I'm somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.

Heavy movie comparison review. Spoilers beware.

I refused to read this book for a long time. It didn't sound like something I would like or anything I'd care about. But when the movie came out, I read a spoiler that Amy was actually the villain... and I was like, I wanna watch that movie because I still don't know if I want to read the book. So I went to watch the movie, and I was like holy mother of cool girls! this is good! I loved the movie. Which is when the guilt over not reading the book set in. So I bought the book.

It's actually pretty amazing just how closely the movie follows the book, up until the third act--which is when the movie actually much better than the book. I like the movie Amy, much better than the book Amy.

Movie Amy is a classic villain. Not only is she a wronged wife, but she is a product of years of neglect, emotional abuse at the hands of her parents (question: how did two child psychologists fail to see that their daughter is a sociopath?) and husband, plus the rape and misogyny culture this country. When I was rewatching the movie, after reading the book, I realized that the one thing I wished they made clearer in the movie was the fact that Amy did this to other people before, her friend from high school and her boyfriend. I think this shows that Amy was fucked up way before Nick and that she didn't just suddenly snap because of him.

Movie Amy is a scarily intelligent, cold, calculating, sociopath who takes revenge on anyone who wrongs her, no matter how petty. The fact that would have been so much more apparent in the movie if they made her history of ruining peoples lives a bit more clear-- I mean they include Desi and the guy she accused of raping her, but I wished they also included the high school friend. Amy fucks shit up royally and she gets away with it. Book Amy laps up Nicks TV apology, decides oh he's learned his lesson and decides to dispatch Desi who's inconveniently holding her hostage, and runs back to Nick. I mean she quickly realizes he wants nothing to do with her, but at the same time she is insistent of fixing their relationship and staying together. What is much much worse, and made me dislike her (even as a villain) is that she is a just as misogynistic and woman hating as Nick. I'm pretty sure she uses the word "slut" to describe just about every woman. I mean she hates everyone equally, but she seems especially antagonistic towards women. A lot of internalized misogyny there.

To be honest I'm not sure I would have liked the book as much if I hadn't watched the movie first and loved it.