From the Page to Screen: Books I’ve been most excited to read

Book Reviews
Latest Reads – Book to Movie Adaptations  

 

These three books have been on my to-read list since I first heard about the movies they were being turned into. I prefer to read the book before the movie so that I can create my own envisage of the world, and I find that I get into it more if I don’t know what’s going to happen. Of course, this sometimes makes the movie less enjoyable, but I do like seeing the book come to life on screen.

Anyhow, I finally got around to reading this years anticipated movie, Me Before You, and it’s sequel After You by Jojo Moyes, and the book to the 2014 film, ‘Love, Rosie’, Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. 

Here’s a small summary about each book, and my thoughts on them. Enjoy!

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
★★★★★

This story follows the main character, 26 year old Louisa Clark, who has just lost her job at the Buttered Bun tea shop and needs to attend a Job Centre to find a new job and help support her family. While she really doesn’t have the experience, the best job being offered to her is the position of a carer for a disabled man, so Lou goes for the interview and finds that she gets the job.
The man she cares for, Will Traynor, is a 35 year old, wealthy and successful man, who can no longer live his active, adventurous life since becoming a quadriplegic from a recent motorbike accident.  

Will has lost all the joy in life from being restricted to a wheelchair, and caring for him becomes a battle for Lou. After a recent discovery, Lou’s life becomes devoted to Will’s and she has her heart set on achieving one goal, and showing Will that he can still enjoy a wonderful life.

I truly enjoyed this novel. It was perfect mix between humour and heartbreak, and was both beautiful and sad. I would say it was a love story, just not in a typical way. While there was surely romance, I felt that there was a strong sense of the love between two friends, who cared deeply about each other.

I found this book to be a great insight into a real adult life, rather than a fictional telling. Louisa and her family weren’t well off, she went to Job Centre’s, she needed money to support her family, and she was 26 and hadn’t settled down. I’m only 22, but I felt really connected to the story line of adult life being far from as perfect you use to think it would be as a child.
Overall, I believe the biggest message of this book was Will’s. He taught Lou how essential it was live in the moment, and make the most of her life. Enjoy what the world has to offer you, because you only get one chance.   

This book left me feeling a collective of emotions; I felt sad, blessed, lost, heartbroken, and at ease. To describe it in one word; beautiful. Definitely high up on my favourites list.

Live Boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle.. Just live well. Just live.  

 

 

After You by Jojo Moyes
★★★★

 

As this is the sequel to Me before You it’s difficult to describe the plot without giving away the previous book. 
Essentially, the second book in the series continues to follow in Louisa’s point of view. Her life is still filled with complications, responsibility, sadness, and of course living your best life.

I’ll be honest and say I did prefer the first book, but I definitely still enjoyed this one! It was different, but good regardless. I think that what made me like it slightly less was purely my attachment to the first story. However, it was wonderful seeing how much Lou had grown from the previous one, and how different her life had become.
I really loved how the book (and the series) ended. One thing I need from a book is closure, and this one definitely had it. I felt as though I had been on this journey along with the characters, and there was a sense of happiness and relief when I closed the final page. I knew that I would surely miss Louisa and many of the other characters as if they were my own friends. 

I wish I could discuss more about this book, but anything I want to discuss would be a spoiler to both stories.. 

 

Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern
★★★★

Rosie and Alex have been best friends since early childhood, and the two of them were partners in crime. They supported each other’s dreams; Rosie wanting to own a magnificent hotel, and Alex aiming to be a doctor. They both have a fun, and teasing friendship, and imagine they will be best friends for ever. Until, in their teens, Alex’s family relocates to America, and he must leave his best friend behind.

As hard as it is, the two of them must move on with their lives, while they stay in contact via letters and emails. Then, only a slight shift in circumstances changes Rosie’s life forever; when Alex can no longer attend their prom. 
Since becoming a young single mum, Rosie has to put her university education, and dream career, on hold to care for her daughter, Katie, all while hearing how Alex is excelling at medical school.

I spent months trying to find this novel at book shops near me! When hearing that it was a story entirely written as a collection of letters between the characters, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped. I love reading dialogue in a book, and find it’s much easier to become enraptured in the story, so I expected the letters to make it a lot slower. While that did happen at times, particularly at the beginning, I felt after awhile I really got into the story, and I struggled to put it down. I was finding myself getting out of bed more eager, just so I could read it with my breakfast! 

This was another story that I think reflected well on factual adult life; bad jobs, unexpected surprises, marriage problems, bringing up children, and ways that the character’s dealt with these problems in their lives. At times I felt really frustrated when reading, purely because when things started going right for Rosie, another problem would arise. She never could catch a break! Especially when  all she was hearing was how good Alex’s life was going for him. 

And without giving away anything, I think the ending was good, it made me feel happy but so angry at the same time. Which showed how much I become invested in Rosie and Alex’s story!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. An unfortunate take on two best friends, and their own love stories. It was also nice to read a young adult book written in a completely different way.

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Now that I have read these beautiful books, I can finally get around to seeing the movies! I might even do a follow up post soon of what I thought of them as adaptations. 

Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these, and what your own thoughts are. Also, if you have seen the movies and how you compare the adaptation, I would love to hear your thoughts and chat about it.

And because both ‘Me Before You’ and ‘Love, Rosie’ have the same lead actor, I get to now go swoon over watching the utter beauty that is Sam Claflin…

Jess xx