Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted by Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Since April 2022, this meme is hosted by , Aria @ Book Nook Bits and since February 2025, Dini @ DiniPandaReads is the co-host. Let’s Talk Bookish is a meme where participants discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and share their love by visiting each other’s posts.

This week’s topic is Books to film adaptations. Also, I’m a little late, as the discussion posts normally should be posted on a Friday. However, it was way to hot to blogg and I was busy as well, so therefore it’s on a Sunday.

What are your favorite book to film adaptations?

I’m not the biggest fan of book to film adaptations. However, there are some that are quite decent. These are The Book Thief, Me Before You and The Fault In Our Stars. Since I’m legally blind, I have nothing to say about the visuals, so for me it’s important that the film adaptation follows the story of the book closely. I think these movies did it the best for me. Other film adaptations follow the story mostly, but also add extra storylines or other features to make it interesting to Hollywood standards and for a larger audience. However, I get confused and value the books more.

What are your least favorite ones?

Oh I have a few as well. However, my absolute least favorite adaptation is the one they did for All the bright places. There was little dialogue, although these play an actual important part in the story. Also, they left out a few key scenes which lead to the actual climax of the book. I can’t be really specific here because there are obviously people out there who haven’t read the book yet. Also, I’m not the biggest fan of Shadow and Bone. It has been out since april 2021 and I’m still on episode 5. But that’s the same for Heartstopper and I am not even able to read these books because those are graphic novels. I’m the worst viewer out there because I cannot binge and get bored easily.

Do you think that books translate better to movies or shows?

In my opinion books just should stay books. I’m for example really afraid what will happen when they film Throne of Glass or A court of thorns and roses. These books rely strongly on the world building (TOG) and fae powers (ACOTAR) and I have no idea how they will bring that to the screen. But, if they really need to adapt books, they would fit better into shows. A movie should be quite short because of the decreased attention span of the current generation – and mine too -, where in shows you can stretch the storyline in more episodes and therefore can cover more of it.

Would you rather see a standalone or a book series adapted?

Let’s take a look into earlier adaptations. Twilight and The Hunger Games became very succesful and were stretched out over 4 and 5 movies. However, Fallen, Divergent, Vampire Academy, The Mortal Instruments and The Maze Runner bombed so hard that they haven’t been finished at all. For example, Divergent and The Maze Runner‘s final books haven’t even been filmed. Therefore, it’s better to film a stand alone. However, due to Covid, less and less people went to see a movie in theatres. In fact, they have been closed on and off, especially in the Netherlands. In other countries, they aren’t even re-opened still yet. So, in my opinion these adaptations will be more succesful on streaming platforms and therefore book series would be a better fit. So it definitely depends on the target audience and the platform it’s produced for (cinema or streaming service).

What do you think is important for a successful book to film adaptation?

Definitely the casting. Readers have an image of certain characters in their head. Therefore, a bad match in casting would make them hesitant to go see the adaptation. Furthermore, the acting plays an important role too, which comes with casting. However, it’s hard to satisffy the reader, especially of what I stated earlier. When you’re loving a character and a book so much, you automatically portray a character in your head and it’s hard to meet that standard. I hope I make sense LOL. Also, but that’s a personal thing, it’s important to stay close to the book to do it justice. Don’t add too much storyline or whatever features just to make it more interesting to Hollywood standards. It’s annoying and makes your adaptation less likeable. And last but not least, don’t try to adapt every book to film. Many books are just better off by staying just books.

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How about you? What do you think about book to film adaptations?