Book. Movies. Music. Movies made from books combine two of the three. Strike that. All of them, because movies best have scores. I’m ashamed to admit it, but there are some movies that just outdo the books *hides in corner*.

Did I ever think I would arrive at this conclusion? No. But I’ve woken up enough to know that books are good, but sometimes movies can be equally as good, *begrudging tone* sometimes better…

That being said, don’t go crazy on me. Harry Potter 5 was a terrible representation of the book, there’s no way Christopher Paloni wasn’t taken advantage of (and given no say) and yes, from the moment I saw the trailer for The Giver, I knew it was doomed (with a fresh 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes despite Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep both staring in it).

1.) A Walk to Remember
In my… younger days, I read a lot of Nicholas Sparks. Let’s just get that out in the open. I have a love/hate relationship with that period of my reading life. In any case, this book didn’t catch my interest. Being one of his earlier books, Sparks was settling into his writing style and although all the major events of the movie were there, the movie just had that charm the book didn’t. Also Mandy Moore was tiny and little; and don’t even think about telling me, with a straight face, Shane West didn’t cause your sexual awakening when you were 12 years old.

2.) The Phantom of the Opera
I became so infatuated with Phantom of the Opera (with Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson OF COURSE!) when I was a preteen I read Gaston Leroux’s book. IDK about you, but I struggled hard core reading it. I took “breaks” from it, took months to finish the book, and then had to read the climax of the book twice because I couldn’t understand the writing. I’m not saying it’s not good for some people, it just wasn’t for me. Although maybe I’d have more success reading it now, you know when I’m “older.” Whatever that means.

3.) Pride and Prejudice
I know I’ll be hung out to dry by all your Jane Austen fans… And also all the Colin Firth fans because, Unpopular Opinion: I prefer the Kira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice. At the very least, even the most die hard fans of the 6 hour version have to admit the cinematography (at least to me) is beautiful and the music enchanting and alluring. It took 2 weeks of dedicated and deliberate time set aside (and also coercion by my school) for me to read it. And the only thing that kept me going was knowing the next major event, “OK, I know Mr. Bingley’s ball is right around the corner.” I didn’t like the book. SO SUE ME.