Recent Book-to-Film Adaptations I Actually Liked

I want to preface this by saying that I do not have the attention span for movies. Sit me down with a book for eight hours at a time, and I’m in my happy place. But a dark theater for two or three hours staring at a screen? I struggle.

Still, I’ve somehow been on a kick of great movie and TV adaptations that stay mostly true to the book (or, if they do stray from the plot, they do it in a way that doesn’t make me want to scream), so I thought I’d share a few that genuinely impressed me.

I don’t think many of these will be hot takes, but it’s a hot take for me to enjoy a movie at all, especially one based on a book. Because I tend to shy away from films, I’m throwing some TV shows in here too because, if there’s one thing I can do, it’s binge a TV show.

Disclaimer: Everyone has their own tastes and opinions! Respectfully disagree all you want. Be mean about it, and I’ll assume your favorite character would’ve been disappointed in you. Life’s too short to argue over fictional people.

I don’t need every page translated perfectly to the screen. I just want adaptations that understand why readers fell in love with the book in the first place. Let’s talk literary!

The Odyssey. We’re starting out strong here. The Odyssey is far and away one of my favorite stories of all time. My Ancient Greek class in college spent my entire senior year translating sections of The Iliad and The Odyssey into English, so I was really nervous I was going to hate the movie. There was no way it could be exactly what I hoped for… right?

Wrong.

I know there’s been some controversy about the historical accuracy, but honestly, who cares? I think Christopher Nolan did a great job adapting a thousands-of-years-old epic poem for modern audiences, highlighting ancient culture and values while removing some of the aspects of Odysseus’s character that made him… icky (looking at you, adultery). This movie in IMAX was everything I needed it to be and more. If only Telemachus hadn’t referred to his parents as “Mom” and “Dad.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read a modernized translation, then watch.

People We Meet on Vacation. I put off watching this movie for far too long, and that was solely because I don’t really like watching movies. Emily Henry is one of my favorite romance authors (I absolutely will be doing a tier ranking of all of her books on here, don’t worry), so I was really excited for this adaptation.

Well, readers, my excitement paid off.

Obviously, there are some changes between the book and the film, but I thought the casting was exceptional, and the timeline jumping was very well done. The location switch from Palm Springs to Barcelona didn’t feel fleshed out enough for me, but I enjoyed the flashback travel scenes too much to care.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read the book, then watch.

Project Hail Mary. I finished this book about 15 minutes before leaving for the theater to see the movie. While I do think that hindered my experience the tiniest bit—because the story was so fresh in my mind that I got a little bored in the middle—I also loved seeing the ship (and Rocky!) come to life.

Seriously, how does Ryan Gosling have so much chemistry with something that’s entirely CGI?

It’s not necessarily the most action-packed movie you’ll ever watch, but they did a wonderful job bringing this heartwarming story to the big screen.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read the book, then watch.

Dune (begrudgingly). The first Dune book reminded me why I typically avoid books written by men (Matt Dinniman and Dungeon Crawler Carl are exempt). The second Dune book was even worse for me.

The movies, however, are my boyfriend’s favorites, so I agreed to watch them.

Maybe it was the Timothée Chalamet of it all, but I enjoyed Dune Parts One and Two much more than I expected. The cinematography alone is worth watching, in my opinion, even if you didn’t enjoy the books.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Don’t bother reading the book: just watch.

Off-Campus. I love a good sports romance series, but I wasn’t crazy about the Off-Campus books. Still, after insisting I wouldn’t watch the show, I turned around and binged it in two days (mostly during a post-Supper Club hangover).

Let me tell you…

This show scratched an itch in my brain.

The chemistry between the cast is absolutely insane, and I loved how they intertwined Allie and Dean’s storyline from the third book to kick off the show’s subplots.

I’m ready for Season 2 to drop now, please and thank you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read the book or don’t. Either way, watch.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Speaking of Season 2s, the second season of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder came out a few months ago! I haven’t watched the newest episodes yet, but I thought the first season was well done.

Granted, there was one plot hole that always bothered me (I won’t go into more detail so I don’t spoil anything!), and I wish it had been addressed, but hey—you can’t have it all.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read the book first, then watch.

I’m looking forward to diving into the next season soon!

Some recent adaptations I still need to watch:

• Wuthering Heights
• Frankenstein
• The Thursday Murder Club
• The Five-Star Weekend

Anyway, that’s my wrap-up of recent book-to-screen adaptations that I’ve really enjoyed. Maybe I’ll put together a list someday of adaptations I absolutely despise (starting with the Percy Jackson movies, naturally), but that’s a post for another day.

Now I want to know: What’s a recent book-to-screen adaptation that you loved?

Cheers, and happy reading (or watching)!