Movie Time!

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This year is a big one for teen movies made from books. Divergent came out a few weeks ago, and it was awesome. It was quite close to the book, and while I could nitpick about some of the changes they made, it was overall a really good adaptation. I thought that today I would go over some that are coming out in the next few months, and let you know what I think so far. I am feeling pretty terrible today (I have had this absolutely horrible cough for nearly a week now, and I think I have a fever), and so I decided to take the blogger equivalent of a day watching movies. :)

 I'm only going over movies that already have a trailer.

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

I really love this book, and so I was naturally nervous about the movie. I am really excited now, though, after seeing the trailer, and the clip (both are below). Seeing Shailene Woodley in Divergent also helped me be a little more confidant in her acting, and I think she'll make a good Hazel. The trailer alone make me tear up a bit the first time I saw it, so I expect to cry when I see the movie.

Starring: Shailene Woodley (as Hazel), Ansel Elgort (as Gus), and Nat Wolff (as Isaac)

2. The Giver by Lois Lowry

This one disappoints me so much. I vividly remember reading this book for the first time when I was about ten years old. It was my first true dystopian book, and it fascinated me. I loved the characters, I loved the story, and it made me love a new type of novel. I'll let you watch the trailer for yourself, but I find it to be incredibly disappointing. I hate that they changed the age of the kids, I am unhappy that it didn't start out in black and white (I mean really, this book is so visual, it was made for the big screen. But they're not doing it justice). I am also really confused by what's going on at the end of the trailer. I've read the book. I should not be confused. I think the book is important enough to me that I have to see the movie, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Starring: Brenton Thwaites (as Jonah), Odeya Rush (as Fiona), Jeff Bridges (as the Giver), and Meryl Streep (as the Chief Elder).

3. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This is one I have no particular strong feelings about. I liked the book, and the trailer looks relatively true to the book, but it's nothing special. I do hope it's good, because it seems like one that could be done badly, but we'll see. I plan to go see it, unless future trailers look really bad.

Starring: Dylan O'Brien (as Thomas), Kaya Scodelario (as Teresa), and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (as Newt).

4. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This one I am excited about. The trailer looks good, it appears to be pretty true to the book, and it made me about as sad as it should have (though not like the TFiOS trailer did). I really liked this book, and the movie looks like it will be a good one. It uses some iteresting storytelling techniques, and I am interested to see how they translate into film. I do hope that they don't change too much.

Starring: Chloe Grace Mortez (as Mia), Jamie Blackley (as Adam), and Mireille Enos (as Mia's mom).

Just One Day - Gayle Forman

Today I am reviewing Just One Day by Gayle Forman. To preface this, I will say that this is a bit of a "girl book." It is a romance, and so if that is not your thing, you probably won't like it. Then again, when I read the description I wasn't sure I would like it, but I did enjoy reading it. If you liked her previous books, If I Stay, and Where She Went, then you will definitely like this. Now, on to the review.

As usual, let's start with the characters. For the most part, I really liked the characters. In fact, I would say that characters are Gayle Forman's strong point. All the main characters were very well done. They were all very human, faulted, judging, and mysterious when needed. The farther you got out from the center of the story, the less developed the characters were, but that is to be expected. I was impressed enough with the main characters that I did not mind that some were not quite as good.

Now, on to the plot. It was pretty good, though not as good as the characters. It was pretty strong, but the break between the beginning half and the last half of the book was a little odd, and could have used a bit more to tie it together. The plot is what will lose some people, since the romance is a little strange at times, and is really the whole story. There really are not any good subplots, and the change of pace half way through doesn't exactly help that.

And, now for the writing. While I enjoy Gayle Forman books, it is not really for the spectacular writing, though it is certainly not bad. Actually, I think it is quite good, except for the fact that it is in the present tense. I know that that is popular now, but I find it very distracting and annoying. I am slowly getting used to it, but in my opinion, it decreases that value of any book. The Hunger Games was one of the first books I remember reading that was in the present tense, and it was so incredibly distracting that it really made me enjoy the book less.

So, there you have it. My review of Just One Day. Have you read this book? What do you think about it? Let me know in the comments, and I will add it to the post.

Also, the next book I will be reviewing is The Grapes of Wrath. Have you read that? If you give me your comments, or questions about it, I will post/answer them in the review.