Beautiful Creatures: book vs film

Beautiful Creatures is one of those books that i decided to read because i saw the movie trailer (the same way i came about reading the Twilight saga). yes, i am one of those people. always late to the party, but who the hell cares? i thought the movie looked great. it was right up my alley. a film adaptation of a YA book, i am so all over this. i decided to check out the book before i saw the film, and this past fall i read Beautiful Creatures. the first book in a series of four. oh good lord.

all i can say is that i like this movie much more than the book. i felt a lot was changed from the book; a lot in a good way. most books that are made into movies fall into the trap of needing to get every last bit of the book. that staying true to the book is a must. don't get me wrong, i think that is a good thing and very important especially for a book of which i am a fan. the filmmakers of Beautiful Creatures gutted this book, and i liked what they showed me.

*spoilers!

i am going to start out with a short like/dislike list of the book (well as short as i can for something that i had a few issues with).

• i really wanted to like this book. i gave it 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads (but have changed it to 2 out of 5 after realizing that i really just thought it was okay).
• i liked that the protagonist was a boy. you don't see that a lot in YA books, and i feel that we need to see more of that.
• i like that it was about Casters (a fancy name for witches). i enjoy the paranormal, but the whole vampire thing is getting stale, and i have a history with witches. hell, i wanted to be one so badly that when i was in high school i was a Wiccan. yes i was one of those girls. we can blame Buffy for that.
• i enjoyed Ethan wanting to leave his hometown and his crappy little life because i was that kid when i was in high school--thinking life was better somewhere else and not enjoying what you have--so i related to that.

now what didn't like about this book.

• i thought this book was just boring and i thought it was too long. it took me a while to read it because i would just get board with it and put it away. i had to force myself to finish this book. (and to think i bought the second book.)
• the ending was all over the place. i just didn't like it. first there was the claiming and then all the kids from the high school showed up for a concert on the same day of the battle reenactment (holy hell). then Ethan's father being forced to commit suicide. then Ethan having to go to the Caster library to get to Ravenwood Manor because it was the fastest (at this point i was like "what the fuck?"). then Ethan dying. then Macon dying. then Lena NOT being claimed (and then i was like "no fucking way. this is how we are setting up the second book. this is bullshit"). ugh.  needless to say, i did not like the ending.
• i thought the whole telepathy between Ethan and Lena was a cop out. if you want to get into the head of more than one character then the story should be told in the third person.
• this leads me to the fact that a lot of weird things would happen between Ethan and Lena but they would never question it or try to figure out why it's happening. (personally, if i could talk to the boy that i liked through telepathy, i would be all over my uncle trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. or the fact that each time we would kiss and make out, said boy would have a hard time breathing or a heart attack. i would want to know what is going on.) but not these kids. it didn't really bother them.

oh good lord i can go on forever.

• when i said that i like that the protagonist was a boy, well it is in theory. the execution did not work in this book. when i started reading this book, i thought Ethan was a girl. i had to go online to double check that he was a boy.

okay. i am going to stop. i feel bad when i don't like a book. the funny thing is i thought i was okay with this book when i finished it. but the more i reflect on it the more i realize that i didn't really like it.

i did like the movie. it was great. it played like Twilight in reverse. and i enjoyed the whole southern gothic thing they were going for.

• the movie didn't play as depressing as i had read it in the book: with Ethan being depressed about his mother's death and father turning into a shut-in; and Lena just being an annoying depressed teen with "something greater" going on with her and no one understands her. whatever! i liked Ethan and Lena better on the big screen. Lena wasn't as angsty as i read her in the book and the same goes for Ethan.
• at times Ethan (played by Alden Ehrenreich) was a bit too hammy for me, and i did find this southern accent a bit much, but i got used to it.
• Emma Thompson who played Mrs. Lincoln was just great. she was beautiful and flawless. i was just taken by surprise by her in this film. bravo Emma.
• the relationship between Ethan and Lena (played by Alice Englert) was more believable in the film for me than in the book.

some big changes from the book was:

• Ethan and Lena's relationship. in the film she had to give him up for the curse/claiming. that didn't happen in the book. so Ethan goes for some time in the film thinking that he and Lena never had a relationship. but of course at the end of the film he finely remembers because their love is so strong. 
• Lena's claiming/birthday/battle reenactment scene where Ethan/Macon die is toned down to where it's manageable and believable.

i do feel that Macon had better lines in the book, but i still liked him in the film. as my friend said after we say the movie, Jeremy Irons played Macon like a Coronal Sanders meets Liberace. she hit it right on the head with that statement.

okay, okay. i am done. good lord it is a lot to take in. but the big question is, "would i recommend the book or the film to anyone?" i would say you can pass on the book but the film is fun. but be warned, it is a teenage angst film. i will more than likely read the second book in the series to see if it goes anywhere (i am a masochist for heaven sake. y'all should know this by now). xoxo.