Even though ACOTAR is one of my favorite series, I’ve actually never reread any of them. I’ve started to reread A Court of Thorns and Roses a few times but I’ve only ever gotten about a chapter in before I decided to move to a new book I haven’t read before. The first book is high up on my priority reread list because I’m really curious to see if I will like it more than the first time I read it when I gave it only 3 stars and a kind of brutal review on Goodreads.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a strong enough memory to completely accurately fulfill the prompt this week which is to pick book scenes that would make a good montage for a movie/television show. So instead I’ve picked 5 books that have general material in them that I think could be made into a good montage scene rather than a strict scene to montage vibe. Please keep in mind that some of these will have spoilers since they’re later books in the series!
1. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
I think the beginning scenes that describe what Jude’s life has been like since returning to the human world would make a good montage scene. I would love to see flashes of the jobs she’s taken to earn money and to keep her skills sharp while she fumes about what Cardan did at the ending of The Wicked King. The montage could end with Jude’s fight with Grima Mog and jump into the present storyline.
This topic. This topic was SO HARD for me because I generally like both the book and the adaptation equally in their own ways. So think of this moreso as a I-love-them-both-equally-but-if-I-absolutely-had-to-pick-I’d-pick-the-book-but-that-causes-me-a-LOT-of-pain-to-think-about-and-also-I’m-a-Gemini-so-I-can’t-make-decisions-to-save-my-life-sometimes-so-I-did-my-best list.
1. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Okay this is a legitimate the book was better than the movie because what even was the movie? The second film was better but the first one was so messy and I remember being supremely upset that they didn’t make Annabeth blonde in the film (although they did in the second??). I think Logan Lerman did a great job in the movie but I’m eager to see what comes of the television show and have high hopes for it.
I feel like this is a very obvious answer. Rosamund Pike’s portrayal of Amy completely stole my heart. I did enjoy the book, of course, but I really loved the film. Everyone knows the iconic monologue of Amy when she explains how she pulled off her own disappearance and the way Rosamund reads it truly brings a whole new vibe to the storyline. I love the twisted ending and the final shots of Amy laying with her head on Nick’s stomach which parallels a frame of her doing it earlier in the film, bringing the story full circle. It has great cinematography and didn’t take too many liberties from the book which I enjoyed.
This week’s prompt was a bit more challenging for me this week because so many books I would put on this list are actually becoming TV series already! I’m so happy that many more young adult books are being adapted to screen nowadays. Even if they’re not perfectly true to their source material, I’m happy that more authors are getting an opportunity to see their creations come alive in a different way.
1. Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn
This series defines my teenage years and I have such a deep connection with the books. It’s a Christian young adult series that follows a Wisconsin girl who spends the summer with her aunt and uncle in Newport Beach, California. She falls in love with one of the surfers and he introduces her to the concept of having a real relationship with Jesus, not just an I-attend-church type of vibe. The original series has 12 books and the author has gone on to write the characters through their college lives, their marriage, and her newest books focus on them becoming parents. There are so many ups and downs in the series from Christy’s family moving across the U.S. to the love interest, Todd, cutting off their relationship at times to Christy selecting a life path only to find out that it really isn’t for her. There’s loads of material that could be used in a TV show adaptation and a few of Gunn’s books have already made it to the screen on the Hallmark channel. I’d love to see Christy Miller take a spot as well.
Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time on my blog would know how much I loved this book. Even though it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it truly has a story and flair of its own and I think it would make an amazing movie. It has interesting characters along with disability rep, an in-depth curse which would present so much potential for CGI effects, and a compelling storyline with lots of high stakes and twists. Even if they changed the ending to make it into a single movie, I’d be so ready to hand my money over to see this.
Admittedly if we’d been limited to only graphic novels for this week, I wouldn’t have been able to participate. BUT since we’re able to also include comics and webtoons, I definitely have a few to share!
1. The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way; Art by Gabriel Bá; Color by Dave Stewart
I’ve read both the first and second volumes of The Umbrella Academy but have yet to read the third. I also haven’t watched the Netflix show yet which is probably a cardinal sin since even people who haven’t read the comics enjoyed the show. Regardless, it’s such an interesting series filled with complex characters born with unique abilities who work as superheroes and who have a supremely dysfunctional family relationship with each other. The first volume has such a twist with who the villain turns out to be and so far the second volume has been my favorite which focuses on the Kennedy assassination as a backdrop for the story.
wings and fables 