Meredith Rae's Reviews > The Idea of You

so that was…. a book….

this was SUCH a disappointment in a novel, there was so much potential in this idea and could’ve been such an interesting commentary on two aspects of society.

1. being the fact that women are often disregarded after a certain age

2. being the extreme lack of privacy celebrities like Taylor Swift and One Direction experience from their fans and the paparazzi

however the first argument fell completely apart when we’re talking about a 40-year-old woman dating a 20 year old and the second there was just “oh they only know the idea of you” without much substance. arguably this book could’ve done SO much if let’s say we aged both up, Solène being between 45-50 and Hayes being between 25-30, still the same age difference, just more appropriate and more effective with the “older women aren’t seen in society” with less of the weird almost illegal talk

As far as the second point i would’ve just liked to see more of the “oh i know you” from fans or even Isabelle and her friends with Hayes or the fans waiting outside or actual conversations from Hayes to Solène about the effects of this life instead of the “oh just ignore them” bc genuinely how do you expect someone who was an ordinary person to suddenly just ignore it???

last point, there was just TOO many times i had to side eye the pages because what the actually hell?? i have to many highlights of them saying suspicious things regarding minors im so sorry

anyway im excited for the movie i think (and i have hope) that it’s going to be better