3 Book To Screen Blockbusters Reviewed

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that early in the year I did a post on 10 Book to Movie Adaptations coming out in 2018. I had originally written the post as a resource for you guys, but as it happens it’s proven super useful for myself, to keep a track of all the movies that are coming out, and to ensure I’ve read the books in advance.

And so far (even if I say so myself) I’ve been doing a stellar job of staying on top of it. There were 4 movies that released so far this year, and I’ve managed to read all the books beforehand. Of-course the first movie that released was (hopefully) the last installment of the Fifty Shades Series, and I’d already read the books some years ago.

But then I caught up on the other 3 books that were scheduled for Spring 2018 release – Love Simon (based on Simon vs The Homo-Sapiens Agenda) , A Wrinkle in Time, and Ready Player One, and I enjoyed all of them.

If you all are interested I can do a post comparing the books vs movies, but for now, I’ll review the 3 books for you, so you can decide if you want to check them out, or catch the movies.

Simon vs The Homo-Sapiens Agenda – Book Review

This is the first LGBTQ romance I have ever read, and trust me I couldn’t have picked a better book to start reading the genre. It had everything that I could wish for, and so much more. In-fact I don’t even know where to begin with the list of amazing things about this book, but I guess the titular character is a great place to start?

Simon has to be one of my favorite protagonists, he was this delightful combination of fun, quirky, and weird, which might make him seem ludicrous at times, but in a totally adorable way. And equally amazing were the supporting cast of characters, who I have to say were peculiar, distinctive, and awesome in their own ways.

I especially loved how the author portrayed the friendships in this book – they were adorable, yet imperfect, and oh so realistic that they made me nostalgic for my own college days.

Having said that I think the thing I liked the most was to see Simon & Blue fall in love over email(s) – from the inside out. That, my friends, truly & totally warmed my heart.

Moreover (as if all of the things I mentioned above were not enough), there was a mystery to solve too (to uncover the true identity of Blue, Simon’s online crush and his main love interest in the book), which I have to admit is what kept me turning pages at a frantic pace, because I just had to find out who Blue was. Now to be honest I wasn’t very successful at this, but let me tell you that when I finally figured it out, it made my heart really really glad for the twosome who were just so perfect for each other.

Bottomline: This book was A LOT OF FUN, and I highly recommend it to everyone!

GET THIS BOOK HERE:

Amazon One Link: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Amazon India: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Movie Trailer: Love Simon

Pin This for Later: 3 Book To Movie Adaptations You Must Check Out

A Wrinkle in Time – Book Review

It’s no secret that I am fascinated with the concept of time-travel. Actually it’s my preferred super-power. I mean hypothetically speaking of-course. You know those quizzes that ask you – if you could do or be anything for a day, or have any super-power, what would it be? I would always pick the ability to travel in time as my super-power, preferably invisible (but that would be cheating, no? as it would amount to two super-powers?), because I would only want to watch, not necessarily change anything – at-least not so far.

And so I naturally gravitate towards time-travel themes in books and movies too, which is the main reason I picked this book (and also because I was interested in seeing the movie adaptation that released a few weeks back). However, after having read it, I have to clear something up right away. I don’t think this involved much time travel. There was a lot of travelling in space and exploring the universe, and yes some time travel was involved, but not the kind of time travel I expected or usually like to read about.

Nonetheless it’s still a nice adventure story for middle grade kids, and even young adults. Because even though it did manage to hold my interest till the very end, the story is a little too simplistic for adults. But of-course I don’t hold that against the book, because for one I am not the intended target audience, and secondly I am sure I would have enjoyed this story a whole lot more if I had read it when I was much younger. In-fact this would have possibly even made it to my childhood favorites, because let’s face it, which kid wouldn’t enjoy an adventure through time and space meeting friendly aliens & fighting monsters?

All in All: I’d highly recommend this book to kids in the ages 8-14, and young adults, but that is not to say that adults won’t enjoy it, because I read it and found the story charming & interesting enough.

GET THIS BOOK HERE:

Amazon One Link: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Amazon India: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Movie Trailer: A Wrinkle in Time

Related: 10 Book To Movie Adaptations Coming Out in 2018

Ready Player One – Book Review

This is one book I had been meaning to read for the longest time, but then I never found the time to actually get to it a.k.a. the story of my life. But anyway, I finally picked it up a few weeks back, right before the movie released, because I was really really interested in checking it out, and I simply had to read the book first.

Which was a good thing, because I really enjoyed the book, in-spite of my initial apprehensions about the story, and worrying about whether it was a good fit for me. Because here is the thing, this story mainly revolves around 2 things – an epic video game contest – unlike anything anyone has ever seen before, and the knowledge of 80s pop culture to win the said contest.

And while I have played a fair amount of video games in my teens, my experience has been very limited at best. Moreover, being a millennial, most of the 80s references were completely lost to me. Hence the initial apprehension.

However I need not have worried at all. Because in-spite of the above ‘hurdles’, the story managed to completely suck me in. The 80s references which were kind of overwhelming at first, were hardly noticed as the story progressed. Ditto with the video game thing. My lack of knowledge was a relative non issue when it came to my enjoyment of the book.

Now would I have enjoyed it more if I grew up in the 80s with an obsession for videogames and all things sci-fi? Definitely! In-fact in that case this would have possibly made it to my all time favorites because of sheer nostalgic value. Which is why I highly recommend this book to people who fulfill the above 2 conditions. Or even any one of them actually.

But like I said, I was 0 for 2, and I still managed to enjoy it. Of-course part of it was the thrill of the chase, but I was also kind of amazed by the world the author had ‘created’, his version of what 2045 might look like. Of-course I don’t have anything to compare it against (because I haven’t read enough futuristic fiction), but I have to say that the 2045 of this book was frighteningly realistic. I mean I hope for all of us that it never comes to pass, but unfortunately this kind of technology led dystopian reality seems like a definite possibility in our near future, much sooner than 2045 actually.

Anyway, that being said, I’d recommend this book to anyone who fulfills at-least one of these conditions – grew up in the 80s, loves videogames, sci-fi books, or movies even, is interested in futuristic/dystopian fiction, or simply loves an action packed story with several twists & turns following an epic quest.

If you fulfill even a couple of conditions, I am sure you will find something to like in this book. If you fulfill them all – then say hello to your new favorite book, and thank me later!

GET THIS BOOK HERE:

Amazon One Link: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Amazon India: Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Movie Trailer: Ready Player One

Pin This for Later: 3 Book To Movie Adaptations You Must Check Out

That’s all from my end folks. Those were the books I read (so far) from that list of 2018 Book to Movie Adaptations, and I’m looking forward to getting to the others soon too.

Speaking of which, technically the next book on that list is Where’d You Go Bernadette, which was slated for a May 11 release, but now the producers have pushed it back to October 19. I’ve updated the change in the post, but since Hollywood is notorious for such changes all the time, even October might not be a sure thing. Either way I’ll keep that post updated, so you can plan your next read accordingly.

As for me, the next book I’ll pick up from that list is Crazy Rich Asians, because that seems to be the next big release in August. Oh and did I mention that they’ve finally released a trailer? Because they did, and it’s pretty awesome, and after watching that I literally cannot wait to read the book!

I’d love to hear from you. Have you read any of these books? Or seen any of these movies? Which books/movies are you most looking forward to? Do share!

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