Tag: review

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Book vs Movie Books Movie/Pop Culture

The Martian Book vs Movie: Why Both Versions Work in Completely Different Ways

Estimated Read Time: 5min

Firstly, I want to say that I loved The Martian – the book and the movie. The way that Andy Weir writes a story is something special. Science Fiction can be challenging to get through (particularly when you don’t know a whole ton about science), but he makes it easy to understand and fun to experience – even in dire circumstances.

Why Andy Weir’s Writing Works So Well

The way the book and movie start are different. This is something that I noticed all the way along, that the sequence of events is slightly altered. The way that the book started was more interesting, I’m just going to open with that. We start with Mark, already on Mars and already pretty much screwed… yeah it was a great way to grab the readers attention. The film starts with beautiful shots of “mars” and the actual moment of Mark being lost on the planet. While I understand why the film did it this way, it felt like we lost something.

The Opening Scene Difference

That leads me into the next thing that I noticed. The film took a more sombre tone. I know it’s quite a serious situation, but the book had more “gallows humour” for lack of a better word. Mark was funnier in the book, and in the film Matt Damon (who did do a great job) his delivery was a lot more dry, and there was more relatable moments of frustration… that led to a bit of a loss in the humour that Andy writes into his stories.

The Missing Humour in the Film

The film does make things feel a LOT more high stakes. There’s something different about a film being able to use visual, audio and acting elements to bring up the level of life and death! This was pretty great, but there are some downsides too. In order to fit everything into the span of a film, we lost a ton of stuff. Mostly, it was Mark’s explanations of what he was doing, and the little things that went wrong and right. Transforming the Rover, for example, was a much shorter process in the film than it was in the book. The downside to seeing things in a visual medium was the mini operation Mark had to do on himself… yeah that was horrifying.

What the Movie Had to Cut

Understandably, a movie that focusses very heavily on a guy who is basically alone on a deserted planet is going to be more interesting if we focus a bit more screen time on the people who are trying to bring him home. It also adds more lines to those actors… so that’s good I suppose. This meant that because the book focussed a lot more on Mark, we got a better idea to the isolation that he was experiencing. We spent so much time with him, that it was evidently clear of how alone he really was. In focussing on more with NASA and the time to get him back, we filled a lot of empty space – in terms of what we get to see as the movie going audience – but we lost a lot of Mark. He felt less of the main character, and more of an ensemble player.

Why the Isolation Felt Stronger in the Book

One thing that really irritated me in the film was the constant saying what they were typing to each other…. often whilst we see the words appearing at the exact same time. Yeah, that was dumb. I think that could have been done better, but I do understand why they did it. The only way they could communicate with Mark was through written medium, it was just a very frustrating visual.

The Communication Problem

Finally, the ending. The book and movie did differ in terms of where Mark ended up at the end of the book. While the book took a more understandable and realistic psychological ending, the film took the “happy ending” route. In the book, Mark doesn’t like to leave his house, he is constantly checked by doctors because he basically will end up with cancer at some point, and is VERY adamant about no more potatoes.. ever again. While in the film, he ends up teaching other astronaut hopefuls and doesn’t seem to really have that many after affects. While I understand this Hollywood style ending decision, I actually liked the more realistic view into how Mark’s journey would have ended. While the actual moments on Mars were filled with his humour in surviving, now that he was back safe on Earth, he would have more chance to fully go into how he felt and how that is going to affect his life moving forward.

So, which was better? The book or the film? I don’t think if you’ve read this post from start to finish that it will be a surprise to hear that I preferred the book. The humour, the focus and the start to finish themes just worked a bit better for me. While the film was still good, and had amazing points in its favour, the book just had to win out. There was just so much more that it was able to do that the film couldn’t capture.

Grab the book Here

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Booktok/Booktube

Rock, Paper, Scissors | First Alice Feeney Attempt

Estimated Reading Time: 3min

Alright we are back with another “attempt” to read a popular author that I hear about all the time, but had never actually read.

Rock Paper Scissors

feeney

So, this one was difficult. I picked up a book that was a thriller, and that is seemingly what I got.. but when I want a thriller mixed with fantasy/supernatural potential, that’s usually what I would pick up. I didn’t like that this one semi-combined those two things together, and that was a BIG reason why I never made it to the end of this story. Let me clarify though, as a thriller only this one was pretty interesting. It had all the potential, but without the creepy element – that I thought was unnecessary.

Firstly, I think Alice is a good writer. I liked her writing, the style it was in, and the choices that I looked up spoilers and as I read along to see the various elements in her writing. The characters were interesting, and gave off those unreliable narrator vibes. Something that I have a 50/50 mind about, but Alice did a great job making them interesting and relatable.

While I did look up the twists and ultimately the ending, I will say that if I had continued the book I would have been satisfied with how the plot went and twisted into an interesting pretzel. I don’t know about the characters choices and moral centres, but I can say it was a nice assortment of twists.

The reason I decided to stop reading at around chapter 27 (almost halfway) was the overall creepy vibe that I don’t personally go for. EASILY, this book could have done without it. I understand it to an extent, but I also totally can see how it would have been fine without. It still would have been a very good thriller. Of course, writers can tell stories however they want, so Alice’s choice to include that element is totally valid. Personally though, it was that reason that made me give up on the characters and their story and reading the ending online instead.

Grab the book Here

Really minimal reasons for giving this one up, and if I had to rate based on my half read and knowing the rest of the plot, I would give it a 3.5 stars. It was good – and if you don’t mind creepy, this is one worth checking out.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book vs Movie Books Movie/Pop Culture

Cruella: A Prequel That Rewrites the Character More Than the Story

Estimated Read Time: 6min

When fashionistas go bad… or were bad from the start… whichever way it was the newest Live Action movie that focuses on the villain from 101 Dalmatians. Regardless of how I feel about focussing so much on the bad guys in media right now, I do like Emma Stone and I had remembered it as a pretty good movie. So let’s compare the film from the subsequent book that came out!

A Villain Origin Story… Again

I usually look at movies that were made based on a book already existing, but this one was different, because the novel adaptation came after the film. So let’s compare, contrast and complain.

One thing I noticed this time around that hadn’t occurred to me watching the film before was just how dreadful Emma Stones accent was in this film. Look, she tried her best, but it was very distracting. I also noticed that both Emmas (Stone and Thompson) kind of over acted in this film. The Horrace and Jasper scenes and actors did a great job and were really funny, but Cruella and Baroness were quite overblown. I understand why the choice might have been made, because they are very larger than life characters, but it was quite an unbalanced film in terms of the acting itself.

The Acting Choices

Another thing that irritated me in this film when I watched it, was the animated/green screen moments. Particularly with the dogs or “stunt” type moments with the actors, it actually looked quite fake. It drew me completely out of the story, and I don’t understand why it looked that way when we have such incredible avenues for creating great films.

That being said, I did feel like a LOT of the funny moments in the film (which I think there was quite a few) were missed in the book. It was nice to see the inner dialogue especially when Estella was younger, but those funny choices the actors made are unmatched. Stand outs for this include Estella’s boss in the retail store – absolute crack up! I loved his snort laugh when he mentions “breeding” – and the Horrace/Jasper moments.

What the Film Did Better

Poor Horrace gets the short end of the stick in the book, and he was so much funnier in the film. I think sometimes you just cant beat an actor and their amazing choices. What they can do with their expressions and tone is something you don’t get in a book. BUT, books do allow for additional exploration of a characters feelings and insights, which is also great!

Some of the standout moments of acting for me was Cruella talking with Anita (“What Glint?”), Estella at the fountain for the last time (“But I do love you. Always”) and Baroness throwing a chair at a maid in frustration (“You’re in… the way”). Something the movie did that I really enjoyed, was the overlay of newspaper articles and headlines. It also focussed heavily on Estella feeling guilty that she caused her mothers death, which is something the book didn’t really touch on.

Standout Movie Moments

Okay, I’ve talked a lot about the film already, but what about the book itself?
I really enjoyed the book (though I will admit that the audiobook person mispronounced ‘valet’ all the time and that did annoy me), and we got actual DIFFERENCES from the movie. Sometimes the novel adaptations end up copying word for word and scene for scene, but this one didn’t. It had a good balance of the tone in the film, and its own new and fresh take on the story. Sticking with the original storyline but giving those extra nuggets is EXACTLY what I look for in the book version of a story. So snaps all around for the author of the book.

The book really highlighted Estella trying to be good like her mother wanted. She wasn’t just automatically ready to be a troublemaker at her school, and she genuinely wanted to try. This was nice, because it gave a bit of a better build up to when she really does lose the plot later on. While the film had WAY TOO MUCH narration over the main film – especially at the start of the movie – the book had a great feel. That’s the nature of inner dialogue in books I suppose.

The Different Feel of the Book

The film had some INCREDIBLE cinematic shots and music choices, and while I love a book that can describe scenes and people well there’s something you miss out from the visual counterpart. I will say that I appreciated less focus on the fountain and Estella always going back to “talk to her mum” – they basically did ONE of these scenes in the book, and otherwise moved away from that choice the film made. I didn’t miss those parts at all. I will say though, the film did make Cruella look a bit more like the Joker than I would have preferred… that make up guys! Ugh.

Final Verdict

If you have a child who really liked the movie and wanted to read the book too, I would say YES! It was great. Even those young in heart lovers of this film would enjoy the additional insights that the book provided as well… While I felt the book excelled with Estella’s early life, it was the film that won the day when she got older and began to really delve into the complicated adult emotions of her situation and the fun fashion side of the story (like that moth reveal scene!).

Stay tuned for some more Book Vs Movie posts, otherwise…

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Reviews Books Movie/Pop Culture

First Time Reading Lord of the Rings

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

First time looking at a Tolkien book… I know, don’t shoot the messenger. Especially considering that I finally did sit down and read the giant book that was The Fellowship of the Ring.

I honestly went into reading this thinking that I wouldn’t like it. The bits and pieces of ads that I’ve seen for the movies made me really unsure about it all. However, I am glad that I finally took the plunge, because it was actually pretty good.

The story is actually broken in two sections, in my view. An unknown journey in the first part with just the hobbits as they head off into the unknown, and then a purposed quest with lots of new companions that are all very different and have a much higher level of understanding. This was somewhat annoying, because we shift quite drastically. However, I will say that the first half was a little less action packed and a little more info provided. When we get to the second half, we also got more action, but a few more characters to try and keep track of which was a challenge at times. Those aren’t Mary or John names, and it was difficult for me to recall who everyone was.

There was actually loads of info dumping in this book, but Tolkien made it work for me. Especially in the beginning of the version that I listened to in audiobook form, which gave some insight into the Hobbit stuff. I had not read that “prequel book (if you will), so this was a great way to get the relevant (and some not) information that I missed out on.

I will say the themes of good verses evil, and power corrupting were very well inserted and woven throughout. There were some interesting moments, and definitely a consensus that evil is bad… fancy that! In a lot of the books (particularly fantasy) that we are given right now, we seem to focus more on the villains and trying to give them an “understandable” reason for being the bad guy. To me, this is silly and I would much rather leave them in the villains for villains sake category. Sometimes it’s good to have a redeemable villain, but if the goal is not to have them realise what they did was wrong, let’s leave them firmly in the bad guy camp and move on with our lives. Very obvious lines were drawn in this book, which is something I think we need to take hold of and continue writing.

Good beats evil in the books. It may not win every battle, every day in real life – but that’s the point of a story. Good GETS to win, and evil has to loose. We need to draw the lines really easily and obviously so we can distinguish who we should be rooting for. I LOVE that Tolkien does this, and I was happy to read a book that even though the good guys are flawed (like us all), we ultimately know what the goal is and where we are going.

Bravo.

Grab the book Here

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book vs Movie Books Movie/Pop Culture

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Book vs Movie: Two Very Different Moral Worlds

Estimated Reading Time 4min

Okay, I finally read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for first time! After liking the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film, and hating the Johnny Depp version I thought it was time to see what the book had to offer originally.

There were a few differences that I noticed between the book and the movies. I will say now, that mostly I am comparing to the Gene Wilder (GW) version of the film (as I actually like that one), but I might mention the Johnny Depp (JD) version on occasion as well.

I like that Wonka seems a lot more likeable in the book. He had more of a lighthearted attitude and relationship from the films. The GW Wonka was a bit more brusk in moments to make sure he was really choosing the right successor, and the JD was way more creepy. I also enjoyed things that were different with the kids and how they ended up being drawn into the factory. For example, Veruca Salts parents were also down the rubbish chute with her, because a kids spoilt behaviour is acutally not entirely their fault. Someone has to spoil them in the first place. I like that the book dared to say things like that!

Timelines were a little different, like when the group and Mike TV went into the TV room or glass elevators. Also interesting, was the GW scene where Charlie and Grandpa Joe snuck into the bubble room, this was nowhere in the book. No Slugworth “test” to see if they could keep company secrets, but there are more books to my recollection, so maybe they brought it in for the GW film?

I have to say, the Oompa Loompas seemed a lot more cheeky in the book, and more mysterious in the film. Their origin was really explored in the JD film, but even then I think they just had more cheek and less seriousness in the book. I really liked that, and maybe because they were so interesting and unlike the other characters (all humans), I would have loved to have seen and heard more.

A few final thoughts: I missed the songs they added into the film. JD was MILES away from what the book portrays Wonka as, but that is somewhat on the shoulders of Tim Burton though, as he was the director. He always seems to like doing really creepy stuff… I don’t know why.

Well, those are my thoughts, but if you read the book as a kid and loved it, or watched either of the films, what was your favourite part?

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Great Reads Unfavourited Books

Reading the BEST of a BAD Bunch…

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

Recently, after the personal success of reading only a chapter of books that I own to countdown to Christmas, I found out the strategy worked wonders! I could get a glimpse of whether a book was something I was excited to read, feeling “meh” about, or something I could unhaul… So I’m doing it again.

In a recent video I looked at the books I was LEAST excited to read from my own bookcase, and I found six that I actually wanted to read…

If you’ve watched the video, you have a bit of insight into my thoughts of the first few chapters. If you haven’t, don’t worry because I recap them now… Here are the results!

Broken by Travis Thrasher

I haven’t actually gotten to read this book yet BUT from the first chapter that I did read, it was pretty engaging! It seems like it will be a great story, a mystery to unravel and something that is a little outside my normal reading. So I’m excited to get going with this story!

Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek by Terry Shames

I have actually already read and DNF’d this book. It started out having a great set of characters and location, but I slowly started to loose quite a bit of interest as the story progressed. I wasn’t as charmed by everything once I was part way through the book, and by chapter 10 (or page 75) I was pretty much ready to call it a day with a 2.5 star rating.

Girl Online On Tour by Zoe Sugg

This is also a book I haven’t gotten to read quite yet BUT it is actually on my list of books to read next, so I will do it very soon.

The chapter I read had a fun teenage vibe, and the element of blog content in the layout is really fun. Even though it is the second book in a series – and I haven’t read the first – I think I could still pick it up and potentially enjoy, so we shall see!

Noah’s Law by Randa Abdel-Fattah

abdel-fattah

Again, haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but from what I gathered in the first chapter it seems like it will be a pretty fun ride. A cheeky guy in school gets into trouble and as “punishment” is thrown into a law firm/adult world scenario to help in the legal case of a real crime, rather than his prank style antics… Sounds fun, and I do love a good smart ass.

Impossible by Sarah Lots

lotz

I am so happy to say that this book was a surprising WIN! I have read it already all the way through (though I did listen to it as an audiobook), and it took a surprising and very fascinating twist. Basically, you can’t share anything about this book without it being a spoiler, so I will just say that it surprised me and took a turn in the relationship that I didn’t see coming… At all…. So yeah. Great one to read.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

marsden

I also made it through this book too, and it was sort of middle of the road for me. I know I’m not really the target audience in terms of age, but it didn’t fully hit. The idea of teenagers missing a huge apocalyptic attack on their town and country, and then trying to fight back gorilla warfare style was interesting. I just didn’t like the way the book looked back and narrated, and some of the reactions did irritate me quite a bit.

Well, that was an experience. So have you read these books and disagree/agree with me? Maybe you’re inspired to read them for yourselves! Let me know in the comments.

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Special Categories

Falling Down Rabbit Holes and Lonely Islands | Adult Reads Kids Books

Here we go again! There were so many classic children’s books that I had to split this list and come back again!

There are so many books that I hear about all the time, or watched the “Disney” version of and had never realised they were based on books – so I’m thinking it’s about time to read. I have a few hot takes so let’s get into the grit of it…

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

This book was so chaotic, like an acid/hallucinogenic nightmare. I don’t know how this was for kids. The ideas and philosophies explored are very mature and adult – like Alice having an existential crisis… like, what?
There was such chaotic oddity and it was difficult to follow the train of thought amongst the rubbish.
Alice is just such a brat. She’s rude, easily angry and a know it all. She also LIKES being two people – hello mental health red flag?
Not only does she act like she knows it all, but she also tells herself to stop being silly or sad… those are totally normal emotions when you’re facing the craziness she was.
The audiobook I will admit, was fun to listen to with all the voices.

Stuart Little – E. B. White

Odd little story.
It had no really plot, just a bunch of things happening to a mouse who was supposedly part of a human family… odd, like I said. And everyone seems perfectly satisfied that animals can speak, be substitute teachers and own cars, paying for gas.
It was cute but kinda weird.

Peter Pan – J. M. Barrie

This book is straight up a parents worst nightmare. At least in the Disney movie, the kids were only gone one night, while the parents were away so they didn’t know they went missing… but THIS – they are gone for a long time. Long enough for us to see the parents basically losing their minds at home because all three of their kids have basically been abducted… ummm okay
So right off the bat, this book was so much darker than any other iteration I have seen, and it was pretty disturbing. Peter is both completely oblivious, and manipulative and sadistic. He likes to see kids in pain or trouble, casually suggests and follows through with killing people, and kidnaps kids with no regard to their wishes.. I hate him.
There was a lot more focus on Mr and Mrs Darling than I would have thought, but it made it all the more heartbreaking when their kids essentially disappear. Although I will say, Wendy told her mum that a strange dude was watching them sleep and she did basically nothing about it, except interact directly with Peter and steal his shadow. I thought the whole point of PP was that kids basically dreamt or imagined someone like him, not that he was REAL and that parents actually saw him. Either that, or everyone in the Darling family is Schizophrenic.
Hearing a little bit about how Fairy magic and life works was interesting, but the rest of this book was un-savable for me.

Nim’s Island – Wendy Orr

Cute book, with an unusually brave kid and animals that have a lot more awareness than real seals and lizards. Still, I enjoyed the story and it was good for the proper demographic (not an adult haha!).
I would let my kids read this and hope they got a sense of adventure too!

Well, that was PART TWO of the kids books – and I think I’m done for now… If you want to see more let me know by liking this post or sending through a comment.

Do you enjoy these “classic” children’s books and think my opinion is rubbish? Comment below your FAV of the books I read above and let me know why.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Life

Frankie Walter Peta | Cafe Review

When I found out there was a cute little cafe near my apartment, and that it included a BOOK BORROW LIBRARY WALL, I was trying it… no matter what!

Now, before anyone considers trying to work out where I live (all sixty of you! I see you there…) I am moving soon, and that’s why I decided to do a review BEFORE it was too late!

In terms of this particular cafe, it was good coffee and a great atmosphere. The books are always changing, and I love to not only borrow but help out with books that I no longer want but know that someone else would treasure. I would give this place four stars if it was out of five – it was just a bit small for me… gotta get that claustrophobia under control guys!

In general, I think (make that KNOW FOR A FACT) that we need more cafe’s like this. In Melbourne. In the world. In the galaxy. This is an absolute essential if you ask me. Cafe’s in the area should take a page out of FWP’s book – if you bring the books, they will come!

Cafe’s are the perfect place to have books to read, art to look at and soft music that doesn’t overpower conversation. It’s just the right kind of feel, with a touch of greenery and cushy chairs.

If you live in Melbourne, and want to find a cafe that has a cool feel, a book wall to peruse and borrow from without a library card or late fees – this is it. So, head on down if you want otherwise let me know of another great cafe in your area!

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace