Film Review: The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

Released: 19th June 2014

Running time: 126 minutes

Director: Josh Boone

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff

Plot summary (from IMDB):

Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.

 

My review:

I was both excited and nervous when I found out The Fault in Our Stars was being adapted into a film. Yes, I adored the book, but film adaptations so rarely compare to their source material. And this book felt particularly precious for some reason. After seeing the film, I can honestly say that I had no need for nerves. It was pretty much perfect.

What was great about the film was that for large parts of it, I forgot about the book. I was so wrapped up in the characters on screen that I wasn't cross-checking every line and scene for how book-faithful it was. I was just so lost in what was a brilliantly entertaining, funny, sad and moving film. I think that'll be great for cinema goers who haven't read the book, because it does hold its own.

The casting was phenomenal, especially Ansel Elgort as Gus. He was just so charasmatic and funny, and got Gus' humour spot on. He was easily the best thing about the film for me. Shailene Woodley as Hazel was brilliant too, particularly during the more heart-wrenching scenes. Her performance is some of those key moments really blew me away. Even though Nat Wolff's Isaac played a smaller part than the book, he still completely stole those scenes he was in.

As for fans of the book, it's an amazing adaptation. There were so many scenes that looked like they were plucked right out of my head. I had to go away and reflect on how I thought it compared to the book because I thought about it so little during the actual film. I don't think I've seen a film that came so close. I adored the scenes in Amsterdam, especially the moments in the Anne Frank house and the scenes in the hotel. I love the cameo of the swing set, and Gus and Hazel's Dutch themed picnic, the inclusion of some all-important quotes. There was so much attention to detail.

Most importantly, the book managed to get the humour bang on. Whilst so many people talk about both the book and film being sad, my favourite thing about the book has always been the humour and how it made me laugh. And the film did the same. Before the cinema broke down into a collective sob fest (I've seriously never been in a room with so many crying people before!) there were plenty of laughs.

So basically I loved it.

Rating: 5*

News Round Up! 28th September

 

News Round Up!

Every week I recap some of my favourite news stories surrounding YA books. If you want to check out a wide range of news stories about all your favourite books and fandoms then be sure to checkout FangirlDaily.com!

Marissa Meyer has revealed her latest book deal. Heartless is an Alice in Wonderland prequel which tells the story of the Queen of Hearts. It will be published in Autumn 2015. Read more on Marissa Meyer's website.

Publisher Walker has announced the launch of a new entertainment imprint which will focus on books from celebrities and TV and film tie-ins. Read more over on The Bookseller.

The cover for Shadowplay by Laura Lam, the sequel to Pantomime, was unveiled this week. See the cover below and read the full post on the author's website.

Veronica Roth has spoken out about the Allegiant leak. A Canadian bookstore shipped copies of Allegiant one month early to some readers. Roth urged those readers to wait until the pub date to read the book or at least keep spoilers to themselves. Read her Tumblr post about it at this link.

Two new posters for Divergent have been released. The posters featuring Four and Tris and their tattoos can be seen over on Hypable.com.

More artists have been revealed for the Catching Fire soundtrack, including Christina Aguilera. You can read more about her involvement over on FangirlDaily.

New releases: 
Model Misfit by Holly Smale
Amazon|Goodreads|My Review

Zom-B Baby by Darren Shan
Amazon|Goodreads

Requiem by Lauren Oliver (paperback)
Amazon|Goodreads

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Amazon|Goodreads

A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies
Amazon|Goodreads

The Paradox of Vertical Flight by Emil Ostrovski
Amazon|Goodreads

News Round Up! 27th April

This is my weekly post of YA related news stories that have popped up on my radar this week. Enjoy!

The big news came in the first released image from the upcoming Divergent film. It was fans' first sneak peak at the film and featured a picture of Tris during the knife-throwing scene. If you still haven't checked out the image then you can see it over at the reveal post on EW.com. As well as that, you can read Veronica Roth's account of her recent set visit and her views on the news that Uriah won't be cast for the first film at this link. There were also some photos of houses being built on the set revealed this week which you can see over on Hypable.

This week it was World Book Night, an event where hundreds of volunteers give out free copies of their favourite books in order to encourage more people to read. Representing the YA side of things were the novels Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Find out more about World Book Night right here.

In cover news, the cover for Unhinged, the sequel to Splintered, by A. G. Howard was released this week. Check it out over on the A&C Kids UK Facebook page. And also check out Amy Martin's website  to see the cover reveal for As You Wake. the sequel to In Your Dreams. I think both are absolutely gorgeous!

And finally, more film adaptation news for fans of Graceling by Kristin Cashore. According to this article on Variety, Reliance are developing the trilogy with Deepak Nayar overseeing the project. Have you read the Graceling Realm books? If so I'd love to hear your thoughts as I'm yet to read them myself!

Which news stories grabbed your attention this week? Let me know in the comments!

New book releases:
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Amazon|Book Depository|Goodreads
House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini
Amazon|Book Depository|Goodreads 
Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris
Amazon|Book Depository|Goodreads
Manicpixiedreamgirl by Tom Leveen
Amazon|Book Depository|Goodreads 
The Rules by Stacey Kade
Amazon|Book Depository|Goodreads

News Round Up! 20th April

Here's my latest weekly recap of YA news stories that have popped up on my radar. Enjoy!

The moment all Divergent fans have been waiting for arrived this week. We have a title for the third book! The final book in the trilogy will be called Allegiant. What do you think of the title? It wasn't one I'd heard in all the speculation but it certainly has a lot of potential. Find out more from Veronica Roth in a special video announcement over on USAtoday.com.

And one of the biggest news story by far this week is the release of the Catching Fire teaser trailer! The trailer premiered at this year's MTV Move Awards, and at over 2 minutes long it's certainly a teaser and a half - much more than I was expecting! What do you think of the trailer? It's certainly intense. Watch it below:

With all the hype around The Mortal Instruments film adaptation, this week we got a glimpse of book tie-ins and merchanidse. Check out the book tie-ins here on EW.com and find out more about a Hot Topic clothing line here on Hypable.

Fans of Katie McGarry (Pushing the Limits, Dare You To) like me will be happy to hear we'll be getting more books from her! According to the announcement on her Facebook page, the new book is described as "West Side Story meets Sons of Anarchy, where a teen boy brought up in the rough and tumble world of motorcycle clubs finds love with a girl raised outside of this world when he's tasked with not only protecting her for the summer she visits her father, the leader of the group, but also with preventing her from learning the truth about her father's past and the gang he used to lead". Sounds pretty awesome right?

The YALSA's Teen Top Ten nominations have been announced as part of the Teen Read Week. The titles making up the nominations include Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. You can read the full list on the YASLA website.   

The American Library Association released their list of most challenged novels for 2012 this week and three YA novels made the list: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and John Green's IB. I haven't read any of these books but have Looking for Alaska lined up to read soon. Read more about these challenged novels here on Examiner.com.

And finally the London Book Fair took place this week with a lot of talk surfacing about young debut authors and the rise of e-books. You can find out more about the book fair itself on the website here and catch up with what's been happening via the London Book Fair Twitter feed.

Which news stories have been getting you excited this week? Let me know in the comments!


New book releases:
Imaginable by J. Meyers
Buy: Amazon
Read my review!

What Really Happened in Peru by Cassandra Clare
Buy: Amazon

News Round Up! 13th April

Time for another News Round Up! This is where I discuss the news stories that have popped up on my radar this week. Enjoy!

Firstly, debut author Lenore Appelhans has revealed that her novel Level 2 will get a new title for its paperback release. According to this post on her blog, the 2 in the title was putting some readers off as they thought it was a sequel. The new title will be The Memory of After. I haven't read this book yet (it's one I really want to check out!) but I really like the new title. Personally I can see Level 2 being problematic as whenever I try to search for it online it's proved very difficult to find amongst the wealth of results with that phrase in.

More Mortal Instruments news this week, something which always makes me happy! It was revealed that if the first film does well (fingers crossed!) and they go on to make further films in the series, City of Ashes and City of Glass will be filmed back to back. That sounds good to me! And hopefully it would mean a shorter wait between films being released. Read more about this story on TMISource.

Also in Mortal Instruments related news, the cover has been released for the first instalment of The Bane Chronicles, the series of e-shorts focusing on the character of Magnus Bane from The Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series, has been released. Check it out along with the release dates for the rest of the short stories on EW.com.

Filming has officially started in Chicago this week for the Divergent film adaptation! There's been so much news about casting lately that it's really exciting to see filming get underway. You can read more about this story and the full press release over on PagetoPremiere.

And in more film news, a steady stream of stills from the upcoming adaptation of Catching Fire are being released in preparation from the trailer! The photos include this sweet shot of Prim and Katniss. Be sure to check out the rest of the photos on The Hunger Games UK Facebook page.

Publishers Weekly recently posted this article which recaps the top selling books of the year so far. Amongst the Amazon Kindle top twenty bestsellers were Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, Hopeless by Colleen Hoover and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

Which of these news stories got you excited this week? Let me know in the comments!

Opinion: Books I Don't Want to See Made into Films

With all the amazing book to film adaptations coming up at the moment, it got me thinking about which books I don't want to see made into films. And not because I don't like them, but because I think they just work better as they are - as books. Here are a few I could think of off the top of my head. I am sure there are much more so maybe I'll do another post like this down the road. Enjoy!

 Feeling Sorry for Celia/Ashbury/Brookfield series by Jaclyn Moriarty

 This book, and the rest of the series, is told through written letters and notes between the characters. It's something that works so briliantly written down but I can see being really hard to translate onto the big screen!

Shiver/Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater

 Now I do love this series but there's something about the writing style that makes me think it could be lost if translated into film. It's so poetic and beautiful and I think getting inside the characters' heads is a huge part of the story with the multiple perspectives.

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

When I read this, I felt it was a book for book-lovers. The whole premise is based around a girl escaping to a book and I think you'd get the most enjoyment by reading it yourself. It certainly reminded me why I love reading.

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

The great part of this book was the internal monologue between the two main characters, two souls who are sharing a body. I don't know how that would be done well on screen because in the book the speech between the souls is set out differently on the page making it easier to differentiate. Internal monologue is usually the one big sacrifice when it comes to films so in this book it's even trickier, because you have two internal monologues.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Again, this is a book with a very distinctive writing style, due to the main character's illiteracy. That unique way it was written made me really love the writing. Whilst you could portray Todd's voice with the use of an accent or dialect in a film, I'd really miss reading it and getting lost in Todd's thoughts.

Are there any books you'd prefer stayed as books? Or do you hope to see a film adaptation of all of your favourites? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this so let me know in the comments!

 

Film Trailer: City of Bones

Whether you're a fan of The Mortal Instruments series or not, it's impossible to avoid the hype around the upcoming City of Bones film right now. Personally I cannot wait! I loved the books and am so excited to see one of my favourite series come to life on the big screen.

Some of the cast and Cassandra Clare herself were at Wondercon this week where the trailer debuted to attendees. Now it's online for all to see! Watch it below:

What do you think? I love Jace (and he gets a lot of airtime in the trailer) and I loved Izzy's barging and Simon's line at the end. Are you excited for the film? City of Bones is released in cinemas in August.

News Round Up! 9th March

It feels like ages since I did a news post so it's time to catch up on what's been happening recently around the world of YA fiction!

The Catching Fire marketing campaign has kicked off with the release of several character posters over on the CapitolCouture.pn website. We've got glimpses at Finnick, Joanna and Beatie as well as Katniss, Gale, Peeta and Effie. Those plus even more characters can be found here on MTV.co.uk.

Meanwhile Lauren Oliver has been busy since Requiem was released in the US this week. She released this lovely video for her British and Australian fans (who are still waiting for the release on the 21st of this month) on Tumblr. Watch it here! There's also plenty of news about the upcoming Delirium pilot including the casting of Jeanine Mason who will play the role of Hana. Read more about that on EW.com right here.

There's been a lot of talk on Twitter about the new covers for Stephanie Perkins' books Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happy Ever After. I know a lot of people don't like mid-series cover changes (I'm kind of with them on that) and that a lot of people thought the original covers were fine (I'm kind of with them there too) but I don't actually mind the new covers, which you can see over on Stephanie Perkins' blog right here. I think they're lovely and colourful! This whole story has made me realise how much I need to get round to reading Lola and the Boy Next Door. I loved Anna and the French Kiss! What do you think of the new covers? Do cover changes bother you?

One book I've been dying to read lately is The Selection by Kiera Cass because I'm hearing a lot of good things. Like Delirium, there's currently a TV pilot in the works and casting information is coming thick and fast! Anthony Head is the latest name to join the line up. Read more about his casting here on Hypable.

Finally, Hypable.com have recently launched their Book Hype podcast. I'm a huge fan of some of Hypable's other podcasts and of podcasts in general so I can't wait to check this one out! Their book news on the site is awesome so I have no doubt their podcast will be too. Find out more about Book Hype right here.

Which of these news stories has got you most excited? Any other book news I've missed that I need to know about? Let me know in the comments! 

2013 Book to Film Adaptations

I recently came across this great article about the book to film adaptations coming out in 2013. This year some of my favourite books will make their film debut. I adore going to the cinema anyway so what could be better than combining two of my favourite things! In this post I discuss which films I'm excited to see and which books I still need to check out before the films come out (I always like reading the book first!). Enjoy.

Most Anticipated

City of Bones
(Cassandra Clare)
 

I'm a huge fan of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series so I'm completely giddy about the film adaptation coming out this year! The first trailer already tickled my taste buds. 

Starring: Lily Colins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan

 Released: 23rd August 2013

Read my review of City of Bones
Watch the trailer

Beautiful Creatures
(Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl)
 

I read the book last year after seeing the film trailer. I really loved the characters and it looks like the film adaptation is going to really do justice to the magic in the story!

Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Emmy Rossum 

Released: 13th February 2013
Read my review of Beautiful Creatures
Watch the trailer

Catching Fire
(Suzanne Collins)

I love The Hunger Games trilogy and the first film blew me away with how great the acting was and how faithful they were to the book. Catching Fire is my favourite book from the trilogy so I'm really excited to see how the film lives up to it!

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson

Released: 22nd August 2013
Read my review of Catching Fire

Books I need to Read!

The Host 
(Stephanie Meyer)

I'm still yet to read Twilight but I've heard better things about this book. With the film coming out this year it might just tempt me!

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons and Diane Kruger

Released: 29th March
Find out more about the book on Goodreads 
Watch the trailer

The Seventh Son
(The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney)

This has been on my to-read list for a while after I saw it described as a book for Harry Potter fans. The film adaptation will be released under the title The Seventh Son.

Starring: Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore
Released: 18th October 2013
Find out more about the book on Goodreads

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
(Rick Riordan)

I read the first Percy Jackson book last year and enjoyed it! Haven't got round to seeing the film yet (I've heard not so good things about it) but might have to get round to watching that and reading the book before this film is released!

Released: 16th August 2013
Starring: Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson
Find out about the book on Goodreads

Which 2013 film releases are you most looking forward to? Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments!

News: Divergent casting, Catching Fire images

I love keeping up with the news from the upcoming film adaptations of some of my favourite books, and this week there have a been a few stories to get excited about!

Firstly, this article on Variety states Shailene Woodley has been cast as Tris Prior in the film adaptation of Veronica Roth's Divergent. What do you think of the news? Do you think she'll make a good Tris? Find out more about Shailene Woodley's previous roles here on IMDB. The article also goes on to say that Lucas Till, Jeremy Irvine and Alex Pettyfer are rumoured to be testing for the role of Four.

Meanwhile, the first images are emerging from Catching Fire! This article on Hypable features pictures of Finnick, Katniss, President Snow, Prim and Katniss' mother, Haymitch, Plutarch, and of course Gale and Peeta (phew - that's a lot!). I had some reservations about the picture of Katniss and Finnick and what it implies, but as it's taken out of context it's impossible to tell what's happening. I just hope people don't misread that photo!

With a lot of film adaptations scheduled to be released this year (City of Bones, Beautiful Creatures) and more like Divergent which are just starting out, there should be a lot of news this year. I can't wait!

Related posts:
Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth
Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Film Trailer: City of Bones!

The City of Bones film is one of my most anticipated book to film adaptations and finally we have a teaser trailer! Have you seen it yet? Watch it below and let me know what you think!





I'm so excited to finally see this world brought to life and this trailer has so much! Clary, Jace, Simon, scenes from inside Pandemonium, Hodge, gahhh! SO excited :)

News: First Look at the City of Bones film!

I'm so ridiculously excited for the film adaptation of City of Bones, the first book in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. This week MTV gave a first look at the set with a few sneaky bits of footage of the actors filming, as well as interviews with the cast.

For US viewers, you can watch it on MTV.com right here.

For people outside the US (like me!) you can find the video here on Tumblr.

Are you excited for the City of Bones film?!

Trailers Galore!

I've been seeing new book trailers here there and everywhere recently, so I've assembled a few of them into one handy post (as well as one sneaky film trailer!). Enjoy!

Neptune's Tears by Susan Waggoner

(out now - Piccadilly Press)

Goodreads

Amazon UK

Waterstone's

Book Depository

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

(published 5th October - Mira Ink)

Goodreads

Amazon UK

Waterstone's

Book Depository

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

 (published 27th September - HarperCollins Children's Books)

Goodreads

Amazon UK

Waterstone's

Book Depository

And finally this trailer was just released for the film adaptation of Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I'm yet to read the book but it's high up on my to-read list, and after this I'm even more excited to read it!

Beautiful Creatures Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

(book out now -Puffin/film released 2013)

Goodreads

Amazon UK

Waterstone's

Book Depository



News Round Up!

A few news stories have popped up on my radar recently, surrounding some of my favourite teen fiction fandoms. Here's a quick catch up!

Robert Sheehan cast as Simon in City of Bones
Cassandra Clare is spoiling us with goodies this week! I'm super excited to see Simon finally cast. I haven't watched Misfits before but I have seen Cherrybomb and loved Robert Sheehan in that. He seems a pretty good fit to me!

City of Bones teaser poster released
More City of Bones stuff *squees* Ok, so it's over a year to go but I'm already majorly excited ;) The cast are in Toronto reading for the start of filming. You can check out pictures of that on TMI Source right here. And check out the poster below!



(Don't forget to check out the newly released book cover for Clockwork Princess right here, too!)

First four Chamber of Secrets chapters now available on Pottermore
For those of us who were lucky enough to get into the Pottermore beta it seems like an absolute age since we had new material to look at. Ok, so it may be slightly our own fault (I'm not the only one who rushed through it in pretty much one sitting, am I?) which is why I'm happy that we just have 4 chapters to explore as of yesterday. Slytherin Pottermore members got a sneaky peak a day earlier after being crowned winners of the first ever Pottermore House Cup (I'm still a bit bitter - Hufflepuff came last and were pretty much never in with a shout, although I suppose that makes it more realistic...). There's plenty of new items to collect, more beautiful artwork and of course, most importantly, new snippets from J.K. Rowling herself. Have you checked out the new information? Do you still use Pottermore or has the novelty worn off? I'm interested to hear your thoughts so do leave a comment!

Mockingjay film split confirmed
First up in Hunger Games news is the confirmation that the final instalment of the trilogy will be split in to two films. This had been rumoured for quite a long time but now the two films have official release dates. Mockingjay Part 1 will hit cinemas on 21st November 2014, followed by Mockingjay Part 2 on 20th November 2015. It's a pretty long way off and Catching Fire is still in the casting stage (see next story) but hey, something to look forward to, right? Obviously with the announcement of a film split comes the inevitable Harry Potter connection. HP did it, then Twilight did it. The Hobbit is doing it. Splitting a book to make two films seems to be the "in" thing, that's for sure. Whether it'll prove to be the right decision, well, time will tell. I'm not convinced. But when I finally get round to re-reading Mockingjay I'll be able to judge it better. To see how the fansites want it to be split, check out this article on Hollywood.com.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman cast as Plutarch Heavensbee in Catching Fire
Most of the world is still waiting for Finnick casting news but we'll take what we can get ;) Read more about Phillip Seymour Hoffman's casting here on Mockingjay.net. Lionsgate has also revealed a section of their Facebook page dedicated to casting news, which you can find at this link.

Reasons to be excited about The Mortal Instruments films.

With the news breaking last week that Jemima West has been cast as Isabelle for the upcoming film adaptation of The Mortal Instruments Series (she looks perfect to me!) I decided to put together a list of my top ten reasons why I'm super excited for the films (and why you should be, too!). Enjoy!

10. Cassandra Clare talks about the films. Sure, she's not directly involved, but all her Tumblr coverage of the casting and news makes me super excited for what's to come. Author approval means everything *nods*.

9. The locations. New York, the Silent City, the Institute - places we want to see not just inside our heads.

8. The books are amazing! Words of wisdom from my friend when asked to help contribute ideas to this blog post. True.

7. 5 books so far. Hopefully this means at least 5 films. We'll be watching TMI films with our kids if all the books get made into films. Well, maybe not. But it'll keep us going for a longgg time.

6. More tweets like this from Cassandra Clare.

5. There are no more Harry Potter films. This will forever make me sad. The excitement of a new trailer, new photos, cast speculation - I miss it. But all that exciting stuff is still to come with TMI!


4. Jamie Campbell Bower. We all love bad boy Jace, and who better than the gorgeous Jamie to play him?!

3. Shipping. So many couples to ship, so little time. We've spent ages with just our own images of those all important scenes in our head, but now we'll get to see them played out. Imagine how much the Internet will blow up when we get out first glimpse of some of the series' couples together for the first time. Tumblr will EXPLODE.

2. More people will read the books. You know those people we all know who only read a series once they realise there's a film? (*cough* The Hunger Games *cough*) Well, we don't mind if it means even more people read the books and therefore you get more people to talk (i.e squee with joy) about them with.

1. Magnus Bane. 'Nuff said.

Are you excited for The Mortal Instruments film adaption?