50/50 Friday is a meme hosted by
Carrie @The Butterfly Reads and I and focuses on the opposite sides of books (best/worst, differing opinions, etc). Every week will have a new topic and several advance topics will be listed in the tab labeled 50/50 Friday!
Today’s Topic: Book to the Big Screen/Never to the Big Screen (AKA, a series worthy of a TV show or movie vs a movie that wouldn’t translate well)
Book to the Big Screen:
Goodreads Blurb:
“Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.”
Why it would be perfect:
So the rights have already been sold for this book to become a TV show (back in 2015 I believe) but I still decided to choose it! I’m always leery about sci-fi or fantasy books becoming TV shows or movies because if they have a low budget, the CGI can end up looking really fake and can trivialize the entire plot. But this series has enough ‘real world’ in it with just a few fantasy elements that I think it would translate really well! I also agree with the TV show instead of a movie because they can take it in so many different directions (especially with the open ending of the third book in the trilogy). Hopefully this becomes a thing soon!
Never to the Big Screen:
Goodreads Blurb:
“Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”, she speaks many languages – not all of them human – and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.
When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?”
Why it’s better as a book:
At first, I really wanted this to have an adaptation. But in my honest opinion, half the beauty of this book is the writing and the thoughts that go on within Karou’s mind. It’s the psychological element. And when you adapt the written word into actions, sometimes you can’t include those exchanges without making it incredibly weird. And because of the beautiful writing, I have this certain image in my mind and if they messed up the CGI even a little, it would ruin that image. So I’m completely content with the books!
What’s your opinion? Have you read these books? Do you think they should have adaptations? Know of other books that should or shouldn’t have adaptations? Make a post and link in below!
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Next week’s topic is: Best/Worst Villain an author has created
Blue Eye Books 
Oh man! I love the topic today! I think the Shatter Me series would make a good TV show so I'm glad to hear it might be one. I haven't read Daughter of Smoke and Bone yet but I have books I don't want to ever see Hollywood get their hands on.
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I would love to see DoSaB on the big screen or on my tv, but I think it would be very difficult to do well… unfortunately.
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I really like this topic as well! It's so fun to look at the books you've read and image them on a screen! I'm crossing my fingers that producers and directors will begin looking at it as a potential show! Oh yes, there are definitely those books. While they're great to read, you just know they wouldn't be all that great on a screen.
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I agree with you that it could be really great! But there are just so many risks for me that I'd prefer to keep it in my head 🙂 Maybe in a couple years when technology has improved and gotten cheaper!
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I haven't read Shatter Me yet, but I think Daughter of Smoke and Bone reminds me of a Chinese show… But that might be the black handprints. It'll be really cool to see it on the big screen, but I agree – it would be really hard to do a good job on without changing so many aspects.
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Haha I can see where you're coming from! It's a very 'old' element to have which I think really adds to the beauty and simplicity and in general the ancient feel of the story. I agree completely with you! While it would be cool, there's just too much to lose in this case for me. I love it too much for it to be potentially butchered with a low budget.
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You're right- it would be hard to bring the quality of the writing to the big screen, even if they had a narrator for Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I haven't read either of these, but I definitely would try to prior to watching the movie versions.~Litha Nelle
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For sure! I've seen several movies that have had narrators and it wasn't bad but it has to be well done for it to be good, you know?
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I've found that recently I wouldn't want any of my favourite books to be adapted into film or television because there's no way of it being exactly as I'd hope (the beautiful not translating well as well as being another person's interpretation and all). However Shatter Me might just be able to work, and I won't lie, I want to see real life Warner 😀Enchanted by YA
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It's the same for me! You always take such a risk when you see a screen adaptation of your favorite book. Haha yeah seeing real life Warner would be pretty amazing 😀
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I think Shatter Me would be a great movie! They could really do it well. Daughter of Smoke and Bone… I agree with you completely, of course lol Carrie @The Butterfly Reader
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Well it could be made into a TV show (I'm not sure what the status is right now) so I guess we'll find out! If they do the CGI right and don't trivialize things with a tight budget, I think it could be worth watching. Haha yeah DoSaB would be wonderful!
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