I saw the film first and felt compelled to read the book hoping for a captivating page turner but I was left disappointed. I think the stunning visuals of the film were the meat to this bare bones tale about two otherwise bland and underdeveloped characters. I felt the relationship and conversations between Stephanie and Emily lacked nuance and emotion considering the weight of the secrets they share. I feel that there wasn’t any realistic emotion in the book and I’m glad that Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively were able to portray a much more compelling onscreen relationship than the characters in the book.