an indication of my autism.

Damn the fake mic got me

No because if this was a 40 yr old man with a 13 yr old kid dating a 20 yr old from a girl group, this would not fly💀 this story is weird and disturbing. If the author would like to discuss how older women aren’t seen in society, I’m sure there are better ways than to write about a barely legal relationship where they’re in 2 completely different stages of life. idc how the author packages it, it feels pedophilic and predatory.

i started dating my boyfriend when he was 20 and I was 23... how anyone could date someone who was 18 when they were 22 or worse, someone 16 when they were 32 is INSANE to me personally

I'm a little old for having been part of the 1D superfandom (or I should say, a little old for the target audience), but I did hear their music. The treatment of young performers continues to be horrendous, and we can't excuse any behavior based on whether the young star happens to be male.

I'm subscribing for this, everything you're saying makes me feel sane

Amazing video, i didnt know about the "original" story i just heard it was a fanfic, blah blah but didnt know all the details they changed in the movie, so thank you i think your narrative in all this subject its realy assertive, specifically on the predatory behavior not only by the author but the whole "romance" thing; anyway i dont know how to say you open even more my eyes on the topic but THE "MICROPHONE" ITS KILING ME OMG XDD Amazing

I am so confused on why movies of older women with younger people is so popular. Yes, I also question why older men with younger people is popular. I am an age is a number person and can’t imagine dating anyone more than ten years older than me. 10 is my maximum, but prefer someone my own age. As for Nick, it is interesting how he branches out in his movies.

The fact that you still used the mini mic after admitting that it doesn't work plus you raging about this book had me in tears. Thank you so much for making me laugh 😂😂😂

Awesome video Daria!!

i looked up the movie plot, and another change is that the two leads get together at the end, after Izzy has completed her schooling.

It is just the romanticization of grooming. There would be an uproar if the sexes were swapped.

She was also 22/23 dating underage Conner Kennedy

Thanks for reading the book so I don’t have to! (unrelated: the commitment to the tiny mic is sending me 😂)

First of all, So happy to find that you’re a directioner. I’ve been fan of yours since Bridgerton 2 dropped. Secondly I just struggled through the movie and want to kinda rant about it, came online and saw your RAGE RANT that was so satisfying. Thirdly Glad I didn’t know a shit about the book.Though as one line as older women finding their way through life seems like a great theme to explore.Personally have seem my mom struggle through it and I’ve found myself in a sort of position as same as the daughter in the book/movie it feels like a wonderful genre to explore but the author not only wasted a potential but completely went ferral with it …. JAIL and also she dragged Larry into it… JAIL Lastly the amount of times HS have been portrayed as a Womanizer and seen that man struggled with media targeting him has been painful to watch…He barely talks with fans through media now. Watching all these older women think ‘Ahhh nice story for my book’ … it just breaks my heart. The problem is not whether HS was all these things that he was portrayed but the women thought that they will write books about it and publish it and once again the main stream media making movies about it and once again profiting… my heart just goes out for H. Though Anne and Nick are my favourites I couldn’t sit through the movie without cringing hard at the H and 1D comparisons. My RAGE RANT ends 😂 Its time to rewatch RWRB as a pain balm 😌

not even the beautiful and amazing actress that anne hathaway is would make me watch this movie 💀💀 knowing the lore behind this movie, feels weird to even think about watching it

so I just finished the movie and actually really loved it & now researching about the source material and oh my god is this gross the changes that they made in the movie actually made it so much better 😭 I think it is important to talk about how women in their 40s and older are not on their deathbed and still can enjoy life thank you very much. but the only reason why it worked for me is because I genuinely think that even though the age gap is huge, he's 24-25ish, so he's definitely not a teen anymore (and the chemistry between nicholas and anne is INSANE) and the fact that the daughter is twelve in the book??? literally way 😭 her being 17 is also a huge improvement. basically everything is a huge improvement. 😭 the film ended up to be so beautiful in comparison with the book, wow. oh and him losing how virginity at 14 with a 19 year old?? my little brother is almost 14, while I'm turning 19 this year, so I know a bunch of 14 year old and this is just disgusting on so many levels

IT’S FATE. I finished it half an hour ago & needed to hear your thoughts asap ✌🏻😂

The Taylor/Harry age gap is a huge stretch. First off they had plenty in common as young pop stars but even if they were regular people, An 18 year old would be getting into college and a 22 year old would be finishing or getting her first internship /job. There's a high change they would still be living with their parents or at least getting support from them and wouldn't have a lot of responsabilities. t's still a pretty similar stage in life.

I just finished watching the film expecting nothing tbh, and I was actually surprised. But then again, both Anne and Nicholas are very talented actors. The age difference was 16 years in the film, 40/24, so not as creepy I guess for a one time watch film? I've never been into 1D as I was just graduating high school as they were getting famous(29 currently), so the I missed the who's the hottest band member etc. bandwagon that middle school and freshmen year folks usually jump on. And before the trailer dropped, I've never heard of the book either, but now that you described the plot, it reminds me of Aaron Johnson and his wife.. creepy as hell. Overall, I liked the film from a film standpoint, context being I never read the book, and never knew that Styles was exploited this badly. Edit: The end part where you say that Nicholas and Anne don't look bad together, because in reality they're 10/11 years apart, and Nicholas is a very large guy who looks older than he is, so it didn't come off as predatory or something, which was a relief.

Harry styles should start suing people

I first saw this book at a target years ago when it first released and I was still a teenager and my actual first thought after reading the back was "sounds creepy" and then I put it down and never thought of it again. At least until now that hearing the description made me remember that very hazy moment and also got hit with the information that this is now a movie. Out of all the books that could have been adapted.

Daria you should cover the Tearsmith Dysfunction too. That was intensely uncomfortable.

After watching the movie I didn’t really get all that hate. But now, of course, I understand that the book is REALLY something else- Thank you so much for this video, now I understand why harries are mad.

Watched the film today, and it was surprisingly good. Hope you watch it and share your thoughts. They made some decent changes from book to screen. Anne and Nick also have incredible chemistry and sell a really emotional story.

You lost me at an 18-22 age gap being weird. I think that’s actually totally normal, especially in their context…. The rest of your essay I predominantly vibe with.

I've been so scared of watching this video...I was right to be. Idk how you do it Daria, but we appreciate you reading these books so we don't have to lol. Also, I hope to see the return of the emotional support mic in future videos

This book/movie’s only message is “Well it’s fine if a man marries or has a romantic relationship with someone 20 years their junior so why can’t women do it?” It’s still bad. I mean that’s why Lolita is such a controversial & amazing book to this day. It’s the exact same plot. An older European man didn’t see anything wrong with having a romantic relationship with an underage girl because he thought it was an epic love story, until he actually talks to the adult Lolita at the end of the book and he realizes that he destroyed her life.

While I'm glad we're starting to lean into this conversation more because tbh we dont talk about it enough, I still fear for the people who will defend some of the shit that happened to young Harry and sexualize this behavior and I hope it doesn't go down that path but I know people will attempt to steer it in that direction. And I'm at the point in the video where you mentioned the author basically wrote the book as a self indulgent fantasy to reclaim her sexuality, I noticed a pattern with this type of thing. Before the theme was "barely young guy x old af woman/older woman who wrote herself as young." Now its the inverse, and it's starting to make me wonder why people are so quick to mention the reclaimation of sexuality when the fantasy reflects exactly what people dont like. On both ends there is always some predatory aspect to the relationship and its even worse when its less seperate from fiction. I think its less about reclamation and more of just having that fantasy and then disregarding the people who happen to fit that criteria, look at what happened on booktok recently, look at what's been doing on with the Harry Styles craze when he was younger, where's the reclaination in that? In my opinion there is no reclamation of sexuality, to some degree it's sacrificing someone else's safety and sexuality in order to fulfill your own, it's so predatory and people seem to only have an issue with it now. People either disregard it or are directly part of the issue and only complain when someone else has a problem or brings it up. There's no winning

The thing about these books is that I have a younger brother, he is 17. So whenever ages are mentioned, I think of his friends and how they act and look and I'm like these are CHILDREN!!!! Like, 18 might be legal adults, but he's still afraid to use nose spray!!!

that intro…you wrote one direction fanfiction as a teen didn’t you? 🤨 EDIT: LMAO confirmed 😭🤣

As a former Directioner, I was kind of force fed to read the book but never read the Wattpat. Had to turn my brain off for the most of it and the end was the best part, as you mentioned. My main issue is the normalization of imbalanced relationships and the justification (in a very vindictive manner) pointing fingers at the other gender. BUT I watched the movie yesterday and can say the things changed in the context of the plot and characters details made it *a little* better for me. Solene in the book I just cannot stand her, but Solene in the movie is waaaay different...mostly because yes ANNE HATHAWAY and wow her approach to the character I think is something she was super aware they HAD to do some changes to Solene if she was going to play the part.

I didn’t read the book but watched the movie. They made some changes? Idk if that makes it okay now or not. It was fun but I don’t have kids and I’m looking at 40. I’m glad I did the movie and NOT the book. It sounds horrible. Thank you for taking on for the team!

I figured you were a writer before you mentioned it. That that story in the beginning was very engaging I thought it was real 😂😂😂

When I was a fan of One Direction, I recall going to the mall and purchasing a perfume set that featured the band members. While I was browsing, a saleswoman who worked at the store approached me and asked me which of the band members was my favorite. I was about to answer when she interrupted me by saying, "I don't like Harry. He broke Taylor's heart." At the time, Harry was my favorite member, so I felt quite awkward and uncomfortable. I ended up just saying "Harry" without really elaborating on why he was my favorite. It was an interesting and somewhat uncomfortable experience. Side note I'm currently 18 and my sister is 22 i can't imagine dating someone her age😅

33:37 this text was written in a very "Lolita-esque" manner .. sounds exactly like Humbert describes his "nymphet" and it made me wonder if we could've had a deeper look at how easy it is for predators to prey on younger boys simply because there's an idea of "boys are always asking for it" -- had the author and editors chosen to.

i actually enjoyed the book for the most part. i don't see "the idea of you" as being as bad as "after" for example. after was direct HS fanfic. whereas the idea of you is is more he was the muse behind the character. i wish his character was aged up a bit more but i really like the concept of the book of a woman her age having this whirlwind romance. so many of the contemporary romances i find are for like 20-27. after 30, it's hard to find a main character you can relate to. i enjoyed her adventure of coming into her own and finding her own "adventure" at that stage of her life. but i think where my main issue lies is how graphic some of these HS stories can be. it feels invasive. i have no issue with using the features or traits of a person as inspiration fuel for a fictional character. but it being so blatant and then so graphic as well makes me uncomfortable. especially given how HS was treated from the time he was only 16. being so blatant about who it's about just feels weird.

Poor dude. Poor man. Bros been facing this sht since he was a teenager. It's so sad.

THE WAY YOU KEPT UP WITH THE FAKE MIC FOR LITERALLY 28 MINUTES BEFORE GIVING UP GIRL IM CACKLING

22:00 - 23:30 Thank you for saying this!

I haven't read the book and it feels disgusting but even with The entire movie gave me an ick. I mean age gap is fine, he was in mid 20s and she was 40. This happens but i hated the fact that entire thing is based on sexualizing harry styles who was a 16 year old kid and knowing what happened in real life, i couldn't really enjoy the movie. I love both the actors but seriously, like i don't like when young celebrities are sexualised. I mean it is horrible how their childhood is just taken away from them. It is disgusting and disturbing. I remember watching SNL skits where literally way older women were flirting with the teen one direction and making jokes about kissing and same with justin Bieber. Britney, emma watson all of them faced such abuse by media and adults who should have protected them that yhe entire movie made me feel so disgusted regardless of the fact that i love the actors and they did have wonderful chemistry.

I read the entire book in preparation for the movie (sadly I'm weak and will literally watch anything if it involves lead actors I enjoy) and was just livid with Solène through all of it - throughout the entire second half she was just a complete naive dumbass, not to mention an incredibly irresponsible mother. Hayes was irritating and nothing special but it was easier to just shrug that off as him being basically a teenager and a stupidly famous one at that. But yeah, Solène infuriated me. Most of my internal monologue while reading was "What did you expect to happen, you idiot?!" and I cheered at the end when she finally woke up and realised she needed to end it for her daughter's sake. It was attrocious. I am, however, pleased to say that the movie improves things by a truly HUGE margin - I actually didn't hate it and I was fully expecting to cringe/hate watch my way through it, but was pleasantly surprised. Aging up Hayes, closing their age gap a bit more, Izzy being in high school and having moved past her obsession with the band... these aspects went a very, very long way in making Solène feel like someone I could actually sympathise with. It also helps that this version of Solène is seemingly a much kinder, warmer person than the character was in the book. Overall the movie was honestly fine, at least when trying to ignore the exploitative nature of the author's inspiration to write the book in the first place. I do despise that she will be making money from this, though I do also get some satisfaction in that I've heard that she didn't exactly love the adaptation lmao.

Twety-something years ago, one student, older than me, and a teacher had a secret relationship in the school I was at that time. The student graduated, and they got married. Today they still together stronger than ever and have a beautiful daughter.

The way people will JUMP to defend predators because they're older women is so weird. But then again people fervently defend older men who prey on younger ppl w age gap relationships so i cant be too shocked

I just feel so so sad for isabella .. its horrifying what she went through and predators are fucking scary

Hi! I loved the video and agree 100%. I watched the movie and it appears to be very different from the book. The lead is an adult of 24 years old and she turns 40 in the movie. I do not know if you are up for it; but I would love to hear your thoughts on the movie.

Wow, the movie really was _far_ better than the book, it seems…

I cannot stop thinking about the book. You were able to make sense of the unease I felt while reading this book. One of the themes I saw was one of “control” Solène and was insecure when she felt Hayes had the control early on and her insecurity of being dumped and in the end yes she dumped Hayes but in the absolute worst and immature way. He’s literally obsessed with Solène and she again sleeps with him then kicks him out abruptly after misleading him while he’s crying. She’s supposed to be 40?! She can’t properly end the relationship in a respectful and loving manner? In the book Solene ends her marriage with Daniel: she doesn’t put Isabel first she puts her own happiness first. The worst thing Daniel does is not pay attention to Solene. Solene is not a good person.

I stumbled into this video because I was coming to KZfaq to look up HS after watching this movie. I hadn’t heard of the book, and I don’t know a ton about HS. As a woman who is older than the main female character here, but growing up with a boy band phase, I really liked the movie. It was interesting to hear so much in this video about the book, fan fiction, etc. because I had no knowledge of any of that. I think you’re right about the movie improving on the concept of the book from how you describe it. I have a 17 year old daughter and I didn’t find the movie portraying anything predatory or any bad parenting because the daughter is older, and the mom breaks it off pretty quickly when it starts to negatively impact her kid. The concept of age 40 to 24 was also not “gross.” I’m not sure after watching this that I would enjoy the book…

Absolutely living for this review! Cackling so much. But serious this book is gross

All these "fics" make my Seth Macfarlane "think pieces"/"What if scenarios" look like a masterpiece. Like Jesus.