book to movie – Book Dust Magic

Movie Monday: The School for Good and Evil #MovieMonday #TheSchoolForGoodAndEvil #Netflix

The School for Good and Evil Netflix movie cover

Movie Monday is a feature here on my blog, in which I’m rambling about movies I’ve watched lately.

Today I want to talk about a movie I watched yesterday and was swept away.

The School for Good and Evil

I remember years ago, back when I started to read in English and was religiously watching BookTube videos, The School for Good and Evil book series was pretty popular. It also found it’s place on my tbr, but as time passed I never picked it up and with time it got pushed away by all the other books that were released.
I had no idea Netflix was making an adaptation of the same, but you can imagine my pleasent surprise when I saw it on my homepage (I guess I should keep up with book/movie news more).
As I never read the books, I can’t compare the movie to them, or say if certain things were changed.
However, I can tell you that I really, really liked this motion picture and 2,5 hourst just passed by so quickly, because I was having so much fun.
I guess I needed some fantasy in my life, a magical world that made me daydream how it would be like if those pararel worlds really existed. I caught myself more then a few times daydreaming about crossing that line that parts our world from the different ones we read only in our books.

The cast was very good. Charlize Theron was probably the most noticable, but there are also Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Blanchett (who narrates the story).
Young actresses Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie were both amazing in their performance.

This movie is perfect choice for a family movie night, as it is appropriate for younger audience but interesting enough so all generations can enjoy it.
I will admit that I find it to be better than I expected and I highly, highly recommend it.

My two cents on The Summer I Turned Pretty – season 1 #TheSummerITurnedPretty #Blogtober #SeriesReview

This summer I spent some of my free time watching The Summer I Turned Pretty. I liked the books (well, I liked the first two books and hated how the trilogy ended) so giving an adaptation a go wasn’t questionable to me.
It took me most of the summer to finish the whole season, but that says more about me and less about the series. You see, I never binge watch anything. Even when I had more free time on my hands (in my previous life) it was never my thing. I like to take time with series and I admit, I rarely ever finish them.

This was a fun show aimed for teenagers, but if you ask me, it is totally enjoyable to adults too. It all depends on your taste. I am one of adults who will always appreciate teens and teen stories appeal to me, so I guess I was the perfect audience for this.
I will just make a quick note that my sister in law who is 42 recommended this to me because she devoured it and can’t wait for the next season.

So what are my thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty?
It was definitely good and entertaining, and well done. You can see much effort was put together to make it a high quality. The actors were good. Most of them were new to me. The one who stood out the most with her talent (at least to me) was the actress Rain Spencer who plays Bella’s friend Taylor. She plays in only few episodes, but whenever she’s on the screen she surely takes the spot. I am looking forward to see her in some other projects.
I would also want to mention how the main actress Lola Tung reminds me of my cousin and also how pretty actors Sean Kaufman and Minnie Mills are.

The music was amazing. It was gave that perfect feeling to the series. I was familiar with all of the songs as they are ones I listen to in my every day life.

Overall, I think the book to series adaptation was well done and I will definitely watch season 2 when it comes out.
Although the summer is behind us and spooky season just started, I still recommend you to watch The Summer I Turned Pretty because it was good, fun, entertaining and emotional at times.

Movie Monday: Where the Crawdads Sing #MovieMonday #MovieReview #WhereTheCrawdadsSing

Few months ago I read a book that became maybe the most beautiful book that I have read in my whole life: Where the Crawdads Sing.
I read the book while I was waiting for the movie to hit the theaters, and it made me even more excited for the film once I finished it.

What I was looking forward the most to see on big screen was the nature of Carolina, marsh and all the animals Kya (the main character) spent her lifetime observing.
I wasn’t disappointed at all and I can also say that, in my humble opinion, the movie was great.
I watched it with my husband (who didn’t read the book and even asked me if it was based on true events) and he liked it very much. Even the day after we watched it (aka today) he wanted to talk about it.

The only thing I felt little sorry about is how they didn’t include “Sneaky Fuckers” in the movie, because that was my favourite part of the book.

The cast was good although I have to admit I didn’t know anyone. The only actor that looked little familiar to me was the one who played Kya’s lawyer.
At this point you probably know that Taylor Swift recorded the main song from the movie, titled Carolina. The song fits perfectly for the atmosphere and the story itself. If you still haven’t had a chance to hear it, I suggest you to go and give it a try.

And of course, I do recommend this movie, but I have to stress out that this is more of a drama then a thriller like it was marketed as (at least in my country).

A book that stands out: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens #WhereTheCrawdadsSing #BookLovers #Books

Where the Crawdads Sing by Dalie Owns Book Cover US edition

Recently I have read a book that completely blew my mind with it’s brilliance and I want to talk about it. Where the Crawdads Sing first published in 2018, on August 14th. I purchased my own copy, Croatian edition. It was the first time that I have read something in my first language after years of reading exclusively in English.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.

But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.

Review:

As a reader, you come across good and bad books, some of them stand out, some of them touch you irreversibly, some even change your life in a way, and few you dare to call a masterpiece. And there are only few books you read in your life that stand out from others with it’s brilliance, quality and the feeling they gave you. You know you read a book that will stay with you forever, has find it’s place on your “favourite shelf” before you even finish, and you can’t find anything that can be compared to it.
For me, Where the Crawdads Sing was that book.

This novel was on my tbr list for what feels like years now, and although I expected to like it, with so many amazing reviews it also intimidated me.
With the movie coming out in theaters, I decided that it was finally a time to give it a shot, and I also called my friend Amanda to join me on this reading journey.

And what a journey it was! The one, if it was happening in real life, Ben Fogle wouldn’t miss a chance to witness.

The story follows Kya who, ever since she was a little girl, survives on her own, surrounded with nature near the marsh.

Observing the nature, she also compares it to life and people she is familiar with.
I learned so many new things from this book, and I am very grateful for it.

The beautiful writing style is astonishing and incomparable to anything I’ve read before.
The writer captured nature in all it’s rawness and beauty and she also managed to show the beauty and the ugliness of people.
This book touched me dearly, made me care for some characters and hate some too, and what I appreciate the most, it opened my mind to new things and also made me laugh out loud while I was reading a science article about frogs.

One of my friends said this is maybe the best book she has read in her life. Now, when I also read it, I umderstand her statement and couldn’t agree more.