Updated on October 14th, 2025
Whenever I see a book I have read adapted to a movie, I am often excited to experience the story in another format. However, the movie version does not always hold up to the book. Books are typically around 300-400 pages, which is then condensed to an hour and a half movie. For this post, I want to compare several books to their movie counterparts and see which version I prefer.
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Dark Places
Book: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
The book Dark Places is 424 pages and tells the story of Libby, whose mother and 2 sisters were murdered when she was 7 years old. Libby testified that her older brother Ben killed them, and he has since been in prison. Now, as an adult, Libby is contacted by a group convinced that Ben is innocent. The book alternates between the past and present, but I found the pacing slow. In fact, I even took a break from reading the book when I was less than halfway through because I was unsure if I could get through it. After some time, I did finish reading Dark Places, and the story does eventually pick up. I also did not expect the twist, but the pacing at the beginning is definitely a drawback.
Available at Bookshop
Movie: Dark Places (2015)
The movie Dark Places has a runtime of 1 hour and 53 minutes. The movie follows the main plot of the book, but it is faster-paced. Since the movie is so fast-paced, numerous scenes and background information are left out. Furthermore, a lot of characteristics are changed.
For example, Libby in the book is known for red hair that she dyes blonde and has roots showing. Later in the book, she dyes her hair back to red, but she is always blonde in the movie. Also in the book, Ben has long red hair as an adult, but he is bald in the movie. Lastly, the big twist in the book is changed in the movie. I felt like the twist made more sense in the book. Even though the movie is faster-paced, I found myself liking the book more because you do get more background on the characters, and the twist was better.
Winner: The book
The Giver
Book: The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Giver book is 208 pages long and set in a dystopian society focused on sameness. The book follows 12-year-old Jonas, who is assigned to be the next Receiver of Memory. I read the book as a kid for school, and I recently reread it. I did like seeing what society is like and how Jonas handles receiving memories. Overall, I did enjoy reading The Giver.
Available on Bookshop
Movie: The Giver (2014)
The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 37 minutes and follows the basic plot of the book, but there are numerous changes. The movie rushes through the last day of childhood for Jonas and his friends. Speaking of Jonas, the characters are aged up in the movie. Jonas is aged up from 12 to 16 along with his friends Fiona and Asher. Even Jonas’ sister Lily is aged up from 8 to 9 in the movie.
Jonas is assigned the same job as in the book. However, Fiona is assigned to be Caretaker of the Old in the book, but in the movie, her role is changed to be Nurturer, where she takes care of babies. Asher’s role is also changed. In the book, he is the Assistant Director of Recreation, but in the movie, he is assigned to be a Drone Pilot. Also, Jonas has more interactions with Fiona and Asher after being assigned their jobs, but these scenes are not present in the book. As far as the ending, the book has an ambiguous ending, but the movie has a clear-cut ending. Due to all the changes made in the movie, I find myself preferring the book more.
Winner: The book
The Hunger Games
Book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games book is 374 pages and follows Katniss Everdeen. Katniss takes her sister’s place during the 74th annual Hunger Games. During the Hunger Games, 24 kids between the ages of 12-18 will fight to the death on live TV until one victor remains. The book follows the perspective of Katniss, and I liked getting to know her thoughts on the Games, the Capitol, and what she will do to survive. There are emotional parts of the book, given the nature of the Games, and I overall liked seeing the dystopian world of Panem.
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Movie: The Hunger Games (2012)
The movie is 2 hours and 22 minutes long. The movie follows the main plot of the book, and it also mainly follows Katniss. However, you get to see the game maker, the control room, and how districts react during the games, which is not present in the book. Additionally, numerous small details are changed in the movie. For example, how Katniss gets the mockingjay pin differs in the book and movie. There are too many other small changes to list them out, but I did like seeing the different perspectives in the movie. With all that said, I do prefer the book because you get to know Katniss and her thoughts during the Games.
Winner: The book
Paper Towns
Book: Paper Towns by John Green
The Paper Towns book is 305 pages and follows Quentin, whose neighbor Margo goes missing, and he follows the clues left behind to find her. Quentin is a fine protagonist, and I liked his friends Ben and Radar. I did not care much for Margo, but I wanted to know what happened to her and where she was. The middle part of the book lulled because Quentin followed clues that often resulted in him learning nothing new. At first, I was unsure if I liked the ending, but after reflecting on it, I liked it because it does fit with the point of the book.
Available at Bookshop
Movie: Paper Towns (2015)
The Paper Towns movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 49 minutes. The movie follows the same main plot as the book. However, the timeline is a bit different in the movie, and the parts that slowed in the book were cut from the movie. That said, the biggest change was made to the ending. I do think the ending is much better in the book, which leads me to like the book more.
Winner: The book
The Woman in Cabin 10
Book: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
The Woman in Cabin 10 is my favorite Ruth Ware book. The book is 400 pages and follows Lo, a travel journalist who is tasked with covering the maiden voyage of a luxury cruise ship. However, the first night onboard, Lo witnesses a woman being thrown overboard, but all the passengers and staff are accounted for in the morning. I loved the suspense in the book, and I found myself questioning what was actually going on. There are twists in the book I did not expect, and the ending is satisfying.
Available at Bookshop
Movie: The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025)
The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 35 minutes. The basic plot is the same, but everything else has been changed from the book. In the movie, Lo is an investigative journalist, and she is invited on a yacht to raise awareness for a foundation Richard Bullmer started in the name of his wife, Anne, who has cancer. Lo then witnesses a woman being thrown overboard the first night, but there are no missing passengers or staff. There is very little similarity between the movie and the book. The only passengers on the yacht who are from the book are Lo, Ben, Richard, and Anne. The new passengers introduced in the movie do not have much of an impact on the plot. Even Judah, Lo’s boyfriend, is removed from the movie! Early on in the movie, you are given a clue about what is going on, which does not happen until near the end of the book. All the suspense from the book is taken away, and the movie solely focuses on action-packed scenes that are not present in the book. Since I loved the suspense in the book, I prefer the book much more than the movie.
The Winner: The book
The Woman in the Window
Book: The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
The Woman in the Window is 455 pages long. The book follows Anna, who has agoraphobia and has not left her home in the past year. Anna spends her days watching old movies, drinking wine, and spying on her neighbors through her window. A new family then moves in across the park, and she begins spying on them. However, when Anna looks out her window one night, she sees something shocking. Anna is an unreliable narrator because she takes medication for anxiety, which she mixes with wine. While reading the book, I wanted to know if what Anna saw actually happened because everyone else does not believe her. I also felt for Anna because you do learn about what triggered her anxiety, and she does help others on the agoraphobia forum. The book had twists I did not expect, and it was a great mystery read.
Available at Bookshop
Movie: The Woman in the Window (2021)
The movie is 1 hour and 40 minutes long and follows the same plot and has many of the same characters as the book. However, the movie does not even mention the agrophobia forum Anna helps others on, which is a plot point in the book. There is also a scene where Anna goes to a coffee shop in the book that is missing from the movie. Also, the ending of the movie is a bit different. I did like the movie though, and I felt like it was a good adaptation, but I still enjoyed the book more
I love watching book-adapted movies, but some are never quite as good as the books themselves! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
I agree! Even though the movie is often not as good as the book, I still enjoy watching them and experiencing the story in another format.
Not all movies adapted from books are as good as the books. For only Red Sparrow is good.
I agree! It is hard to find a movie that is as good as the book.
Very in-depth comparison. Interesting that the book version won. I guess it is because some of the storylines are diluted or removed in the film version as the director is restricted by the movie’s running tine.
Thank you! Yes often times a lot of scenes and background information is cut from the movie due to the time constraint.
I didn’t like the book The Woman In The Window…
I quite liked the book, but I can see how it wouldn’t be for everyone
I typically find the books better than the movies as so much more detail is possible within their pages, but I often still enjoy the big screen versions. I will have to check out some of the books and films you mentioned here as they seem like something I could get into.
I agree books are generally better than the movies because oftentimes a lot of scenes and details are cut from the movie adaptations. I do still enjoy watching the movie versions though!
I love watching movies of books, but after a few years after I’ve read. It’s so much fun when you don’t remember all the details but they come back as you watch! I prefer to read the book first so I can imagine the world in my head, then see if it matches up with the movie 🙂
Corinne x
I enjoy reading books first too, and that’s a good idea to wait some time before watching the movie.
I always like the books more than the films. I feel like they can get more in depth with character thoughts and descriptions over a movie which has limited time to shove all of the details into 2 hours or less.
I completely agree! With books, you can go a lot more in-depth with all the details, but in the movies, scenes are cut and there isn’t as much background because of the time crunch
The Giver adaptation really was a butchering, wasn’t it? 🙁
It was!! I understand they made the changes to make it more action-packed and entertaining for the everyday person, but I feel like the book is entertaining enough without changing every single thing!