Tag: movie adaptations

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

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I definitely jumped on the Bird Box bandwagon when this movie first came out on Netflix. It was crazy how much it blew up on social media and how popular it became so quickly.

I really enjoyed the movie but there were a few things I had questions about, so I hoped that reading the book would explain everything better.

There were a lot of differences right off the bat. The story starts a lot slower, Malorie is living with her sister for awhile when it all starts happening around them and she saw an ad in the paper that mentioned a safe house. Definitely understand why they sped things up in the movie. I’m not sure it’s very believable that with all this panic going on someone took the time to go out and pay for an add in the newspaper.

The whole thing with Gary was really crazy, both in the movie and the book. I definitely liked how it was written better than how it was portrayed in the movie. It just didn’t make sense that he seemed normal and then was crazy out of nowhere. The book explains that he’s sort of immune to whatever is going on outside and believes that others can be immune too. That just makes more sense to me.

I can’t believe that after they kicked him out he was hiding in the attic and that Don was the one that pulled down all the curtains and blankets. I also can’t believe that everyone died and Malorie had the patience to wait that long by herself with babies before attempting to go down the river.

Ending at the school for the blind is definitely interesting. I’m curious why the author  chose to have people there who blinded themselves. It’s definitely understandable given the situation, and she understood because she almost blinded the babies. Maybe it makes her trust them because she could relate and they’re honest about it? Just felt like a weird detail to throw in at the end.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (Series) by Jenny Han

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After hearing a lot about the movie, I finally sat down one day and watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix. I absolutely loved it. It was so cute and relatable. It made me laugh and cry. I just really loved it.

Of course I had to read the books. They were so good, I could seriously read about Lara Jean and Peter all day long. I actually wish that was an option in life.

I read the three books in this series so quickly that it doesn’t make sense for me to make three separate posts about how great they were and how much I loved each one. Definitely light reading compared to some of the other books I’ve read, but they were all so so enjoyable to read.

I was actually pretty upset after reading them all that Jenny Han said she wouldn’t be writing any more books about Lara Jean. I want to know about Korea, college with Peter, the rest of their lives, etc.!

I’m so glad that Netflix announced they’d be making the second movie and the cast looks really great. Definitely looking forward to it’s release!

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro

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So this is actually pretty interesting because I believe Guillermo del Toro released the book after the movie came out. If I’m wrong about this, please let me know.

I was at Books A Million one day and they had a whole table full of books that had been adapted into movies and I saw The Shape of Water there. It wasn’t until later that I actually downloaded it onto my Kindle and realized that it was more of a movie adapted into a book. At first I was a little put off by it, to be honest. I really enjoyed the movie and just felt like maybe del Toro did this to explain things better and to me that meant that he felt he didn’t explain it well enough in the movie.

The beginning of the book was really slow for me and it actually took me a really long time to read it because of this. I just didn’t care about the tracking of the creature in the Amazon or Lainie’s move to Baltimore. The only parts I was interested in reading were from Elisa’s point of view because she was deaf and it was actually interesting to read her thoughts.

It’s actually funny that I had to drag myself through Lainie’s parts at the beginning because she ended up being one of my favorite characters. She didn’t have a large role in the movie from what I remember, so it was nice to get to see her story line evolve in the book.

The second half of the book was much more interesting to read. I usually don’t read science fiction-type stories, but I actually liked the love story between Elisa and the creature and how they went through awful things to end up together. I think that’s relatable enough for a reader, without hoping you’ll one day meet the fish man of your dreams.

Despite some parts being slow, this was incredibly well written from the different points of view. You really get a good sense of each character’s personality and that’s really important to telling a good story.

The fish/creature/man’s point of view was pretty weird though. It definitely added to the story, but it was an odd choice to make when the lack of communication between it and everyone else was such a strong focus. I also find it hard to believe that it’s thoughts would be in English.

Overall really interesting to read and definitely added something to the movie. Would 100% recommend to anyone who loved the film.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

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Man, Gillian Flynn really writes about the worst women. I mentioned in my last post that I watched this movie when it came out and wasn’t really impressed, but I must have totally forgotten the ending. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention or it was too hard to follow?

This story was much more graphic than Gone Girl and Sharp Objects. I actually read the majority of this book while I was waiting for/on my flight home from Scotland. I was worried that the guy next to me on the plane would read it over my shoulder and judge me because of it (lol!).

This book was really so good. I really enjoyed how it jumped back and forth between the past and the present to slowly tell the entire story. It helped build the suspense and really made me want to keep going to get to the next part of the story, if that makes sense.

I really felt bad for everyone involved in this one. At the beginning I felt like Libby was very unlikable and acted childish, but she’s actually very easy to relate to and I did really like her by the end. The only person I didn’t care much for is Diondra.

The entire thing with Ben and Diondra sucked. I wanted to scream at him for being so dumb and going along with her on everything. I really felt so bad for him, and it was all her fault.

This story really shows the chain reaction of how one thing could change your entire life and that you should be careful how you treat people and what you say about others. It’s really sad how so many people were affected by what happened.

I do wish there were more details about the other sisters. I feel like I didn’t really care about them so much because I didn’t know anything about them. It mentions that one liked to gossip and the other liked pretty things. I just feel like that’s not enough. I guess Libby wouldn’t really know much, so I’m not sure how they would have done that.

I really need to go back and watch the movie now because I completely forgot the ending.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

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This was one of those movies that I saw a while ago and reflected on while I was going through a rough patch with a guy. I felt like my feeling for him were consuming me and it made me feel like I was worthless because he wasn’t returning the same feelings.

I decided to read the book and I’m really glad that I did. This book and Cheryl’s story really helped me. I know that our stories weren’t the same at all and she had it much worse than I did, but I think that when you find something like this that helps you, it’s really special.

Things get better and life is going to be full of situations and issues that you’ll have to overcome. It’s important to work on yourself and to not blame yourself for the things that happen to you. Sometimes, it’s just completely out of your control.

I like that this book really made me feel like anything is possible and to never let yourself believe that you can’t do something. Cheryl wasn’t a hiker, she had hardly any experience on this trek and she did it, even though people doubted her and she doubted herself. She did it, and that’s so important.

I’d be lying if I said that i didn’t want to do a hike of my own after reading this book. It’s so inspiring and it just sounds so amazing to make that decision to change your life and do something for yourself.

If you haven’t read this book, I would highly recommend it. Seriously, it’s a good one.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

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Before I Fall was one of those movies that really makes you think about your life and the way that you treat people. There are things that I said and did in high school that I 100% regret and wish that I could take back, and in this story Sam got the chance to change how she treated the people in her life.

It’s one of those stories that really makes you realize that everything you say and do can affect someone in a way that you didn’t intentionally mean, and that you should do your best to be good to others and honest about your feelings because you never know when it will be your last day on this Earth.

Basically, I really like this movie and I loved the book even more.

Even though I knew how the story would end, while I was reading I couldn’t help but hope that it would be different and that somehow both Sam and Juliet could be saved.

It’s definitely a sad story and I’m not going to lie, it was hard to read about a girl killing herself over and over again. But it’s a good story and it has a good message.

Seriously, why are people so afraid to live their lives the way they want? We should be able to speak our mind and tell people how we really feel without worrying about being judged for it by others. Why do people care so much about what others do? It doesn’t make sense.

Live your life the way you want, tell the people that you love that you love them, be a good person, and read this book 🙂

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

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Here’s yet another book that I decided to read because I was obsessed with the movie. Don’t worry, I promise it won’t be the last 😉

When I decided to read Love, Rosie I had no idea that the entire book was made up of letters, emails, and instant messages. At first I was a little put off by it, but it actually made it a lot easier to read and it was a good way to show the personalities of all of the characters.

Man, this book was frustrating. They loved each other for SO long and it took SO long for them to finally be together. At least in the movie they were still pretty young when the ended up together.

I guess this story really resonates with me because I have a “friend” in my life right now who for awhile was someone I only communicated with through text messages. We seriously went for about 9 months texting every day before meeting and so love stories like this remind me of it. I hope that if I’m going to end up with this person, like Alex and Rosie *eventually* did, that it happens faster than it did for them.

I was glad that Alex’s kids were grown up by the time he finally ended up with Rosie. It would’ve felt wrong if Rosie had broken up his family so that they could be together.

I did have to re-watch the movie after I finished reading and I just have to say, it’s so crazy how much they sped the whole story up! I mean, I totally understand why they did it, it’s just insane how quickly they went through everything!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

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After reading The Order of the Phoenix, I needed a break from the Harry Potter world. Like I said, that movie was never my favorite, and the book was just as hard for me to get through. It was a good book and I did have a better appreciation for it by the end, but it is not the best one of the series.

I took a break and read a few other books, as you may know if anyone actually does follow this blog, but I’m not one to give up on something I’ve set my mind to!

I’m so glad I decided to pick the Harry Potter books up again and read the Half-Blood Prince. This book was sooooo much better than the last one. It was way more action-packed and I was excited to read it every day. I actually finished this one pretty quickly once I really got into it.

I thought it was interesting how the romantic relationships really started to develop in this book. It makes sense that as these characters get older they’ll start developing romantic feelings for each other. I actually really like Harry and Ginny together in the books. It’s funny, because I always see how people say they shouldn’t have ended up together in the movie, but with the book it totally makes sense.

The one thing that did annoy me was how obsessed Harry became with stalking Draco. Like, I know he was right, but it was just so annoying to have to get through.

I know it’s a major story line in the last book, but I wish that Dumbledore would have taught him more when they were hunting for the horcrux. He just did it all by himself and didn’t really explain it all to Harry, which wasn’t helpful at all.

I think because I knew that Dumbledore was going to die, it didn’t really upset me when it happened in the book. I’m sure it would have been shocking and upsetting for anyone who read it before the movies came out, but I was more upset about Fang being in the burning hut.

This book definitely made up for the last one, and I’m so excited to read the next one!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

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When I first started seeing trailers on TV for The Girl on the Train, I was super excited to see the movie. It reminded me a lot of Gone Girl, which I loved, so I was hoping for the same type of story. The Girl on the Train isn’t quite on the same level as Gone Girl, in my opinion, but I still really enjoyed it.

Usually when I read a book that a movie is based on, it’s because I saw the film version first and didn’t realize or have interest in reading the book before. In this case, I made the decision to wait to read the book until after I saw the movie. I feel like when I read the book after seeing the movie I fall in love with it more because it gives so many more details and insight into what is going on with the characters. In this case though, I found myself wishing I had read the book before.

I felt like the book didn’t have as big of an impact on me because I knew from the beginning how it was going to end. It was a strange feeling for me, because I often read books after seeing the movie and have not experienced this sort of thing before. I kind of think that I just wanted to experience the shock I would have felt while reading the book, and that because I already knew, it didn’t have such a big climax for me.

That’s not to say that the book wasn’t as good as the movie. I actually think that the book was better than the film version, and liked that there were some little differences between the two. The main difference was that the book took place in London, while the movie took place in New York. I thought that was an interesting change they made, and that Megan definitely seemed more like what I think of as an “American” girl. It’s possible that I just imagined her that way based on the actress that played her in the film.

I also liked that the book went into more detail about how far Rachel’s relationship with Scott went. The movie sort of hinted that this was what happened, but I really liked knowing for sure what was going on between the two of them.

Which brings me to Rachel. I really liked her, even though she is an unreliable narrator. You really want to root for her and trust that she didn’t do this to Megan, even though her pieces of memory suggest otherwise. Even when watching the movie, I never felt like she was the one who killed Megan. I actually really liked Megan too, and mostly just felt sorry for her. However, I really hated Anna throughout the whole book. Her reminiscing about being the other woman and missing that feeling of having someone want her in that way were kind of annoying. Even at the end she thought about letting Tom kill Rachel just so that she would have him to herself again, even though she knew that he had cheated on her too.

I also think that the book did a really good job of disguising Tom as the killer. Even though I knew from the movie, there were multiple times when I questioned it while reading the book and even thought that maybe they had changed the story for the film version. I had actually guessed it about half way through the movie and the book kept me questioning it right up until the end.

Even though The Girl on the Train wasn’t as crazy of a story as Gone Girl, I really enjoyed it. I liked that there were twists and that the characters all had their own interesting stories and points of view. I liked that I got to see what was going on from all sides of the story and really liked how it ended. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in these types of thriller/suspense/mystery stories.