Book, Show, or Both?

“One of Us Is Lying” is a great YA mystery. It’s such a fun take on The Breakfast Club if one of them ended up murdered. YA mysteries can be quite easy to figure out but this was one I didn't crack till the end. I loved the book, which is now the first in a trilogy. I was not aware that it was being turned into a series at all! So you can imagine my surprise, me scrolling on the Peacock app, and BOOM I saw this book made into a television series! I was shocked and quite curious, so I turned it on. I went in with low to non-existence expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. It was such a fun show and Michael even got into it! We do enjoy a good teen show full of dramatics and mess. So this was right up our alley! We ended up finishing it pretty quickly and it set it up for a season 2. I think the show is a great addition to the book in my opinion. It fleshes out a few characters that I didn’t really get to know in the books. I think if you don’t like mysterious dramatic teen shows, then you won’t like this in movie or book form. But if you do, read and watch them both! You won’t regret it!

“Behind Her Eyes” is a book I will never forget. I remember reading it and being so entranced in this book the entire time. Woman meets a man. Likes the man. Finds out the man is not only her new boss but also married. Woman strikes up a friendship with said man’s wife. Finds out everyone is not who they say they are. By the time I read the ending, I was APPALLED. SHOCKED. ANGRY. BAMBOOZLED. I wanted a refund for all my time and money. That may seem a tad bit extreme but y’all. Sarah, the author, owes me and I’m still waiting to collect! I just looked up my rating on Goodreads and it’s a sad two stars. I enjoyed the mystery of the book and the main character. The book is intriguing, mysterious, juicy! You can’t put it down! But that ending…absolutely not. Sarah knows she’s wrong for ending such a delicious story with that horrific ending. It throws the whole thing off and it ruins the entire novel. So when I saw Netflix was making a limited series version of the book, I groaned. There are a million other books worth the adaptation. But I ,against my better judgement, gave it a watch. It’s a fun ride once again till the end. It’s an ending that you don’t see coming and it’s ludicrous. Do yourself a favor a skip both please. Don’t read it or watch it. Take my word and don’t waste a minute of your time. Skip it all together.

I will always say Colson Whitehead is a phenomenal author. Anything he writes I hurry to read. “The Underground Railroad” is the story of a slave named Cora who runs away from her owners on a sprawling southern plantation. The most innovative part of the book is that the Underground Railroad is reimagined as an actual railroad station. With stops in the south and real people as the conductors. It’s a powerful and innovative reimagining. It moved me and I enjoyed the way Colson wrote this novel. A few months ago, my parents came to visit me and my dad watched The Underground Railroad. I enjoyed it, but wasn’t able to watch all of the series when they were visiting. So I watched it a little later and all I have to say is wow. So moving. So heartbreaking. So powerful. I think it adds a bit of depth to the characters and fully fleshes them out. I cannot say how much I loved both the book and the series on Amazon. I think the book is quite powerful on it’s own but the show reimagines the novel. Watching each stop on The Underground Railroad come alive was well worth it. Read the book. Watch the series. Do both. You can’t have one without the other.

I just reviewed “Nine Perfect Strangers” and that was right before the series premiered on Hulu. Nine strangers arrive at a holistic wellness retreat and chaos ensues. People aren’t who they say they are. Back stories are slowly revealed and healing maybe takes place? I said that it would make for a very entertaining show, maybe even better than the book. It’s a long, confusing, and slow paced book that only certain people liked. So I dove into the Hulu adaptation with Michael and hoped we would enjoy it. We did and Michael really enjoyed the series! I think the casting was perfect and Nicole Kidman was perfect as Masha, the owner of the wellness retreat. Each character was casted perfectly and helped a dull book become an interesting series. Skip the book everyone. It’s not worth the read. Watch the show and watch all the different mysteries unfold. It’s a blast and a fun slow burn.