The Idea of You has taken the world by storm, and most audience members are aware that the movie is based on a novel of the same name by Robinne Lee, and there is an abundance of books of the same genre available. Many of these books have already gotten screen adaptations because the romance genre is one of the most popular, incentivizing film and TV projects. However, going to the source and reading the books firsthand is a great way to be immersed in the narrative and experience the whirlwind love stories these books make their name on.
The Idea of You movie makes big changes to the book but ultimately keeps most of the integrity of the novel, making it such a captivating tale. The protagonist, Solène (Anne Hathaway), falls head over heels for the frontman of a popular boy band, Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). However, the pressures of fame and their age difference quickly get in the way. Though The Idea of You book ends much differently than the movie, both share core elements of the romance genre and explore the pitfalls of being a celebrity, which draws comparisons to similarly effective books.
Red, White & Royal Blue is an obvious follow-up read after The Idea of You, and it works out that the recent film adaptation also stars Galitzine as one of the central love interests. Fame is also a key part of the story as it revolves around the affair between the President of the United States’ son and the Prince of England. This differs from The Idea of You, as both parties are famous and they’re exploring their LGBTQ+ identities, but much of the conflict stems from their family’s expectations and unwanted comments from the press.
Many of the best Red, White, & Royal Blue quotes featured in the movie are drawn from the text, and author Casey McQuiston has written several other books. Their interest in telling diverse stories within the romance genre makes them an author to watch. Additionally, since the main characters are living in separate countries in the novel, there are just as many globetrotting and clandestine meetings in exciting locations in Red, White, & Royal Blue as there are in The Idea of You. Though the movie is solid, the book should be the first stop after watching The Idea of You.
Abby Jimenez writes the kind of books that wrap the reader up in a warm embrace and encourage them to spend as much time as possible in the brilliantly imagined settings she places her characters in. Part of YourWorld takes its protagonist, Alexis, out of her comfort zone in the city and helps her discover that the small town where she’s staying might be a better fit than she thought. It turns out that the slow pace and comfort of small-town living aren’t all she likes.
A younger man, Daniel Grant, continues to turn her head no matter how hard she tries to stop it. This is quite similar to how Solène feels about Hayes, and neither couple can stop their chemistry from boiling to the surface. Alexis is torn between choosing the life she knows and her family, or throwing caution to the wind and committing to Daniel. The Idea of You has a larger age gap and complicates things with Hayes’ fame. Due to this, Part of Your World is an easier and more comforting read for fans looking for a happily ever after.
Romance novels that focus on teenage and high school love can easily tread familiar territory, or be disregarded by adults who feel they’ve grown out of this part of the genre. However, the author, Jenny Han proves that reliving the first pangs of young love transcends generations and that small twists on classic tropes can create amazing results. Many of Han’s novels have been adapted for the screen, with To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before getting a whole slate of movies based on the book series.
Though the film is a few years old, the books remain just as fresh today. In the first book of the collection, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lara Jean grapples with multiple love interests when all the boys she’s ever had a crush on suddenly find out. While this is her worst nightmare at first, she soon starts a fake relationship with her old crush, Peter, but real feelings develop along the way. Though Solène and Hayes have a more mature relationship, To All The Boys provides just as much romantic tension for a younger audience.
The Idea of You is loosely inspired by Harry Styles, but Hayes and Solène’s love story came from the mind of the author, Lee. Drawing inspiration from real people and events is common in literary fiction, especially since so many high-profile love stories are so well-known and received by the public. For Meant To Be, Emily Giffin explored loose elements of the romance between JKF Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, creating juicy story details at the intersection of fame and political life.
The main characters aren’t meant to be direct stand-ins for the Kennedys, but knowing that they serve as the muse for the story makes it more exciting to read. Meant To Be is as much a love story as it is a look at what being American royalty means, and that it takes place in the 1990s is nostalgic for anyone who remembers that time. Cate and Joe, the main characters, face the same kind of scrutiny as Hayes and Solène, but they have more than familial ties that bind them, as Joe’s family is threaded through American history.
Enemies-to-lovers is one of the most well-worn tropes of the romance genres, but it’s a classic for a reason. The 2021 film based on the book, The Hating Game, was released on Hulu but didn’t garner the same attention that the source material did. In the novel, Lucy and Josh are workplace rivals, and it’s easy for them to mistake their competitive natures and big feelings for hatred instead of attraction. There’s no mistaking the attraction between Hayes and Solène, but when it’s an intense connection, that can be overwhelming.
In The Idea of You, it’s not the characters who find themselves at odds, but the external factors that come between them and make it hard for their relationship to work. Though their careers get in the way, Lucy and Josh are the ultimate sources of their own unhappiness as the fear of getting hurt prevents them from putting themselves out there. In both books, the characters take big emotional risks to be with the object of their affection, and though it may seem like Solène and Hayes have more to lose, the feelings are just as powerful.
The Idea of You was only rumored to be based on Harry Styles fan fiction. However, The Love Hypothesis genuinely started as a piece of Star Wars fan writing. There’s a film adaptation in the works, but until then, reading The Love Hypothesis is fun for all audiences, even if they aren’t Star Wars fans. Additionally, the added setting of academia and fake dating make the story chock-full of all the most popular contemporary romance genre tropes. It turns out that fake dating and hiding a secret relationship often leads to a similar tension within books.
Olive and Adam have a shared interest in science, as Olive is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford, and Adam is a young professor. However, their similarities end there, and neither one believes that their fictional romance will blossom into something greater. Like The Idea of You, Olive and Adam try to keep each other at arm’s length for as long as they can, but the most emotional parts of the book reveal how close they’re becoming. Additionally, while their outside relationships push Olive and Adam together, it’s those relationships that end up pulling Solène and Hayes apart.
Though its screen adaptation came later, Han wrote The Summer I Turned Pretty books before the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series. The Summer I Turned Pretty was doubtlessly better suited to a TV show format because of how much ground is covered in the novels. Though each of the books tells a fresh and intriguing story, the first one stands out the most, as the narrative is the tightest, and the love triangle is the best defined. One of the biggest differences between the Summer books and The Idea of You is this love triangle.
Belly, the central figure, is torn between her feelings for two brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah, whom she’s known since she was little, but their dynamic is different now that they’ve all grown up. Belly is a lot younger than Solène, but Belly’s discovery of her romantic feelings and first steps toward expressing her sexuality is similar to Solène’s rediscovering of hers later in life. Additionally, Conrad is a few years older than Belly, which strains their relationship and is used to hurt each other, as in The Idea of You.
Published a few years after Part of Your World, Just for the Summer shows how much Jimenez has grown as an author in a short time, and what she’s discovered about love. Like The Idea of You, the book takes place during a fateful summer when both parties believe they can have a whirlwind romance and forget the whole thing by fall. However, their family responsibilities and the outside world start creeping into their perfect romance, forcing them to decide if they want it to be real.
Like Solène, the protagonists, Emma and Justin, have been unlucky in love and are looking to jolt themselves out of this by dating each other. This allows them to reclaim their love lives and put themselves out there in a way they haven’t in a while. It’s part of Jimenez’s larger series that started with Part of Your World but can easily be read on its own as well. Like Hayes and Solène, their romance starts out innocently, and neither expects to fall in love, but they find themselves leaning on each other in times of crisis.
Plenty of romance novels need TV adaptations after One Day, the iteration of David Nicholls’ novel that made waves with the film version in 2011. What makes the story so rich that producers keep mining it for more adaptations is the timeless nature of the love story and the sweeping narrative that tracks the growth of two people. Taking place over twenty years, Dexter and Emma find themselves linked after spending the night together during graduation. Though they follow different paths, their connection keeps them returning to each other time and again.
Like the book ending of The Idea of You, One Day has a bittersweet conclusion that separates it from pure romance, making it closer to adult fiction. Dexter and Emma go through intense hardship and acutely feel the pain of growing up, but that only makes their story more relatable. One Day also includes an element of fame as Dexter briefly achieves notoriety on television, which comes between himself and Emma. The book also fully fleshes out its characters as individuals within the relationship, something that The Idea of You strives for.