With the amount of films now increasing by the year, and the reliance on adapted material also being greater than before, audiences tend to get movies based on books quite a lot. The romance genre is the one that sees adaptations the most, although it’s usually hit-and-miss as Rotten Tomatoes scores will attest.
On occasion, however, we do get memorable movies that manage to eclipse the source material, and you’re better off watching than reading in these cases. There are still many books, though, that remain the version you want to have a better experience with the story. That said, here are five each of books that are better (or worse) than their movie counterparts.
Worse: The Fault In Our Stars
Just when a terminally ill teenager loses hope that her life will amount to anything, she meets a fellow patient who shows her that she’s more important than she realizes. The film made stars out of Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley, and for this reason, the movie overtakes the book.
The love they have that is doomed from the start pulls at the viewer’s heart-strings when you can actually see the characters feel their tragedies onscreen. The sights to see midway in the film also contextualizes a lot of things, as well as pacing the love story better.
Better: Five Feet Apart
A teenage couple has to maintain their burgeoning love while remaining five feet away due to their life-threatening condition. The film and novel came out at the same time, so not everyone is aware that a novelization even exists of Five Feet Apart. However, you’ll find this version to be far better as it offers a complete experience not found in the movie.
The book has insights into the minds of both characters, unlike the film where the story mainly follows the female lead. Even better is how the novel has an ending further than that was shown in the movie, which provides ample closure to this teen romance.
Worse: The Time Traveler’s Wife
A man with a genetic disorder, that causes him to travel in time, becomes embroiled in a lifelong love with a woman whom he marries and who now has to endure this erratic lifestyle. The Time Traveler’s Wife is a drama through and through in print, but you get a little more with the film.
Here, there’s a better presentation of the time-traveling sequences and the love story between the characters feels more coherent this way. Of course, the fine performance of Rachel McAdams in the title role makes things better as well. The main way that the movie trumps the book is how it offers more hope to the viewer for the characters.
Better: Something Borrowed
30-year-old single woman Rachel White decides to stop being a pushover by carrying on an affair with the fiance of her selfish friend, and begins to learn the importance of self-worth. To be fair, Something Borrowed is hard to stomach either in print or onscreen, but you’ll have a better time reading it.
That’s because you get at least some idea over why the highly unlikable characters do what they do in the story, unlike the film where they just seem like the biggest jerks there have ever been. The book rationalizes the affair to a certain degree, so it’s not nearly as bad as the movie which has absolutely no heart in it. Although you’ll still wonder why characters don’t simply break up like we’ve seen in similar media before.
Worse: The Notebook
In the 1940s, a couple’s blossoming love is interrupted by the war, with the ensuing years dealing with the fallout from their separation and eventual reconciliation. The Notebook usually finds itself in the lists of most romantic movies ever made, but the book doesn’t reach the same heights.
If you watch the film first, then the book feels like a downgrade due to the presence of many cliches in print while the movie has the benefit of presenting a visual spectacle. The chemistry between the leads manages to overcome some tired tropes, something the novel can’t offer.
Better: Twilight
A teenage girl falls in love with a new student in school, only to learn that he is a vampire with a long history with his family and his kind. The Twilight films might have aged surprisingly well, but they pale in comparison to the source material.
Bella, who comes across as something of a whiner in the movies, has some real characterization in the novel due to it being framed through her point of view. Edward works best as a distant character seen the way Bella does, and it’s the failure of this presentation to come alive onscreen that the film just can’t compare with the book.
Worse: Just Like Heaven
A man moves into a new apartment to find the spirit of the previous owner still occupying it. Despite this, he ends up falling in love with her. Just Like Heaven was the adaptation of the novel If Only It Were True, and while the latter is worth a read, the film version is too heartwarming to not prefer it.
Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon shine through in their roles, as this seemingly impossible love story still manages to make the viewer root for the characters to get together. Its direction deserves praise for making a spirit appear as lively as she does, and the beautiful soundtrack is something you won’t find in the pages of the book.
Better: Gone With The Wind
As the Civil War rages on, the life of conceited rich girl Scarlett O’Hara becomes intertwined with the charming Rhett Butler as she navigates herself through the tribulations of poverty and forbidden love. An epic tale still unsurpassed in scale, Gone with the Wind is incredible in both mediums.
And while the film is awe-inspiring even 80 years later, the book is what you want to completely understand the complex creature that is Scarlett and the romance with Rhett that seems destined to be turbulent. Its enormous length never seems long enough, and only by reading the book can you go on to appreciate the movie as well.
Worse: Love, Simon
A closeted gay teenager has to figure out how to come out to his peers when his love for an anonymous classmate is discovered. Love, Simon’s book version is an interesting read on its own, but it’s how the film normalizes an LGBT love story that makes it better.
The movie doesn’t make it a big deal what the character’s orientation is, playing out the way any romantic comedy would, thereby making Love, Simon a wonderful change from the norm where such issues are usually shown to be heavy-handed. For this reason, the movie betters on the message from the book, as it comes across as a sweet film about love.
Better: Love, Rosie
Two friends since childhood struggle to stay in touch as they grow into adolescents and then into adults without realizing they’re both in love with the other. Love, Rosie is an epistolary novel that not only makes the reader root for the characters to get together, but also makes you fall in love with the characters as well.
It’s a beautiful progression through about fifty years of the characters’ lives, and there are elements like drama, tragedy, and maturity in it that the film doesn’t have. The adaptation instead makes the story out to be just another romantic comedy, which is a shame as the sentimental message of the book is something everyone should enjoy.
