I read this book many years ago and cried. I found the whole search for 'what makes us humani' element both moving and hopeless. I even get why the romance thing was emphasized in the movie, though in the book it is less about romance and more about discovering your humanity in the context of growing friendship and connection. That, in the end is what romance morphs to if you live long enough and you're lucky. However, I just want to say a small thing about the movie. I'm hoping it moved people to actually read the book. They are differing art forms after all. Movies do movie things and books - well, books reveal worlds. It's been my habit to see the movie first, if I haven't already read the book It certainly worked for The Power of the Dog. I can always look forward to the reward of more with the picture of the characters in my mind as I read. I can usually suspend what I know about endings in the enjoyment of the language as the story unfolds. So, I'd say read when you want a world, see the movie when you want to see someone else's vision of that world.