First let me say that I liked the book, it wasn't perfect, but I liked it. I like the characters and I am a true sucker for paranormal romance so it was a no brainer for me. I reread the book before seeing the movie since I read it when it first came out (I am now working my way through the rest of the series and if it is possible, I think the books are getting better!) and was foggy on some parts of the book. I have to admit that I was excited about the movie, from the previews it didn't look bad........ and I have to say that after seeing it, I am still not sure how I felt about it.
So here is what I did like....
1. I liked the casting. I really did, I loved the characters and thought that they really did a good job in capturing the personalities that were so unique to a family of casters. Sarafine was just as crazy as I thought her to be, while Ethan was a simple southern boy on the outside but a much more complex character on the inside. After a while I also grew to like Lena. I was not so sure at first but as the movie went on she grew on me.
2. I also like the setting in the movie. They did a great job capturing the essence of a small, southern town.
3. One of my favorite scenes in the movie had to be the Ravenwood family holiday dinner. In it Ridley (who is a Siren) uses her powers on Ethan to be invited into Ravenwood. The "fight" between Lena and Ridley was awesome (lets just say spinning tables were involved!!!!)
Here are something of the things that are making me unsure of how I felt about the movie.......
1. KELTING!!!!!!! This was a MAJOR part of the story (if you don't know, kelting is where two can talk with out talking or being in the same place). For me this helped with the connection between Lena and Ethan, you knew how they felt about each other, because they were connected through visions of the past as well they would kelt after they happened or during moments of major turmoil, which for Lena was often.
2. They took out Marian Ashcroft. She was also a major part of the story. She was Ethan's connection to his mom as well to the Caster world. She was also the caster librarian and the one to help Lena and Ethan understand better what was going on. Which leads me to another key character switch.......
3. Amma! In the story she was more of a caregiver for Ethan especially since his mom died. In the movie you never got that impression. You saw her bring food over for Ethan and his dad but that was it. Also she was made into the librarian. I can forgive certain casting changes as I understand that a book can never be the same as a movie but this is not only slightly unforgivable (as I am a librarian) but it really turned into something I couldn't get past.
4. The order. As someone who read the book, the movie was mostly out of order. This wasn't always bad but I really felt that for this reason, the movie had huge gaps and things were not explained well at all. I took a friend to the movies with me who also read the book and we both felt the same way about this (and very strongly as well!). I would really like to know from the perspective of a person who has never read the book, how they felt.
5. This is the last one, I swear.....the ending!!!!! It was so different and to be honest, I hated it! Like almost to the point of standing up and wanting to yell in the movie theater "That's Not Right!!!" So as not to spoil it I will leave it at that but ARGGGGGG!
For these reasons and others which I have chosen not to list, I am conflicted. I liked the book, and I kind of liked the movie some of the time, but at other times the movie was a let down. I guess this can be concluded with never judge a book by its movie!!
Janine
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