The Idea of You (Book) Review Breaking Down The Acclaimed Novel Before The Motion Picture Release

There was huge social media excitement when it was announced that “The Idea of You” starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine would have its world premiere at the SXSW Festival on March 16. It was a film that wasn’t on my radar at all but when cast photos of the fictional group from the film dropped and trended, I became curious. The gist of the film follows a 40-year-old woman having an illicit affair with a 20 something Brit boy from a famous boy band. It’s based on the 2017 novel The Idea of You by Robinne Lee and is thought to be fan fiction based on Harry Styles from One Direction. I figured I would read The Idea of You book to get ready for when the film has its streaming premiere on Prime Video in May.

Mind you I started reading this book (available on Kindle Unlimited) before the trailer dropped and refused to watch it until I finished because I was already forming in my mind my own version of the main characters and I wanted to keep that for as long as I could and BAYBEE, let me tell you the book is marvelous! BE WARNED…major book spoilers are ahead as I break down key elements of The Idea of You book.

The Idea of You read easily, and I don’t consider myself a quick reader, but I finished it in no time. I started March 6 and finished March 8 reading for a few hours during the day and night. If I had the time, I probably could have read it in one day. It was truly a page-turner. In the book, the main character Solène (pronounced So, lend as mentioned in the book), 39 at the start of the book, is tasked with bringing her daughter Isabelle and her two friends to Las Vegas for a concert “won” during a silent auction when her ex-husband Daniel flakes at the last minute. Isabelle and her friends are around the age of 13 and are excited to go to the huge concert of the popular British boy band August Moon because they have floor seats and backstage passes to meet the band before they go on. The band is made up of Simon, Oliver, Rory, Liam, and Hayes Campbell – who is basically the Harry Styles of the group. Solène and Hayes have chemistry from the moment they meet during the get-together with fans and Solène becomes transfixed with Hayes despite him being 20.

Solène knows she’s too old for Hayes (and constantly mentions it in the book) but agrees to have lunch with Hayes a few days later when he’s in town (LA area). During the lunch, the tension is palpable as they discuss their chosen careers – Solène’s co-owns an art gallery and sells contemporary art and Hayes discusses how he created August Moon. The way the book is laid out is chaptered by cities and the rest of the book chronicles the extensive love affair between Solène and Hayes through the different cities that they link up at over time for about a year. I really loved the format of the different cities because you really could see yourself in these places with these characters.

I honestly couldn’t put this book down! I just wanted to get back to seeing what Hayes and Solène were up to. And they were up to A LOT. Once their relationship became physical they were banging it out in every city they linked up in from Miami, Paris, New York, and back to California and those moments were HOT! All the interactions between Hayes and Solène from the start had me blushing and kicking my feet together as I was reading in bed. Then I thought to myself, “Am I easy?” because I was very much being seduced by Hayes as well. Like, is this the game the Brit boys be having because I was not familiar.

One theme in the book I pinpointed was women aging and how they feel obligations to motherhood before womanhood which I think was sad. I felt sad for Solène because she was falling in love with Hayes even though it was seen as taboo and the whole relationship started to really affect her daughter, especially when she found out about her mom and Hayes. In the end, she had to put her daughter’s happiness above her own, I mean that’s kind of what any good mother would do, but I still felt sad she had to ever be in that position.

Also, the idea of fame versus the reality of fame was a big theme in the book. Hayes and Solène’s relationship started as something that was supposed to be just a sex thing because Sol kept saying she’s so much older and she only wanted to have a fling, but their relationship turned into something way more serious than they expected. They were trying to keep it a secret and keep the relationship private, but things got messy when they were exposed. With that came outside public opinion and that was the beginning of the end. August Moon’s intense fans were also a part of the downfall because they terrorized Solène online when they found out who she was, vandalized her business and flooding the business phone line, someone also kept sending a dildo to her house telling her to “go fuck herself” instead of Hayes. It was crazy! Isabelle was also crushed to find out her celeb crush was banging her mom, and she was getting bullied in school because of it.

The book ends with the eventual break up of Solène and Hayes and I must admit I was very sad. I knew the idea of them (hello, the title of the book) would never work because of all the challenges they were facing, but I was still hoping somehow it could work out. When I was done reading The Idea of You I watched the trailer for the upcoming film and I can already see the differences based on what I read, but I really, really enjoyed the book (I’m reading it again right now) so I’m really excited to see exactly how this story gets adapted into a motion picture.

“The Idea of You” streams on Prime Video on May 2, 2024. I’ll be seated and I’m pretty sure this movie is going to consume my life as the book did.

Have you read The Idea of You book? Do you plan on doing so now after my book breakdown? Let me know in the comments.

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Photo: Prime Video