Book to Screen Adaptations: Mini Reviews

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it recently, but one of my long term goals for Read & Wright is my own production company that turns books and movies by women, about women, into TV shows and movies. I’m always thinking about what stories would look like on screen. This year, so many amazing adaptations hit streaming services! I stand by that streaming services are some of the best things to happen to actors. Generally, they have a shorter schedule and make it possible for actors to work more each year because they’re not tied to a network television schedule.

I’ve watched three Book to Screen Adaptations recently so I thought it would be fun to do some mini reviews!

Station Eleven on HBO Max

Based on the novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel.

Now, I LOVED this book. It felt so special and enduring, unlike anything I’d ever read before, while familiar at the same time. The show was different in some ways but I think it still captured the “keep going” mindset I had. I couldn’t stop reading the book and I wanted to keep watching the show. The overall message I took from the book was “life endures in part thanks to art” and the message I took from the show was “we all find our way” so it had a different tone, but I still really enjoyed it. I highly recommend the watch!

Bridgerton Season 2 on Netflix

Based on the book The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

I will preface this with saying that while I own a few of the Bridgerton books, I have not read them. I enjoyed season one so much and I also liked season two, but they have very different tones. However, I loved the Sharma sisters so much! I think season one was a classic introduction to historical romance while season two was a bit more in the modern drama/Pride and Prejudice style. I didn’t love the love triangle aspect but I really liked that Edwina stood up for herself in the end. From readers of the books, I’ve heard it was just VERY different.

Pacinko on AppleTV+

Based on the novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee

Thoughts on Pacinko