Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
In case you weren’t aware, Netflix made a movie to this novel, thus this review will be on both the movie and the novel. Spoilers, so beware.
As a book lover, I always thought the book was better than the movie. However, this movie turned out better than I expected. Though initially, I didn't like any of the changes that were made, the movie did address some of the issues within the book. For instance, the love interests have more depth, and even though the main character was a little lacking, the movie delivered a well rounded story in a way the book did not. I was thoroughly surprised and impressed.
Although I liked both Alessandro and Lorenzo in the movie and in the book, their chemistry with Lina was much better in the movie. Movie Alessandro was more charismatic yet pushy and he gave off vibes of a player. He didn’t seem to care about Lina, he just wanted to get with her. His sincerity felt disingenuous and I honestly didn’t like him as a person. Whereas Book Alessandro was just some rich, hot guy for Lina to be attracted to against Lorenzo. He had no real personality and I didn’t want her to end up with him simply because he wasn’t doing anything for me as a character. I liked that the movie gave Alessandro the character he lacked in the book and really made the viewer want to root for Lina and Lorenzo.
Movie Lorenzo was a bit nicer than Book Lorenzo. In the book, he seemed to have disdain for Lina, and she towards him. And the only reason I wanted them together in the book was because we’re introduced to them before we’re introduced to Alessandro. However, in the movie, Lina bumped into Lorenzo after running away from Alessandro. Lorenzo helped her out and you could see their budding friendship build throughout the movie and their romance felt more realistic in the end. In both versions, Lina got to know Lorenzo better than Alessandro but the book made her flip flop back and forth between the two, whereas the movie corrected this and she saw Alessandro for who he was and chose Lorenzo. Well, sort of.
Now for our leading lady, Lina. Well. . . she was kind of fumbly, bumbly in the movie. And I didn’t like that. While it added a lot of humor to her character, it took away from Book Lina grieving for her mother, which made me connect less with Movie Lina. Although, the movie did something the book did not. (Spoiler Alert!) At the end of the movie, Lina chose herself over either boy. While she did leave Alessandro and chased after Lorenzo, she did tell Lorenzo that now wasn’t the time for their relationship. He needed to go to Paris to learn how to cook and she needed to take a gap year to figure out who she was and what she wanted. Lorenzo understood and they went their separate ways before coming back to each other years later. I liked that the movie gave a realistic end to their stories individually as well as together, rather than just type cast them as each other’s love interest. The movie gave their characters depth in a way the book did not.
Suffice it to say, both are good in their own way. The movie does develop the love interests better yet the book provides better connections to themes and characters. Whether you are a book lover or a film connoisseur, both versions of Love & Gelato are a coming-of-age story with a sprinkle of a love triangle to add flavor. A story worth consuming.
