Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret book and movie

I can't count how many times I've read this book. I honestly have some lines and scenes memorized to the point where it feels like they're mine, not something I read. I read it hundreds of times as a kid and a few times as an adult. This time, I wanted to read it after watching the movie. I felt like the movie stayed true to the book, but wanted to check that theory.

Read as a kid over and over: Clearly I loved it or I wouldn't have re-read it so often, because I always brought home a stack of books from the library and could have picked anything. I had my own copy too (pretty sure it fell apart years ago), with what I think is still the best cover for the book:

Re-read September 2016: Another book I read a lot as a kid and wanted to re-read for Banned Books Week. This one also seemed a little flat, but I still loved it and think kids these days would still love it, even though it’s pretty dated. 

Re-read December 2019: I’m re-reading my Judy Blume books because I’m taking her Masterclass and she references them sometimes. She was one of my favorite authors as a child so I vividly remember most of her books and storylines, but it’s always fun to revisit old favorites. I apparently lost my childhood copy of Margaret, so the one I own now is an updated one. I remember the pads with hooks and a belt, so it was nice to read this newer version where she simply peeled off the paper and stuck the pad to her underpants. It’s the small things! I loved reading about how things “used to be”, but I do think that updating the books will make them more appealing to young readers and will give this type of book staying power.

Re-read 9/23/2025: I read this countless times as a kid and several times as an adult and always love it. Blume effortlessly captures the tween voice. I re-read it this time because I’d just watched the movie and thought it stayed pretty true to the book, but wanted to check myself. It really did! I think it’s one of the best book-to-movie I’ve seen. 

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Basically every scene from the book is in the movie, which makes me love it. I understand sometimes you need to take liberties to make a book work as a movie, but I love that this one didn't. Margaret's "speaking" to God felt a bit over-acted in places though; I preferred it when it was a voiceover of her conversation instead of watching her say it in real-time. All the actors were perfectly cast. 

I wonder if the mom being more of a character searching for fulfillment was a nod to the realization that most people watching this movie were probably the mother's age, remembering how this book changed their lives when they were preteens, so they wanted it to be interesting on that level, too? The mother's painting is mentioned in the book, and the father definitely has a background role in both, so I feel like it wasn't much of a change to bring the mother a bit more to the forefront. And it was Rachel McAdams so who could complain?

All the Bright Places: Book and Movie

It's no secret I love comparing books to their movie or TV versions, so when I saw there was a movie of All the Bright Places on Netflix, I wanted to re-read the book and watch the movie to compare them. I read the book when it came out, but didn't remember much of it, so I knew I would need to refresh my memory. 

Originally read May 2015 (and originally rated 5 stars): This writing in this book is so matter-of-fact that you don’t think you’ll get emotionally involved, but you will. It’s not fluffy and beautiful; it’s real. Niven brings attention to mental disorders, abuse, depression, the lack of need of labels and the vast need for compassion — all without hitting you over the head with the message. Finch and Violet seem like real high school seniors, meaning you don’t love them all the time and you don’t understand them most of the time. But it works. This is an amazing book, highly recommended. It will inspire you to get out and wander your state to learn more about it — and yourself.

Re-read September 2025: This was a re-read for me because I want to watch the movie on Netflix but didn’t remember enough. I remembered loving it in 2015 - 5 stars, rave review, the works. But re-reading it now, after the ways the country has changed since then, raising a son and seeing how Finch acts with Violet, being so pushy… It didn’t sit right with me. I know it’s not the point of the book but the way he kept going after her, making comments about wanting to kiss her and all that, really rubbed me the wrong way. Is it supposed to be ok because of his mental illness? Or because she eventually gave in and fell in love with him? I don’t think so. I see him as manipulative and pulling her into his orbit just to leave and fuck her up even more. Sure, he’s depressed and trying to feel things, but I just can’t stomach it in the current climate.

That said, the writing is beautiful, and knowing why Niven wrote it is really interesting and explains a lot about how Finch is portrayed, in my opinion.

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The movie... Wow. It cut so many details, so much story. I'm not sure I could have followed it if I hadn't read the book first. I don't think it stands on its own. Finch's suicide seemed completely random in the movie, in my opinion. And I do still think that, even in a visual form, they could have conveyed some of the interiority from the book. 

They cut Finch's mom and dad to just mentions instead of showing the characters. I think this is fine overall, and the mom definitely could have been cut from the book as well, but the dad's scenes seemed really important. The movie completely cuts out the little sister. Like with the mom - I think this works. I don't think she added anything to the book except another person Finch left behind, so the movie doesn't suffer for that.

As I mentioned, I think you need to have read the book to get anything from this movie. So many scenes were cut or rushed, but there were two waaaaaay too long scenes of people dancing in a field. It didn't convey anything to me when it was Finch and Violet or when it was Violet with Finch's friends later. It was just trying too hard to make you feel the moment when those precious seconds could have been used for literally any other scene that was cut from the book.