My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (for the book)
After watching the first season and loving it, I decided to give this book a second go. I had DNF’d it the first time, which was back in my Twilight loving days.
BOOK VERSUS THE SHOW
As with any book to film adaptation, the book is always more detailed and obviously different than the show. Personally, I’m glad I watched the show first! It was SO good!!
Book
– It started off strong with the mention of witches, vampires, daemons and a mysterious manuscript (Ashmole 782).
– I loved the setting and all the magic that Diana possessed. I just wish we got to see more of that, rather than spend the entire time with Diana reading textbooks, drinking tea, eating, drinking wine, drinking more tea, sleeping and other useless activities that had no relevance.
Show
– I really enjoyed the chemistry between Matthew & Diana on screen. Unfortunately, the book was too PG for my liking, and I wasn’t as invested in their relationship as I was with the show.
– The characters are a little different in the show than in the book, which was totally fine by me. Some of the ones that took a back seat or were merely mentioned, played a much larger role in the show, which I really liked. I loved how the power of witches and vampires were shown in the show. It’s only in the book that we learn what daemons are capable of.
-There was definitely waay more action in the show versus the book. I found the book slow, making it hard for me to want to binge read. Hardly anything happens in the majority of the book.
I did however, enjoy the background history on the Bishops, Matthew & Ysabeau de Claremont that we get to see in the book, that was missed on screen.
OVERALL VERDICT
It’s a very rare occurence when I like a show or movie adaption better than the book.
While I enjoyed the book, I didn’t love it like I did the show. It had the potential to be an amazing read, but got caught up in too many mundane details.
To be honest, if I hadn’t watched the first season and loved it, 1) I would have never picked up the book again and 2) I would have DNF’D it..AGAIN.
My advice: WATCH THE SHOW!! (Whether you’ve read the book or not).
I couldn’t get through this book and it was a dnf for me. Glad you were able to make it through, Gigi!
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I don’t blame you! I almost DNF’d the second time. But I was determined to see if things ended differently in the show than in the book. 😜
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