Seven 2022 Book To Screen Adaptations I'm Excited About

 I love a book to movie or TV adaptation. I used to keep up with upcoming adaptations and read the book in preparation for the adaptations release but I have gotten out of that habit in recent years. I figured I would try to get back to that a little this year and decided to look into the upcoming adaptations. I found a few that I am excited about that I thought I would share.

 

1. The Hating Game - This has already released elsewhere but is coming to the UK at some point in 2022. This is the movie adaptation of Sally Thorne's novel, which I read last year and didn't love as much as everyone else seems to. I love Lucy Hale, though, so I am excited for the movie.

2. Bridgerton Season 2 - The second book in the Bridgertons series, The Viscount Who Loved Me, is my favourite of the series so far and is the book the second season of the show is based on. I started reading the series after falling in love with the first season of the show so I can't wait for the second season.

3. Luckiest Girl Alive - This is a movie adaptation of a book I read years ago. The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll follows a seemingly perfect woman with a traumatic past, the secrets of which are tearing her apart. I wasn't a fan of the book but I am interested to see how they take this story to the screen.

4. Daisy Jones And The Six - One of the most popular books of the past few years, Daisy Jones And The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is being adapted into a TV series. I have not yet read this book and didn't really have much interest in it until Sam Claflin was announced as part of the cast of the adaptation. Now I will definitely be picking it up and watching the show when it is released.

5. Anatomy Of A Scandal - This is a thriller that I have not read but the premise sounds interesting. The TV series adaptation is pitched as for fans of Scandal, a show I really loved, so that has me hooked already. I believe it is to do with a politician accused of committing a crime and follows the court case that ensues.

6. She Said - This is an adaptation of a non-fiction novel that is on my TBR. The book is written by two journalists who broke the news of the Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment. I believe the adaptation is a dramatisation of the book.

7. After Ever Happy - The final instalment in the After series is coming and I am both excited and very sad about it. I have never read the books but the movies are my absolute guilty pleasure and I have watched them far more than is considered normal. I am excited to see this story reach it's conclusion but also don't want it to end.

Those are seven book to movie or TV adaptations due to be released in 2022 that I am excited for. I'm sure there will be some I have missed as I can never keep up with movie and TV news. 

What upcoming book to screen adaptation are you most excited for?

Sophie :)

Five Series To Get You Through Isolation

The situation in the world right now is something causing a lot of stress and anxiety right now. For me, I find escaping into a book can help massively during times of uncertainty. I know not everyone can focus on books at the moment, but for those of us needing a bit of literary escape, I thought I would share some recommendations.  For those, like myself, considered key workers and putting themselves in danger to work on the front line during this pandemic, thank you for all you are doing! For those who are doing their vital part by staying at home, I've compiled a list of five series I think would make great reads to get you through being stuck inside during this time.

1. Anna, Lola & Isla by Stephanie Perkins - 

The Anna and the French Kiss series - Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door & Isla and the Happily Ever After - are some of my favourite books to reread when I just need to escape reality. I love these characters, the beautiful settings and the adorable relationships. They're such fun, easy reads.

2. The Selection series by Keira Cass - 

If you want reality TV in book form, this is definitely the series to pick up. Following a competition to marry the Prince, this dystopian series is the perfect escapist read. It has some great characters, a fun storyline, and they're all pretty much stuck inside the whole time as well! I would highly recommend if you're looking for something fun and easy to get through that will take your mind off everything going on.

3. Did I Mention I Love You? series by Estelle Maskame -

I take pretty much any excuse to recommend this series, it's one of my favourites. It is a step-sibling romance, which is a bit taboo, but I really enjoyed this series. Tyler and Eden are one of my favourite bookish couples and no matter how many times I read these books, I always love experiencing their story. I would recommend this any time, but it's definitely a good one to be reaching for just now.

4. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling -

I know I don't need to include this in this list, I think a lot of people will be reaching for this series to keep them company while they are staying at home. It is the ultimate series to escape into, as it will completely transport you to the world and most likely take over all of your thoughts.

5. Beautiful Broken Things series by Sara Barnard - 

Beautiful Broken Things and Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard are two of the most beautiful, well-written books I have read in a while. They feature some of the best characters and one of the best friendship groups I have found in books. If staying at home has you missing your friends, get yourself introduced to these girls. I instantly felt part of their group reading these books. They also follow a great storyline, with a lot of different mental health representation.

A lot of these are 'oldie but goodie' type series and I think that is what I tend to gravitate towards in times of anxiety and uncertainty. If you don't feel like picking up any of these recommendations, I would highly recommend rereading an old favourite, that seems to be all I want to do right now.

Are you staying at home at the moment? What have you been reading?

Sophie :)

Series I Need To Finish

If you've seen my 2020 goals post, you'll know that I am wanting to prioritise finishing some series in 2020. I am terrible at finishing series! I always pick up the first book with great intentions and then take forever to carry on with the series. I've made a list of a few series that are at the top of my priority list.

1. Unwind series by Neal Shusterman
This is a dystopian series involving a world in which parents of children aged 13-18 can send them to be 'unwound', meaning every part of their body is harvested for transplant. I read the first two books in this series years ago but, for whatever reason, never carried on. I was being put off continuing this series by the fact I knew I would need to reread the first two before getting to the third, which just seemed like so much effort. However, I did manage to reread the first two books in January, so hopefully that means I can get this one finished soon!

2. Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants series by Ann Brashares
The movie adaptation of this series was one of my favourite movies growing up, so a few years ago I decided to give the books a go. This series follows a group of friends, who have always been inseparable, as they navigate summers apart. I have read the first two books and really enjoyed them so I would love to at least continue on with this series this year, probably in the summer.

3. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
How many times can I mention finishing this series? I have been reading this series for 3 or 4 years now and I just never seem to keep going with it, despite the fact that I have really enjoyed every one of the books I have read so far. I am making it my mission for 2020 to reread the first 3 books in the series and then continue with both this series and the Infernal Devices series in publication order and get them all read by the end of the year! I realise I say this every year but I am determined to make this the year I finally succeed.

4. Pivot Point duology by Kasie West
This is a kind of paranormal duology about a girl who has the ability to see both potential outcomes in the future when faced with a choice. In the first book she must decide which of her parents to live with following their divorce, and so both potential outcomes play out. I read the first book at the beginning of last year and thought it was pretty interesting. I'm hoping I can get to the second book at some point this year.

5. The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward
As far as I know, this series isn't actually finished yet, but I'm still putting it on this list. The first book in this series, which was my first read of 2019, is about a princess who accidentally drinks a love potion she made and so falls in love with herself. A competition then begins to find an cure. I thought the first book in the series was so much fun and I can't wait to see how the series continues.

I really am so bad at finishing series. I made a list of series I need to finish back in 2018 and, embarrassingly, a few of the series mentioned in this list were also featured on that one. Hopefully I can do better with reading series in 2020 and get some of these books off of my TBR shelf.

Which series on the list do I need to prioritise first?

Sophie :)

Series Review | Did I Mention I Love You? Series by Estelle Maskame

One of my goals for 2018 was to try something new with my reviews and, having realised in my mid-year update that I haven't done that yet, I thought now would be a good time to mix things up. I recently read the second and third books in the DIMILY trilogy by Estelle Maskame, as well as the spin-off/companion novel Just Don't Mention It, so I thought I would try something new and combine my reviews for these books into a series review.

*Please Note: Minor spoilers for previous books in the series may be included in the reviews for the later books. I will try my hardest to avoid spoilers but please be aware that some may slip out.*

Estelle Maskame's DIMILY series follows sixteen-year-old Eden Munro as she spends the summer with her father and his new family in Santa Monica, California, where she meets her new stepmother and three stepbrothers for the first time. One of those stepbrothers is troubled Tyler Bruce, whose bad boy ways both infuriate and intrigue Eden. Throughout the series, we see how these characters grow and how their unconventional relationship develops, as they navigate the challenges of difficult pasts and unknown futures.

Did I Mention I Love You?
Series: DIMILY #1
Published On: April 30, 2015
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 422
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★½
Amazon | Goodreads

A full review of this book can be found here.

I previously reviewed this book after first reading it last year and went into much more detail on my thoughts in that review. Overall, I thought this was a great introduction to the series that was fun, fast-paced and had me not wanting to put it down. It still amazes me that this series was written by someone so young, as it is written so well. However, this made the teenage voice much more authentic and the actions taken by characters felt very realistic. It is 90% a cute, fluffy romance but there are more series topics dealt with throughout the book, which add a lot of depth to the story. I was impressed by how well someone so young wrote about such serious topics, everything was covered with great sensitivity and maturity. My one and only issue with this first book was that some plot points were a bit predictable and a little immature at times, but I did find that this became less of an issue as the series went on.

Did I Mention I Need You?
Series: DIMILY #2
Published On: October 19, 2015
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 387
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★½
Amazon | Goodreads

Did I Mention I Need You, book two in the series, is most definitely my favourite! This book in no way suffers from second book syndrome, it's full of great story and a whole lot of fun. This book is set two years after DIMILY and follows Eden as she goes to spend the summer in New York with Tyler. I absolutely adored the setting, as I love New York, and was very impressed with Estelle's knowledge of the city, even more so when I discovered she had never even been until after writing this book. I also really loved the development in Eden and Tyler's relationship and to see how their dynamic changed when they were away from family and friends and didn't have to keep things secret. Tyler himself has grown so much between the first and second books, and while it would have been nice to see that growth as it happened, it was great to see how much he had progressed. He did still have a bit of a bad boy side in there though, which I really liked seeing. There is a bit of a cheating storyline in this book that didn't take away from my enjoyment, but did make me a little uncomfortable and may well be an issue for others. Once again, Estelle throws in a big shocker in the ending, as she did with book one, and makes you need to pick up the third book straight away. I can't praise this book enough, I loved it.

Did I Mention I Miss You?
Series: DIMILY #3
Published On: July 21, 2016
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★
Amazon | Goodreads

The third and final book in the series takes place a year after the events of DIMINY, during Eden's first summer of college. I had very mixed feelings at the beginning of this book because, for the first time during reading this series, I disliked Tyler! I thought his actions were unnecessary and actually found him to be very patronising throughout the book. He grows so much throughout the series but by the third book he isn't showing any of his former bad boy ways, so as a girl who likes a bad boy I kind of lost interest in him. However, there were many things I loved about this book. I loved seeing how Eden and Tyler dealt with not everything in their relationship being good, it made them seem more real and like an authentic relationship. I also found the situation with their family very interesting to read about, particularly as each family member was dealing with things in different ways. We also get another new setting in this book, which I won't disclose because spoilers, and I absolutely loved it. The settings in each of these books are so well written and explored that I feel as though I am visiting these places with the characters, and this setting was no exception. Overall, I think this was a great conclusion to the series as many of the issues arising throughout the series were addressed, as well as some great new plot points and twists introduced, but things weren't wrapped up in a neat little bow. I loved seeing all the characters in this series, not just Tyler and Eden but also their family and friends, grow and develop into the people they are by the end of book three and deal with all of the challenges life throws at them. I honestly feel like these characters are my friends and I have been on one hell of a journey with them.

Just Don't Mention It
Series: DIMILY #4 (kind of)
Published On: June 21, 2018
Published By: Black & White Publishing
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 470
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★★
Amazon | Goodreads

Just Don't Mention It is a spin-off/companion novel to the DIMILY series, which follows two timelines told from Tyler's point of view. The first timeline, present day, is the first book in the series told from Tyler's point of view. The second timeline is five years prior to that telling the story of Tyler's life with his dad. This is a very, very tough book to read. On the one hand, it's great fun to go back to the start of Tyler and Eden's relationship and get to relive that story through Tyler's eyes. However, on the other hand, in the alternate chapters you have the story of Tyler's horrendous childhood and the horrific abuse he suffered. I really enjoyed the present day timeline, particularly as I spent much of DIMILY wondering what on earth Tyler was thinking. It was interesting to see situations from a different perspective and see what was going on when he wasn't with Eden. The past timeline is not something I can say I enjoyed, that definitely isn't the word to use. I found those parts to be incredibly difficult to read and just heartbreaking. Despite the content, they were very well written and such a difficult topic was covered with great sensitivity and maturity, which is impressive from someone so young. I was impressed with how well this book was written overall, and how easily it flipped from one timeline to the other so seamlessly, yet both stories felt completely different. I thought this was a great addition to the series and I felt as though I know Tyler so much better and understand the reasoning behind many of his actions.

Overall, I really love this series. It starts off as a pretty light, fluffy forbidden romance story but becomes so much more. As I mentioned, the characters are written so well that I feel as though they are my friends and I have experienced this journey with them. The settings are written so vividly that I feel as though I have been there. It blows my minds that this series is written by an author who has only recently turned 21! I can't wait to see what else is to come from Estelle Maskame, she is now one of my favourite authors and I will pick up anything she writes.